Tools include hand tools, maps, how-to books, vehicles, software, specialized devices, gizmos, websites — and anything useful.Tools are selected and presented in the book if they are the best of kind, the cheapest, or the only thing available that will do the job. This is an oversized book which reviews over 1,500 different tools, explaining why each one is great, and what its benefits are. Indirectly the book illuminates the possibilities contained in such tools and the whole catalog serves an education outside the classroom. The content in this book was derived from ten years of user reviews published at the Cool Tools website, cool-tools.org.

    Drawing on the ancient wisdom of the Tibetan people, this story urges us to listen to our intuition and be courageous in the face of loss.

    From his unusually detailed observations of the natural world, he pioneered a completely new understanding of how nature works. He also foresaw, and tried to warn against, the global waste and ecological destruction of our age. This book describes and explains Schauberger's insights in contemporary, accessible language. His remarkable discoveries -- which address issues such as sick water, ailing forests, climate change and, above all, renewable energy -- have dramatic implications for how we should work with nature and its resources.

    Stretching from the cypress swamps of Okefenokee to the remote wilderness of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the refuges now occupy an amazing 95 million acres of the American landscape. These are America's most treasured natural habitats - filled with waterfowl, fish, mammals, and a diverse array of plants." Coupling his text with the remarkable photographs of John and Karen Hollingsworth, Eric Dolin draws on the rich history surrounding the refuges to reveal an intriguing story of people and nature. After exploring how the fledgling conservation movement found its champion in Teddy Roosevelt, Dolin unveils a story filled with heroic, sometimes quirky, Americans who fought to preserve the nation's natural heritage. Following Roosevelt's lead - and against a backdrop of the twentieth century's wars and strife - refuge after refuge was created, resulting today in an incredibly diverse and biologically critical system that helped earn the United States its reputation as a leader in global conservation."Outstanding book . . . Highly and enthusiastically recommended for all public libraries and all environmental collections." Library Journal"A terrific job . . . The result is a coffee table book worth buying a coffee table for." The Baltimore Sun"The remarkable photographs and accompanying text reveal the rich history of America's 538 national wildlife refuges." Outdoor Photographer"The stories of Teddy Roosevelt . . . Ding Darling, and other indomitable historic figures are woven into the inspiring saga." Wildlife Conservation"This richly illustrated retrospective could not be more timely." Nature Conservancy

    Concentrating on the Serengeti-Masai Mara regions in Kenya and Tanzania, this volume chronicles life and death on the savannah.

    From the ancient origins of the proboscideans to the present-day crisis of the living elephants, this volume synthesizes the behavior, ecology and conservation of elephants, while covering also the history of human interactions with elephants, all within the theoretical framework of evolutionary biology. The book begins with a survey of the 60-million year evolutionary history of the proboscideans emphasizing the role of climate and vegetation change in giving rise to a bewildering array of species, but also discussing the possible role of humans in the late Pleistocene extinction of mastodonts and mammoths. The latest information on the molecular genetics of African and Asian elephants and its taxonomic implications are then presented. The rise of the elephant culture in Asia, and its early demise in Africa are traced along with an original interpretation of this unique animal-human relationship. The book then moves on to the social life of elephants as it relates to reproductive strategies of males and females, development of behavior in young, communication, ranging patterns, and societal organization. The foraging strategies of elephants, their impact on the vegetation and landscape are then discussed. The dynamics of elephant populations in relation to hunting for ivory and their population viability are described with the aid of mathematical models. A detailed account of elephant-human interactions includes a treatment of crop depredation by elephants in relation to their natural ecology, manslaughter by elephants, habitat manipulation by humans, and a history of the ivory trade and poaching in the two continents. The ecological information is brought together in the final chapter to formulate a set of pragmatic recommendations for the long-term conservation of elephants. The broadest treatment of the subject yet undertaken, by one of the leading workers in the field, Raman Sukumar, the book promises to bring the understanding of elephants to a new level. It should be of interest not only to biologists but also a broader audience including field ecologists, wildlife administrators, historians, conservationists and all those interested in elephants and their future.

    The book is an invaluable guide for the professional landscaper, horticulturist, and others in the Intermountain nursery industry, as well as for the student, general reader, gardener, and homeowner.Water Wise is both convenient and comprehensive. The heart of the book presents hundreds of species, devoting a full page to each, with a description of appearance, habitat, landscape use, and other comments. Color photographs illustrate each plant described. A reader-friendly introduction provides important background on the ecology of the Intermountain West, along with full descriptions of native plant habitats and associations.An accessible resource of accurate native plant information for all readers, Water Wise will be indispensable to professional landscapers and amateurs alike.

