It is a tale of rivers diverted and dammed, of political corruption and intrigue, of billion-dollar battles over water rights, of ecologic and economic disaster. In Cadillac Desert Marc Reisner writes of the earliest settlers, lured by the promise of paradise, and of the ruthless tactics employed by Los Angeles politicians and business interests to ensure the city's growth. He documents the bitter rivalry between two government giants, the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in the competition to transform the West.Based on more than a decade of research, Cadillac Desert is a stunning expose and a dramatic, intriguing history of the creation of an Eden—an Eden that may be only a mirage.

    They are trout bums. But John Gierach is also an exceptional writer. The essays in Trout Bum are reflective, bitingly humorous and enormously wise in the ways of fishing and men. In vivid, unforgettable detail they recount the emotional, spiritual and tangible adventures and pleasures of stalking trout in and around the Rockies—day in, day out, from season to season, with friends and alone. John Gierach’s essays join the literary tradition of angling classics like The River Why, and A River Runs Through It.

    Only a few species of wild animals can survive its harsh climate. In this modern classic, Barry Lopez explores the many-faceted wonders of the Far North: its strangely stunted forest, its mesmerizing aurora borealis, its frozen seas. Musk oxen, polar bears, narwhal, and other exotic beasts of the region come alive through Lopez’s passionate and nuanced observations. And, as he examines the history and culture of the indigenous people, along with parallel narratives of intrepid, often underprepared and subsequently doomed polar explorers, Lopez drives to the heart of why the austere and formidable Arctic is also a constant source of breathtaking beauty, beguilement, and wonder.Written in prose as memorably pure as the land it describes, Arctic Dreams is a timeless mediation on the ability of the landscape to shape our dreams and to haunt our imaginations.

    Baylor's radiant prose-poem and Parnall's exquisite illustrations combine to create a joyous celebration of the human spirit.

    The book covers all the worthwhile hiking destinations throughout the county - including the coast, foothills, mountains, and desert - in trips ranging from the short family excursions to multi-day backpacks. This long-awaited fourth edition of San Diego County's most recognized and comprehensive hiking guide has been fully updated and expanded to cover 250 hikes and all new maps.

    Within two years, he had succeeded. In Jaguar he provides the only first-hand account of a scientist's experience with jaguars in the wild. Jaguar presents an irresistible blend of natural history and adventure; intensely personal, it is a portrait of an elusive, solitary predator and the Mayas with which it shares the jungle. Strong and sensitive, the book excitingly describes the rewards and hardships of fighting to protect this almost mythical cat." - George Schaller, author of The Last Panda and Wildlife of the Tibetan Stepp. The glimpse which Rabinowitz's painstaking and careful research gives us of the world of the mysterious jaguar is tantalizing ....... Packed with interest and adventure." - Jane Goodall, author of Reason for Hope and In the Shadow of Ma. "An intimate look at the lives of rural Central Americans. At times Rabinowitz resembles a character from Joseph Conrad ... the tension between man and beast becomes startlingly vivid." - The Washington Pos. "A jungle adventure story in the classic mold, of a daredevil westerner who penetrates the deepest jungles of Belize in search of his quarry. There are thrills and chills aplenty in this quest for the mighty feline." - Kirkus Review. Originally published in 1986, this edition includes a new preface and epilogue by the author that bring the story up to date with recent events in the region and around the world.

    Complete with all the details to enhance your whitewater experience, Kayak is a great resource for learning new skills for intermediate and advanced kayakers and learning rescue basics. Plus, all of this is explained in easy-to-read and understand illustrations that are as funny as they are resourceful. This book will teach you basic river courtesy rules, intermediate and advanced technique, and most importantly, how to hold on to your life and limbs and keep your sanity as well.

    Her personal story is one of triumph, from a childhood of torment and isolation to discovery of her ability to communicate with the world of nature spirits and devas. At "Perelandra," her 45-acre private nature research center in Virginia, Machaelle devotes her life to understanding and demonstrating a new approach to ecological balance: * The foundation and development of co-creative gardening * The ecological effects of humans * The roles of the animal, mineral and plant kingdoms * Humankind's unrealized custodianship of Planet Earth A book beyond theory, Behaving as if the God in ALl Life Mattered will excite the minds and capture the hearts of all who dare to dream of a dynamic world of harmony and compassionate living.

