International League of Conservation WritersWriting to inspire the love of nature and a passion for its protection |
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The International League of Conservation Writers is a forum to bring writers together from around the world who are writing to promote wilderness, nature, conservation, or using other means to protect and restore the natural areas, habitats, animals, and plants of our planet. ILCW will present periodic writing awards to authors who excel in this field. | ![]() Come write, do research, and be near wild and protected areas in Colorado while working in the David R. Brower Office of Conservation Writing. Sit at the same desk used by Dave Brower. ILCW Members Are Eligible to Use David R. Brower Office for Conservation Writing There is no cost for ILCW members to use the office. For information click here. VIEW FROM BROWER OFFICE WINDOW |
Reviews of Member Books |
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Jonathan Adams and Mark Tercek Nature’s Fortune:
The Light Shines from the West Traditionally the complex history of America’s westward development was told from learned scholars from the eastern US. That was where the major universities were located. Bob Baron, ILCW member/co-founder, breaks tradition by writing about the western expansion of the US through a western perspective. He and five chapter authors cover many aspects of this transition of a country. Page Lambert (ILCW member) writes beautifully about the Rural West. Elizabeth Darby (ILCW member) tells of the many women who were key in the West’s development and they are not ladies of the evening (like many sources portrayed women in the frontier West, if they mentioned them at all). And the medical perspective and innovations that came out of the Western US, and not the East, that are written about by Dr. Bruce Paton (ILCW member). This book is an exploration of the innovations and expansions that have shaped the West and the American landscape from 1800 to today. It provides an overdue and insightful overview of western American history. For more information, click here.
Galapagos at the Crossroads
The Secret World of Red Wolves The Secret World of Red Wolves takes readers on a journey into the field with red wolf biologists from the US Fish and Wildlife Service to explore the modern management and conservation challenges faced in recovering wild red wolves. It also delves into the past and chronicles the early field efforts to locate and breed what were thought to be the last remaining red wolves in the far western reaches of their historical southeastern US range, as well as early reintroduction efforts. The story covers the scientific controversy over what red wolves are, and looks to the future at what might happen to their coastal recovery area---their only recovery area---when sea level rise driven by climate change swamps the land around them.
Wide-Angle Macro A Wide-Angle Macro photography book that emphasizes conservation throughout. The authors are convinced that the “close and wide” photographic approach not only generates images with impact but can convey maximum information about a subject and its habitat. This makes it an excellent way of imparting information, especially when it comes to conservation and education. When used in conjunction with other “macro” approaches it becomes an essential part of the bag of varied tricks that creative photographers can have at their disposal. The book is divided into two main sections: Part 1: The stage is set with a detailed, but highly accessible text ranging from the purely technical side of the hardware (e.g. how various lenses such as fixed focal length zooms perform) through the tricks and trials of lighting to general approaches for different classes of potential subject. The authors have also included an appendix with tech charts for those with a fondness for numbers and calculations. Part 2: Something different with a series of personal accounts about specific images with subjects such as plants, insects, spiders, reptiles and amphibians. They discuss how and why the images were conceived and then achieved with an encouragement for readers to go out and create their own. To view sample pages and for more information check out the website.
Fleeting Moments of Fierce Clarity Fleeting moments of fierce clarity are had when the confusion clears and the gray numbness that hangs about our senses draws back, allowing us to see the world and ourselves with sharp relief. Follow author and New England native L.M. Browning in her wanderings across the Northeast, from the solitude of her home along the shore of Connecticut, to the rushing city streets of Boston, to the tall-pine landscape of Arcadia Park in Rhode Island to the quiet edges of Walden Pond.
2011, Homebound Publications Paperback, 384 pages What do you believe? Is humanity flawed and fallen, permanently separate from a perfected, transcendent divinity? Or, is human life inherently divine? Is the human journey itself an evolutionary process leading toward greater embodiment of our own divine nature? The world and its troubles appear differently depending upon which view you hold. In the midst of these views, throughout human history, there have been people of wakefulness who have come to teach us. They have come to shake us from our consensual trance of forgetfulness. They wake us up. They remind us who we really are. They come to save us from ourselves.
