Protecting the Ontario Niagara Escarpment explores the intersection of politics and conservation, business and public interests, and government and not-for-profit organizations over more than six decades to protect what is today a UNESCO World Biosphere. Reflecting on both environmental activism and government stewardship, author Donald H. Avery captures an important period in Canadian environmental history. Starting with an overview of the North American conservation movement in the 1960s and the important 1968 Gertler Niagara Escarpment Study, he examines the different work done by conservation organizations such as the Coalition on the Niagara Escarpment (CONE), statuary bodies such as the Niagara Escarpment Commission, and government departments and agencies to protect this unique landform until the present day. As part of his assessment, Avery examines the goals and strategies of competing social groups including mining interests, commercial real estate developers, landowners' groups and environmental organizations, while providing insight into how they used the political system to achieve their specific goals. This research is based on a wealth of environmental organizational records, government documents, news articles, and interviews with Niagara Escarpment Commission staff, that demonstrates how environmental activism and government stewardship made a difference.