Gag-Ordered No More: The 800-Pound Gorilla in the U.S. Government

Brian Czech was the first Conservation Biologist in the history of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Hebrought to headquarters a mix of hard-earned common sense and well-rounded scholarly achievement.By then, mid-career, his specialty was the conflict between economic growth and biodiversityconservation.Czech’s expertise was welcomed, until it threatened the win-win rhetoric that “there is no conflictbetween growing the economy and protecting the environment.” Before long, Czech received his firstgag order, prohibiting him from speaking or writing about the conflict between growth andconservation. Economic growth became the “800-pound gorilla” on the conservation policy table.In this no-holds-barred memoir, readers discover how far a politically weak-kneed bureaucracywill go to suppress the truth about limits to growth. Czech calls out “chiefs” who issued gag orders orhelped enforce them. He elucidates events like the infamous “(Jimmy) Carter incident” at the NationalConservation Training Center. And, he identifies policies that suffered the crippling effects of censorship.Gag-Ordered No More is a fascinating account of one man’s efforts to speak truth to power, advance theprinciples of ecological economics, and lead the U.S. government into the 21st century of limits togrowth.