Ruminations at Twilight Asserting that the sacred lives in what is ordinary and the Divine is found amongst the green of nature, the poems within Ruminations at Twilight bring a message of appreciation for the worth of what surrounds us. Relevant, insightful, candid and revealing, these verses give a unique perspective on the age-old questions. The story told takes place on an intimate scale yet at the same time a world-wide scale; for within this story of one individual’s realization and redemption we are told that of all humanity’s. The cure for our modern maladies is dirt under the fingernails and the feel of thick grass between the toes. The cure for our listlessness is to be out within the invigorating wind. The cure for our uselessness is to take back up our stewardship; for it is not that there has been no work to be done, we simply have not been attending to it. –Excerpt from Ruminations at Twilight
Seasons of Contemplation In Seasons of Contemplation, Browning offers the reader humble yet impacting meditations on the topics of religion, connection, mindfulness, ecology, the spiritual journey, and the perils of modern culture. The ruminations gathered within these pages provide simple insights that help bring sense to the chaos and hustle of our daily life. Direct and unpretentious, Browning once again reminds us that “Becoming aware of the dearness in what might otherwise be regarded as mundane is the ultimate form of insight.” “L.M. Browning had me at the opening rumination to Seasons of Contemplation where she acknowledges the tiredness many of this generation feel, ‘not of the body but of the spirit.’ Like a Dark Night of the Soul for the digital age, Browning’s midnight meditations don’t sugarcoat life’s dilemmas. Instead, with refreshing honesty and vulnerability, Browning encourages us to ‘wade into the silence and listen.’ Sage advice, delivered gracefully yet boldly, characterizes this beautiful book, which will speak clearly to anyone who ever awakens in the night to wrestle with the unknowable.”
It’s A Black/White Thing Have South Africans changed in any significant way since 1994? Or are black and white simply repeating old patterns? American-born journalist Donna Bryson found answers to these questions on the University of the Free State campus in Bloemfontein. In 2008 this sleepy city was thrust into the international spotlight by a racist video made by students from Reitz residence. Bryson went to investigate. As she started spaking to students and university staff, including two former rectors, she realized the university was a microcosm of what was happening in the rest of the country. Since the 1990s black and white were forced to learn how to live together on campus – as elsewhere. It has not always been easy. Now under the leadership of the university’s new rector – the charismatic Jonathan Jansen – real change is finally taking place. Most inspiring are the stories Bryson uncovers about individual transformations. From the white theology student who decides to learn Sotho to the black accountancy student who realizes she does not share her parents’ mistrust of whites. Bryson offers a story of hope in a country desperate or good news.
Through a Naturalist’s Eyes A Journey into the heart of New England with expert guide Michael J. Caduto, and reflections on the relationship between nature and humankind. New England’s landscape has a rich allure. In more than 50 essays, Caduto draws on firsthand experience, interviews with experts and in-depth research to explore plants, animals, natural places, environmental issues and actions that readers can take—from dragonflies, cuckoos and chipmunks to circumpolar constellations, phenology and climate change. Adelaide Tyrol’s stunning illustrations illuminate this unique wedding of natural science, humor and storytelling.