    In this award-winning picture book, evocatively illustrated wood engravings combine with stirring poems to celebrate the lives and commemorate the deaths of 20 of the hundreds of animals that have gone extinct over the last three centuries.

    This dedicated corps of naturalists provides teaching, outreach, and service in their communities, promoting the appreciation and stewardship of natural resources and natural areas around the state. Hundreds of new volunteers are trained every year, and the Texas Master Naturalist Statewide Curriculum serves as the basis of instruction for trainees who complete a certification course taught under the auspices of more than forty program chapters. The curriculum contains twenty-four units of instruction that range from geology to ornithology to wetland ecology—all written by the state’s top scientists and experts. Available as well to educators, interpreters, and others who may not yet be able to commit to the Texas Master Naturalist program, the curriculum offers an authoritative source of information for anyone seeking to learn more about the natural world in Texas.

    Wilderness: Earth's Last Wild Places continues the efforts made in that previous volume, combining nearly 500 breathtaking images of untamed lands and rare glimpses of the people who inhabit them with the most current scientific analyses of their endangered ecosystems.To qualify as "wilderness," the areas included must have 70 percent or more of their original vegetation, cover at least 10,000 square kilometers, and have fewer than five people per square kilometer. Wilderness identifies 37 wilderness areas around the globe—including tropical rain forests, wetlands, deserts, and arctic tundra, from Amazonia to the Congo Forests of Central Africa to the complex of North American deserts—and presents the research of nearly 200 specialists carried out over two years by Conservation International's Center for Applied Biodiversity Science with support from its Global Conservation Fund. The result is a detailed document of the biological riches that can be found in each of the wilderness areas, with chapters that describe and illustrate them, highlight the human cultures unique to each area, and explain the threats to each region and the conservation measures in place. The result of a collaboration among CEMEX, Conservation International, and Agrupación Sierra Madre, Wilderness will enjoy the same reputation as the earlier Conservation International books—a volume that presents vital information on the earth's biodiversity and a realistic program of conservation complemented by state-of-the-art photography.

    A resource for the photographic conservator, conservation scientist, curator, as well as professional collector, this volume synthesizes both the enormous amount of research that has been completed to date and the international standards that have been established on the subject.

    While these critiques challenged some cherished and widely held beliefs -- and raised the hackles of many in the environmental community -- they also stimulated an important and potentially transformative debate about the conceptual foundations of environmentalism.Reconstructing Conservation makes a vital contribution to that debate, bringing together 23 leading scholars and practitioners -- including J. Baird Callicott, Susan Flader, Richard Judd, Curt Meine, Bryan Norton, and Paul B. Thompson -- to examine the classical conservation tradition and its value to contemporary environmentalism. Focusing not just on the tensions that have marked the deconstructivist debate over wilderness and environmentalism, the book represents a larger and ultimately more constructive and hopeful discussion over the proper course of future conservation scholarship and action.Essays provide a fresh look at conservation icons such as George Perkins Marsh and Aldo Leopold, as well as the contributions of lesser-known figures including Lewis Mumford, Benton MacKaye, and Scott Nearing. Represented are a wealth of diverse perspectives, addressing such topics as wilderness and protected areas, cultural landscapes, rural/agrarian landscapes, urban/built environments, and multiple points on the geographic map. Contributors offer enthusiastic endorsements of pluralism in conservation values and goals along with cautionary tales about the dangers of fragmentation and atomism. The final chapter brings together the major insights, arguments, and proposals contained in the individual contributions, synthesizing them into a dozen broad-ranging principles designed to guide the study and practice of conservation.Reconstructing Conservation assesses the meaning and relevance of our conservation inheritance in the 21st century, and represents a conceptually integrated vision for reconsidering conservation thought and practice to meet the needs and circumstances of a new, post-deconstructivist era.

    Award-winning poet Diane Seibert's inventive poems are perfectly paired with Caldecott Honorrecipient Stephen Johnson's compelling imagery. Each turn of the page offers a surprisewhether it's an impressionistic painting of Niagara Falls, a wild collage of Las Vegas, or an evocative tallgrass prairie landscape. Additional facts about each site and a list of art media are provided, making this distinguished volume a gem for the study of literature, art, history, or geography.

    Fish and Wildlife Service released Canadian gray wolves into Yellowstone National Park as part of its wolf recovery program, reintroduction has been widely challenged in public forums and sensationalized in the media. This conflict has pitted western ranchers and property rights activists against environmental groups, highlighting starkly contrasting political perspectives. In this essential account, Martin A. Nie examines not only the future of wolf recovery but also the issues that will define debates around the politics of wildlife management, animal rights issues, and other flash ???.