    From childhood he has lived in or near the Rockies, hiking, climbing and skiing; watching wildlife and enjoying wildflowers, wild places and wild weather. A desire to know more about the rock he climbed on led Ben to a degree in earth science. He is an independent interpretive guide in Jasper National Park and has written four other books.Ben carried the first edition of the Handbook everywhere in his pack, looking up things he couldn't remember and filling the margins of four copies with blooming times, animal sightings, ideas and corrections. He hopes that all of you with an interest in the Canadian Rockies will enjoy the updated information, new design and full color illustrations of this second edition of the handbook.Artist Matthew Wheeler did the 334 color pencil drawings of mammals, birds and butterflies. Matthew was first recognized for his art at the age of ten, when the Louvre exhibited his painting of children and farm animals watching a train pass by his family's Robson Valley, B.C. farm. Since then, and leading up to the brilliant work reproduced in the pages of this book, Matthew has refined and supported his art by reporting for a local newspaper, selling freelance photography and winning awards at art shows.

    Goodall crowns her first quarter-century with the chimpanzees of Gombe by giving a comprehensive, up-to-date account of her work, a grand synthesis of animal behavior that presents a vast amount of information about man's nearest phylogenetic relative. 336 black-and-white, 23 color halftones. Illustrations.

    This major revision of an astronomy classic features 50 new photographs and illustrations, including the latest images from the Hubble space telescope, the Galileo spacecraft and other NASA missions. Additional imagery of the universe is from recently completed giant telescopes situated at remote mountaintops in Hawaii and Chile. This edition also includes extensively updated information on Mars and Jupiter; a completely new section on comets; full coverage of the latest evidence for the existence of black holes; an expanded section on galaxies and the mysterious "dark matter"; a fully updated section on the size, age and destiny of the universe; and expanded data tables using information released in 1998 from the Hipparchos satellite, which achieved a tenfold increase in the accuracy of celestial distance determination.

    Now George tells the rest of the story.

    Lawrence, traveled to Michigan's Upper Peninsula to live among and observe a captive pack of untamed wolves. The result is an extraordinary look inside the society of a much-maligned, much-persecuted animal. HC: Henry Holt.From the Paperback edition.

    Can the land remain unchanged? In Blue Desert, Charles Bowden presents a view of the Southwest that seeks to measure how rapid growth has taken its toll on the land. Writing with a reporter's objectivity and a desert rat's passion, Bowden takes us into the streets as well as the desert to depict not a fragile environment but the unavoidable reality of abuse, exploitation, and human cruelty. Blue Desert shows us the Sunbelt's darker side as it has developed in recent times—where “the land always makes promises of aching beauty and the people always fail the land”—and defies us to ignore it.Blue Desert has no boundaries, no terrain, no topographical coordinates; it is a state of mind inescapable to one who sees change and knows that nothing can be done to stop it.

    Set in Oregon ...

    It's the peace that comes over you when you sit down to read one of your old trip journals, or the anticipation that bubbles inside when you start sorting through your tackle box early in the spring. In this unforgettable collection of essays, Sam Cook portrays the enchanting North Country as a state of mind as much as a geographical area. Up North captures the mystic moods, seasonal subtleties, and colorful characters that fill the region from the Minnesota canoe country to the vast expanse of the Northwest Territories. Organized by time of year, Up North describes every season's pleasures--sled dog racing in winter, hooking a northern pike on the first spring fishing trip, building a summer campfire, watching the aurora borealis in fall. Up North is an invitation to explore canoe country through Sam Cook's eyes and your own. "My favorite book for thedreamers or for any outdoor person who enjoys a good story... Sam Cook is a master at weaving a tale."