Disko Bay The poems in Nancy Campbell’s first collection transport the reader to the frozen shores of Greenland. The Arctic has long been a place of encounters, and Disko Bay is a meeting point for whalers and missionaries, scientists and shamans. We hear the stories of those living on the ice edge in former times: hunters, explorers and settlers, and the legendary leader Qujaavaarssuk. These poems relate the struggle for existence in the harsh polar environment, and address tensions between modern life and traditional ways of subsistence. As the environment begins to change, hunters grow hungry and their languages are lost. In the final sequence, Jutland, we reach the northern fringes of Europe, where shifting waterlines bear witness to the disappearing arctic ice. Reviews:Nancy Campbell crafts severe, beautiful founding myths which merge fragments of story with song in a poetry which has refreshingly sharp edges. Strong women and talented male hunters there are, but all are vulnerable before human caprice and this lyrically evoked world of ice. – Richard Price Disko Bay is a beautiful debut from a deft, dangerous and dazzling new poet writing from the furthest reaches of both history and climate change. – Carol Ann Duffy
The Library of Ice
Long captivated by the solid yet impermanent nature of ice, by its stark, rugged beauty, acclaimed poet and writer Nancy Campbell (ILCW member, UK) sets out from the world’s northernmost museum – at Upernavik in Greenland – to explore it in all its facets. From the Bodleian Library archives to the traces left by the great polar expeditions, from remote Arctic settlements to the ice houses of Calcutta, she examines the impact of ice on our lives at a time when it is itself under threat from climate change. “A wonderful book. Glaciers, Arctic floe, verglas, frost and snow – I can think of no better or warmer guide to the icy ends of the Earth.”
Kimberly Christensen and Tanja Rohini Bisgaard 2047: Short Stories from Our Common Future
Chewing Sand:
In Chewing Sand, Gail Collins-Ranadive explores her adopted home landscape with a naturalist’s thrill in detail and with a spiritual person’s reverence. She builds her relationship with the Mojave Desert through an unusual ability to see the land equally clearly through Emerson’s Transcendentalist sensibility, Paiute spirituality, and the wisdom of geologic time. As her subtitle suggests, this book offers a tasting menu of vignettes, each a gem of insight, learning, and intimate storytelling. Gail finds “graced moments” everywhere as she listens lovingly to the landscape. Readers will finish her book with a deeper understanding of the dynamic vitality of the desert, our spiritual connection to the Earth, and the whimsical absurdity of living in Las Vegas. --Stephen Trimble, author of The Sagebrush Ocean: A Natural History of the Great Basin andphotographer of Earthtones: A Nevada Album
Stewardship and Protection of Resources and Values 2009, Fulcrum Publishing Paperback, 544 pages The fourth edition of this classic text on wilderness management offers readers an updated and somewhat slimmer version of the latest knowledge, challenges, and applications of wilderness management. The co-author order has been reversed in the 4th edition, with Dr. Chad Dawson assuming senior authorship in this new version. Dawson is well suited for the task. He is a professor and former chair of the Department of Forest and Natural Resources Management in the College of Environmental Science and Forestry at the State University of New York in Syracuse. He is also the managing editor of the International Journal of Wilderness. Dr. John Hendee continued his involvement as coauthor of all four editions of Wilderness Management. Hendee is professor emeritus and retired dean of the College of Natural Resources at the University of Idaho, and is a founder and editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Wilderness. Each chapter was revised, reviewed, and edited, with new material added and other material deleted. This new edition of Wilderness Management: Stewardship and Protection of Resources and Values, like the earlier editions, will continue to be a must-read for agency managers, teachers and students, citizens and conservationists, researchers, and wilderness visitors.
2017, 30 Degrees South Publishers Paperback, 320 pages This is an autobiographical account of a career in conservation and of an abiding love affair with Spirit of the Wilderness, a Piper Super Cub, two-seater, light aircraft. It tells of a partnership between man and machine, which proved invaluable in countless campaigns to support and conserve wildlife and wilderness areas in southern Africa. A chance encounter in 1953 with the late Dr. Ian Player, South Africa's greatest name in conservation led to a career in that field which still continues after nearly sixty years. There are detailed and absorbing accounts of stewardship during the 1960s and 1970s of some of South Africa’s best loved and most beautiful reserves; Lake St Lucia, iMfolozi, Ndumo, and later the Gorongosa National Park, Zinave and the Bazaruto Archipelago in Mozambique. There are tales of hair-raising episodes and some serious mishaps at the wheel of Spirit of the Wilderness, and on the ground, the author records what he was privileged to learn from the knowledge, experience and wisdom of indigenous game guards and local communities in South Africa and Mozambique. The reader will encounter a huge diversity of flora and fauna, both terrestrial and marine, some of it now perilously endangered, and also a remarkable cast of fellow eminent conservationists, filmmakers, writers, sangomas, soldiers and bandits from two wars in Mozambique, and is introduced to that country's then president Samora Machel, with whom Paul came to have an intriguingly cordial relationship.
