Violent storms may occasionally sweep over southeastern Arizona's mountain islands, but no natural storm was ever as fierce as the opposition to Mt. Graham International Observatory. The proposed telescope installation in the Pinaleno mountains roused little interest when it was first proposed in the early 1980s, but the controversy eventually spread across the country and through the halls of government.The observatory was a joint project between the University of Arizona and other U.S. universities, the Vatican Observatory, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Germany, and to astronomers it marked the beginning of a new generation of ground-based, astronomical instruments. To many environmentalists, however, it represented a threat to a fragile mountain island ecosystem, and to some Apaches is meant the desecration of sacred land. As planning quietly progressed, what had been merely rumblings of objection exploded in 1988 into a storm of unyielding protest led by Earth First!, local Audubon Society chapters, the Sierra Club, and others.

In Storm over a Mountain Island, scientists from across the country show that the Mt. Graham controversy was far more than a local issue. Contributors in the fields of conservation biology, astronomy, botany, biogeography, and genetics examine the purpose and promise of ground-based observatories, the forest structure and history of the Pinalenos, the biogeographical basis for the conservation of the Pinalenos, and the biology and vulnerability of isolated species such as the Mt. Graham Red Squirrel. In addition, several contributors explore the political and legal ramifications of the controversy and the unfolding of one of the most fascinating stories in the annals of environmental conflict.

The Mt. Graham affair, which continues to provoke debate, will not be the last time that the interests of science and the desire for enduring preservation collide. Storm over a Mountain Island offers a comprehensive case study for scientists, land managers, policymakers, and environmentalists who will face future ecological controversies.