    In Dune Boy, first published in 1943, he recounts these buccolic visits and his budding interest in the natural world around him. A loner, often bullied by other children, Teale escaped to the roof of the old house where he gazed at the golden dunes in the distance, and dreamed his own fantastic dreams.The young Teale was fascinated by moths, dragonflies, snakes, and the workings of the farm. He yearned to fly. He tried to hitch a calf to a cart, to ride a pig. He created a "museum" for his collections of arrowheads, stones, and fish skeletons. Most of all, he enjoyed his storytelling, hardworking grandfather, and his book-reading, equally hardworking grandmother. They reveled in and encouraged him. He returned to Lone Oak every summer until he was fifteen, when the old farm house caught fire and burned down.Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

    From the multitude of species that are safely edible, he has selected those that are actually attractive and appetizing as food. Beautiful colour photography shows each species growing in the wild - for accurate identification - and prepared as an appealing dish. Well-known wine and food writers such as Jane grigson, Katie Stewart and B.C.A. Turner are among those who have contributed the recipes that accompany Roger Phillips' photographs.

    Each picture in this book tells a story-childhood memories, my encounters with the Black Madonna in Europe, dreams and experiences of her during the years I lived in a monastery and, more recently, my awareness of her in the landscape of the American Southwest where I now live.

    Every cliff, inlet and headland reveals layers of myth and historical memory, and Robinson makes beautifully crafted observations about the habits of birds, plants and the humans who lived there and endured, leaving records in stone - on the walls, cairns and ancient forts - in story and in oral tradition.

    Kim Stafford writes poetic and evocative prose as he reflects on such subjects as Indian place names, bears, and local eccentrics. An essay titled "Pine, Fir, Cedar, Yew," begins with Stafford describing his workbench, which he fashioned from scavenged boards, and slowly turns into a beautifully rendered meditation on wood. "Any table of virgin fir, any maple chair, any oak floor is a bundle of stories," Stafford writes, artfully pointing out what most of us would never take time to notice.

    Yet even among these people hunting and gathering is vanishing so rapidly that it will soon disappear. This updated edition of Hunters of the Northern Forest stands as the only complete account of subsistence and survival among the Kutchin, capturing a final glimpse of a way of life at the crossroads of cultural development.

    69 full-color photographs and 4 black and white.

    Finally driving into a clearing on the banks of the Ogeechee, Leigh found himself at Uncle Shed's Fishing Camp, and at the beginning of what would be a two-year discovery of the river and its people, a chronicle in images and words stretching from the Ogeechee's headwaters in Greene County to marsh flats near the Atlantic Ocean.In his photographs and text, Leigh introduces such river natives as George Altman, standing knee-deep in water and reeling out fishing stories as he flicks his line into a shaded area beneath a fallen tree; and Jack Mikell, Sr., whose life on the river is told in the array of frying pans that hang on the wall behind him and in his recollections of long nights tending moonshine stills in backwater swamps. Leigh tells of the many stories the river holds---of the Muck Runners, Louisville men who each winter slog through swamps and deadfalls two hundred miles to Savannah; of Frank Cox, whose journey down river, taken in numerous pieces with as many reluctant partners, fulfilled a childhood dream; and of a woman's baptism in Warren County, at which beads of anointing oil mingled with the cold water of the rushing river.At Uncle Shed's Fishing Camp, as tales of fish fries and courtship conjure up more than fifty years on the Ogeechee, the camera ranges across the clearing, capturing the pattern of river life in the faded letters of a hand-painted sign; in the weathered face of camp matriarch Bessie Dickerson; and in the scattered flowerpots, lawn chairs, ceramic swans, and gravestone that lie cluttered against a cabin wall. Recording the wild ramblings and lazy progress of the Ogeechee, the quiet rituals and raucous stories of its people, Jack Leigh chronicles the course of lives that run with the current of the river.

    The clear, accurate text describes each species in detail.

    The introduction explains the scope of the book with a basic survey of classification, anatomy and life-cycles and the key is cross-referenced to the text to enable the reader to place any insect into its correct group. The insects are arranged scientifically, covering all orders found in Europe and all major families with illustrations covering the species most likely to be noticed for their size, colour, frequency or association with humans.

    Set in the Willapa Hills of southwest Washington, both people and forest are threatened with extinction. Timeless among the literature of the land, Wintergreen is now back in print with a new afterword by the author.

    Book by Kelsey, Michael R.