Facing the Wave A passionate student of Japanese poetry, theater, and art for much of her life, Gretel Ehrlich felt compelled to return to the earthquake-and-tsunami-devastated Tohoku coast to bear witness, listen to survivors, and experience their terror and exhilaration in villages and towns where all shelter and hope seemed lost. In an eloquent narrative that blends strong reportage, poetic observation, and deeply felt reflection, she takes us into the upside-down world of northeastern Japan, where nothing is certain and where the boundaries between living and dying have been erased by water. The stories of rice farmers, monks, and wanderers; of fishermen who drove their boats up the steep wall of the wave; and of an eighty-four-year-old geisha who survived the tsunami to hand down a song that only she still remembered are both harrowing and inspirational. Facing death, facing life, and coming to terms with impermanence are equally compelling in a landscape of surreal desolation, as the ghostly specter of Fukushima Daiichi, the nuclear power complex, spews radiation into the ocean and air. Facing the Wave is a testament to the buoyancy, spirit, humor, and strong-mindedness of those who must find their way in a suddenly shattered world.
The Great Conservation Divide
In a perfect world, people would find common ground and work together – but in our imperfect world that happens only too rarely. Dave Foreman’s book, The Great Conservation Divide, is a history of many differences of opinion, direction and goals among conservationists. The only agreement seems to lie, briefly, in the need for conservation. A recounting of past conflicts, wins and losses, the breadth and depth of the movement told here are not only an interesting read but can be useful to those striving today to continue this work. Foreman’s “Quick, Quirky Word Hoard” is just one of the ways Foreman raises awareness. It also serves to focus the reader on meaning within his text, on views that would, I think, be missed if he hadn’t given such specific definitions, many of which change focus for the reader and promotes understanding and comprehension of his subject matter. It will add some new words to your vocabulary. So read The Great Conservation Divide for the history, the list of accomplishments and compromises, losses and gains; read it to learn about those who worked to preserve and conserve, to pass laws and to create movements. Read it to understand better what the natural world is and to see more clearly what has happened, is happening and might happen. Read it to decide what you want to do and what you can try to make a difference. --Judy Volc
Rewilding North America
2004, This book is divided into three sections—bad news, good news, and taking action. The first section deals with the mass extinctions that humans have been causing over the last two centuries and puts it in a historical context. The second section covers the knowledge and benefits from the science of conservation biology, such as how mass extinction can be stopped or at least slowed down. The final section suggests a program to promote biodiversity by establishing defined wilderness areas. This is an important book by an important person.
Man Swarm and the Killing of Wildlife Too intense for reading at length, this book belongs on the coffee table or maybe beside the bed to be picked up and read in sections. This will also allow time for the reader to absorb the material which is very intense and often disturbing. It's not that we don't know some of this--although this is the most complete and exhaustive compilation I've ever seen--but it's hard to absorb so much so quickly. While Chapter 13 outlines way to stem the tide that sweeps all before it, gloom and doom overwhelms and while I believe that Mr. Foreman is correct in his contentions and am in awe of his clarity and massive collection of facts and examples, I found this difficult to handle. I do feel that perhaps the author intended to inundate the reader. His passion for this subject is catching but exhausting. Anyone who is working in this field and a lot of politicians should read this to learn and to appreciate the breath and depth contained here. The author provides both the logic and evidence to support his cause. ̶ Judy Volc
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Man Swarm: Overpopulation is real and it is stretching the limits and the resources of our planet. As Dave Foreman states “we have come on like a swarm of locusts … there are too many of us for the Earth to harbor.” Some viewpoints argue that a world population of two billion people is the right number of people to live sustainable on our planet and keep the natural systems in balance. With over seven billion people covering the planet today, that number is growing and if it continues unchecked we will reach twelve billion in 100 short years. Where will the open areas be then? Will any wild areas survive or the animals that inhabit them? Will there be enough food, or water?This book:
Shows how overpopulation is the main driver of the extinction of wildlife, wildlands and the creation of pollution, including destructive greenhouse gases Smartly challenges those who don't believe that the overpopulation crisis is real Gives tangible ways we can all be part of the solution The first edition, Man Swarm and the Killing of Wildlife reached the conservationist community; in this new and updated edition, Man Swarm: How Overpopulation is Killing the Wild World, Dave Foreman and editor Laura Carroll expand the readership to the masses, from those in their reproductive years to educators, governors Congresspersons, and even world leaders. Overpopulation can be solved. This book maps out steps that will lead to a solution. If we save the natural world we will
Rupa Publications Hardcover 197 pages Flitting between genres like an overzealous sunbird in a spring garden, Zafar Futehally’s The Song of the Magpie Robin defies easy classification. Labelled a memoir for the sake of convenience, the book is just as much a primer to the early years of India’s conservation movement, and a treasury of natural history facts. Futehally, a giant in his time and a legend after, narrates with frank humility and wry humour the story of his life. Part I of the book, labelled and about Personal Memories, is a mere 50 pages long and encapsulates, amongst much else, Futehally’s early childhood, his marriage to Laeeq, his initiation into the world of business as a partner at Dynacraft Machine Co., a company started by his brother that allowed him to enter the world of conservation without worrying too much about funds, and his intense love for horses that endured till the very end (He was riding Lassie, his favourite mare, even at the age of 90). In this succinct section, he also chronicles his relationship with Laeeq’s uncle, the famous Sálim Ali who was responsible for triggering Futehally’s own interest in ornithology. Devoting more than a few pages of Part I to anecdotes about his uncle by marriage, Futehally’s respect for Ali is unmistakable. Part II of the book, titled Pioneering Conservation in India, is almost thrice as long as the earlier section and truly seems to be a guileless personal account of Futehally’s part in shaping the country’s conservation story. Irreverent of political correctness and diplomacy, he compliments or derides people and organisations exactly as he sees fit. (Wildlife enthusiasts, be warned, there is a chance that this book will expose the clay feet of your most admired conservation idol.) It would be pointless to try to summarise the number of projects Futehally initiated, spearheaded or supported; if I did, your brain would turn to alphabet soup. Sufficient to say, he was instrumental in establishing organisations such as the Bombay Natural History Society and WWF-India, editing the much-lovedNewsletter for Birdwatchers, and was the first Indian to be elected to the Executive Board of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Most striking though are not Futehally’s successes but his unabashed recollection of his many failed ventures. These self-effacing confessions are a reassuring reminder that conservation has always been hard work, but there are joys to still be had. Through his lifetime, Futehally also gathered a platoon of international friends and these characters, many of them great conservationists themselves, make frequent appearances in the pages of this book as he reminisces on his not infrequent work travels. To this end, he drolly recalls being accused of being an ‘anglophile’ more than once when he suggested getting the advice of an international expert for a project in India. The Song of the Magpie Robin gets slightly impersonal as it progresses, and there are points at which one forgets that they are reading a memoir and suspects that they are reading a conservation history book. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing if you’re a conservation junkie, but others may find these portions a little dull. Simply told and embellished with rare letters, certificates and pictures, The Song of the Magpie Robin should, without question, find a place on every nature lover’s bookshelf. At the end of the tome, though his conservation ideals have beamed through crystal clear, Futehally, the man, still remains an enigma. That is, until you read his daughter Zai’s brief but tender afterword. Couple that with the moving introduction penned by Shanthi and Ashish Chandola, and suddenly you realise that the man and his conservation ideals, are one and the same. In August of 2013, barely two weeks after Zafar’s death at the age of 93, I sat in the dimly-lit auditorium at WWF-India’s colossal Lodi Road office and listened to a host of people pay tribute to him. This book, reiterates the immense legacy that Zafar left behind, and I suspect, that for a long time to come, when I hear the call of a Magpie Robin, I will think of a man that I never met, but to whom I owe very much. See more Reviewed by ILCW member Cara Tejpal (India)
Little Black Lies In 1986, about a decade before Alberta's oil sands exploded onto the international energy scene, Harry G. Frankfurt wrote a provocative essay on an unlikely subject: the insidious influence of the half-truths, misinformation and propaganda that make up the news that is so prevalent in our society. Over roughly the same period, the controversial and unprecedented growth of the Alberta tar sands has escalated the amount of disinformation in the air almost as quickly as it has greenhouse gases. To either demonize or promote the most controversial energy source since nuclear power, environmental groups, Big Oil and government officials have assaulted us with an endless array of hype that hasnt been seen since the great tobacco wars. Jeff Gailus explores two of the most salient features of the early 21st century: the explosion of oil sands development and the ubiquity of hogwash. The two, he suggests, are engaged in a symbiotic dance that allows them both to thrive--to the detriment of our moral and social well-being.
Jeff Gailus The Grizzly Manifesto The grizzly bear, once the archetype for all that is wild, is quickly becoming a symbol of nature’s fierce but flagging resilience in the face of human greed and ignorance and the difficulty a wealth-addicted society has in changing its ways. North America’s grizzlies have been under siege ever since Europeans arrived. They’d survived the arrival of spear-wielding humans 13,000 years ago, outlived the short-faced bear, the dire wolf and the sabre-tooth cat--not to mention mastodons, mammoths and giant ground sloths the size of elephants but grizzly bears in much of Turtle Island succumbed to 375 years of unrelenting commercialization and industrialization, disappearing from the Great Plains and much of the mountain West. Despite their relatively successful recovery in Yellowstone National Park, the bears decline continues largely unchecked. And the front line in this centuries-old battle for survival has shifted to western Alberta and southern BC, where outdated mythologies, rapacious industry and disingenuous governments continue to push the Great Bear into the mountains and toward a future that may not have room for them at all.
Carlos Galindo-Leal Mexicanos por naturaleza As the popular saying goes, "If you don´t know an animal, don´t touch its ears". The book includes 36 independent chapters, from bacteria to whales, focused on selected groups (orders, families) of fungi, plants and animals. The table of contents is designed as a phylogenetic tree. In every chapter, taxonomic, ecological and cultural information on the group is described, particularly with relation to Mexico. Two chapters describe the main evolutionary steps that distinguish the major plant groups and animal groups. The final chapter closes with our ever present relation with nature. Mexicanos por naturaleza is beautifully designed using photos and old scientific illustrations.
Panthera onca Panthera onca was published to celebrate the institutional identity and the 35th anniversary of Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM). “In summary, the book contains everything you wanted to know about jaguars but were afraid to ask. It is full of details, information on the life, chores, worries, and even the menu that a jaguar would expect in a restaurant”, said José Sarukhan, ecologist and expresident of the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México. It is a book that presents a complete notion of the life and behavior of these cats, and it includes a splendid introduction by the historian Miguel León Portilla, that writes on the relations of different ethnic groups and the jaguar. The president of the Metropolitan Autonomous University, Jose Lema Labadie, pointed out that the book is fascinating and with great design. “The text does not only cover the jaguar from the present perspective, but includes an historical perspective in the prehispanic cultures…” The book Panthera onca includes photography of Antonio Pastrana, Juan Carlos Castillo and Miguel Angel Sicilia, a contains information on the evolution of this animal and other felines.” --Dr. José Sarukhán, Tyler Price
Kith: This latest book from Griffiths looks at different cultures' attitudes towards childhood, including how it is a political subject and exploring issues of freedom, will, play, time, animals, enclosure, surveillance, imagination, reverie, metaphor, the woods and the quest. Using history, philosophy, language and literature, and her own travels around the world, Jay Griffiths explores the experience of childhood in different cultures, and deep questions as to why many children in the West are so unhappy. The result is a passionate defence of the rights of children, and of the universal values of freedom, nature and the imagination.