    Sara Stein, author of The Science Book and The Body Book, involves children, who are earth's newest inhabitants, in exploring beaches, mountains, woodlands, and swamps and unlocking the ancient secrets of the world. Scores of fascinating projects range from raising tadpoles and preserving snake skins and paw prints to making a plankton net, a plant press, and seaweed pudding. Hundreds of drawings and photographs are featured throughout. Selection of the Children's Book-of-the-Month Club. Winner of the New York Academy of Sciences Children's Science Book Award, First Prize. Suitable for ages 10-14. 73,000 copies in print.

    But when it was first published in 1972 the book proved to be more than one writer’s memories of depression-era southern Illinois.“People started writing me from all over the country,” Hastings notes. “And all said much the same: ‘You were writing about my family, as much as your own. That’s how I remember the 1930s, too.’”As he proves time and again in this book, Hast­ings is a natural storyteller who can touch upon the detail that makes the tale both poignant and univer­sal. He brings to life a period that marked every man, woman, and child who lived through it even as that national experience fades into the past.

    Excellent photos and detailed maps.

    Equally impressive is the number of beliefs and superstitions the industrious insect has inspired. Its honey, which was known to the ancient Greeks as the “food of the Gods,” played an important role in early religious rites and was also mentioned in the folklore of many peoples. Hilda Ransome's well-documented and copiously illustrated study of bees focuses on this valuable byproduct of nature and its creator — the "sacred" bee.Chapters cover the folklore of bees and bee culture — from Egyptian, Babylonian, Chinese, Hittite, and other ancient sources as well as practices in modern England, France, and Central Europe. Thirty-five plates of rare black-and-white illustrations depict bees, hives, and beekeepers as they appear in ancient paintings and sculpture, on coins, jewelry, and Mayan glyphs; and carved into African tree trunks. Folk stories from Finland and the bee in America are also described. Hailed by The New York Times as possessing an "oddity, beauty, and broad scholarly interest," this unusual book will attract a wide audience — nature lovers and folklore enthusiasts included.

    The book chronicles not only his search for the bird & aspects of its natural history, but presents encounters with many other birds of Central America as well. Home to some wondrous birds in the almost magical rain forests, Maslow shows tho that the avifauna & the land they inhabit are threatened by unstable politics, unchecked population growth & deforestation. A must read for any interested in birds south of the border.--Tim F. Martin (edited)

    Why do roosters crow and waggle their wattles? Why does it benefit the female human to remain inscrutable about her sexual cycle? Who instituted monogamy? Why would a male mite copulate with its mother? Why does the male bedbug drive its "outlandish, formidable penis" into the female's abdomen? Forsyth's highly observational mind ranges over the natural world, revealing the seemingly random patterns and consequences of animal sexual behavior. This classic reference is a must for anyone who has ever wondered just what it is that makes the world go round.

    

    

    David Henry recounts his years of field research on this flame-colored predator. With its catlike whiskers, teeth, and paws, as well as vertical-slit pupils, the North American red fox not only resembles but often behaves like a feline, especially when hunting. Probing the reasons for these similarities, Henry reveals the behavior and ecology of a species that thrives from the edge of suburbia to the cold northern tundra.

    The donkeys, the cats, the first buzzards to nest near the cottage, and Jeannie finds a starving little black cat at the foot of the cherry tree

    This new, completely revised second edition provides updated information on habitat, as well as detailed descriptions of every tree or shrub species in the state. New distribution maps reflect the latest survey data, while the keys, glossary, and appendix on non-native plants make this the most useful guide to Alaska trees and shrubs ever published.

    It is without question the most important book on butterflies in several decades, and the most complete treatment of a major butterfly faun ever published.The book is written at several levels of detail, most of it accessible to anyone, and employs the minimum of technical terms necessary for ensuring scientific accuracy. Extensive introductory material—a book in itself—stresses butterfly biology and ecology: structure, flight, metamorphosis, hibernation, physiology, roosting, migration, mating, egg laying, intelligence, social behavior, larval and adult foods, enemies, mimicry, variation, evolution, habitats, distribution, and conservation. The main text is arranged in phylogenetic sequence, and characteristics or behavior common to all members of a family, subfamily, or tribe are discussed at those levels. The skippers, a large group often excluded, are treated in full.Several unique features make identification easier and more certain than with any other field guide. First, every species (and many subspecies) of butterfly ever recorded north of Mexico (or in Bermuda or Hawaii) is treated at length and illustrated in color. Over 1,800 butterflies representing all 679 species (males, females, uppersides, undersides, subspecies, etc.) are illustrated on 42 full-page plats. Another 136 color photographs illustrate the various life forms in natural habitat: eggs, larvae, pupae, and the more familiar and more spectacular adults.The author also provides a catalogue listing all known host plant genera and the specific butterfly larvae that eat them; techniques for collecting, raising, and studying butterflies; bibliographies of the most useful plant books and other sources to further the study of butterflies; and an index of all common and scientific butterfly names and all technical terms taken up in the text.In short, this book is indispensable for pursuing a hobby or scientific interest in butterflies.

    Early visitors, filled with a sense of American’s Manifest Destiny, described the missionary priests and their Indian converts in terms of the Black Legend of Spanish abuse of native peoples. Later, when the Anglos settled in California and assumed the life-style of the Mexican rancheros, they viewed the Indians as a primitive laboring class, docile and exploitable. Finally, after 1849, the gold rush brought hundreds of thousands of new white immigrants, who treated the primitive "diggers" simply as threats to their own prosperity and security. Bounty hunters shot down adult Indians, and Indian children and young people were sold into slavery as "apprentices."The engine in this evolution of white attitudes was the changing needs of the white population. Needing to discredit Hispanic claims to the land, American observers saw the Indians as victims; needing a cheap labor force themselves, they viewed the Indians as a useful class; needing unimpeded access to the resources of the Golden State, they treated the Indians simply as obstacles to be eliminated.

    Although A Sand Country Almanac is doubtless Leopold’s most popular book, Game Management may well be his most important. In this book he revolutionized the field of conservation.

    

    The introductory section finishes with information for gardeners, detailing which plants to grow and when. Each section is illustrated with diagrams and photographs. There then follows an illustrated key to the main family groups, detailing principal physical and flight characteristics, as well as other key information to aid identification. The next section consists of 60 specific species descriptions. These comprise detailed identification notes for both adult and young stages, information on life cycle, habitat and behaviour, and distribution and status - all accompanied by life-cycle artwork and time charts, a distribution map and a large colour photograph.Finishing with photographs and information on the most common day-flying moths, Philip's Guide to Butterflies of Britain and Ireland is an essential guide for both experienced naturalists and newcomers to the subject.

    

    It is also a useful reference for marine fishes of Oregon and Northern California.Each fish is identified by its common name, and is illustrated with a full-colour photograph and labelled sketch. Special sections present catching tips for anglers and commercial fishermen; location hints for divers, beachcombers, and pleasure boaters; and cooking ideas for seafood gourmets. The information included in these sections provides a brief but detailed description of each fish's habitat, physical characteristics and behaviour - everything that a fisherman or an amateur naturalist needs to know!

    Jay M. Savage has studied these fascinating creatures for more than forty years, and in The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica he provides the most comprehensive, up-to-date treatment of their biology and evolution ever produced.Savage begins with detailed discussions of the natural and cultural history of Costa Rica, setting the stage for a detailed treatment of each of the 396 species of amphibians and reptiles that may be found there. Each species account synthesizes and analyzes everything that is known about the animal's anatomy, behavior, geographic distribution, systematics, and evolutionary history and provides keys for identifying amphibians and reptiles in the field. In addition to distribution maps and systematic and morphological illustrations, the book includes color photographs of almost every known species, many taken by the distinguished nature photographers Michael and Patricia Fogden.Because Costa Rica has played, and continues to play, a pivotal role in the study of tropical biology as well as in the development of ecotourism and ecoprospecting, and because more than half of the amphibians and reptiles in Costa Rica are also found elsewhere in Central America, The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica will be an essential book for a wide audience of nature lovers, naturalists, ecotourists, field biologists, conservationists, and government planners.

    Whether carried into the field or consulted at home, these books provide readers with fascinating facts and insights into the behavior of birds and wildlife.And that's not all. With new Stokes projects under way ... with information about Stokes activities available on-line at www.StokesBooks.com...you can be certain that more and more readers will be relying on Stokes guides.

    Condensed versions of the famous Peterson Field Guides, the First Guides focus on the animals, plants, and other natural things you are most likely to see. They make it fun to get into the field and easy to progress to the full-fledged Peterson Guides.