Tristimania: New from Hamish Hamilton (UK) and Counterpoint (USA) Tristimania by ILCW member (UK) Jay Griffiths tells the story of a devastating year-long episode of manic depression. It seeks to record the experience of a condition which is at once terrifying and profoundly creative, both tricking and treating the psyche. In exploring its literary influence, the book examines the Trickster role, and looks at Shakespeare's work for deft and telling descriptions, tracing the mercuriality of manic depression through the character of Mercury. Griffiths is the author of author of Wild: An Elemental Journey, A Sideways Look at Time, Anarchipelago, A Love Letter from a Stray Moon, and Kith: The Riddle of the Childscape “Griffiths invites us to follow her down the rabbit hole of the human mind, stretching back centuries to show how the world, our own psyche and language are all deeply connected. Her unique gift of language and wit are utterly captivating.” -- Nikolai Fraiture, The Strokes “A book of terrible beauty; a dazzling testament to the moral and literary power of brokenness. I cried, shivered, and then laughed in gratitude for Griffiths's sheer bloody nerve.”-- Charles Foster
![]() Wild: 2006 first edition, Tarcher In Wild, Jay Griffiths describes an extraordinary odyssey through wildernesses of earth, ice, water, and fire. A poetic consideration of the tender connection between human society and the wild, the book is by turns passionate, political, funny, and harrowing. It is also a journey into that greatest of uncharted lands--the wilderness of the mind--and Griffiths beautifully explores the language and symbolism that shape our experience of our own wildness. Part travelogue, part manifesto for wildness as an essential character of life, Wild is a one-of-a-kind book from a one-of-a-kind author. Reviews: “A major book by a major writer.” – Bill McKibben
Second Nature: Saving Tiger Landscapes in the Twenty-First Century Beneath Sanjay Gubbi’s gentle demeanour lies Gandhian tenacity. Gubbi’s home state of Karnataka preserves some of the healthiest tiger landscapes in the world, thanks in part to his dogged commitment to achieve the seemingly impossible—reroute highways that lie inside the core areas of tiger reserves, restrict traffic through national parks at night, ensure better working conditions for forest staff, and, importantly, meticulously map and link the state’s fragile protected areas. Most amazing of all, he has done this while collaborating with labyrinthine government departments. Second Nature is Gubbi’s forthright account of how he has achieved this, rallying support from unexpected quarters under trying conditions, while reaching out to the powers that be in Bengaluru and New Delhi. He paints a picture that is at once optimistic and sombre, and ultimately, one that requires people to band together constantly to save what is left of what is most beautiful on Earth. Sanjay Gubbi is a scientist studying big cats like leopards and tigers in the wild. As a conservationist, he has achieved the remarkable feat of linking 21 reserves in Karnataka to reduce the terrible impact of habitat fragmentation. He was awarded the prestigious Whitley Award in 2017. He serves on several government committees including the State Board for Wildlife. He is especially keen on popularising conservation through local languages.
Life in Alaska's Tongass Rainforest illustrations by Ray Troll 2010, Braided River Hardcover, 176 pages A visually stunning book that gives shape--and voice--to one of North America's richest natural treasures. Gulick's photographs, combined with engaging and informative essays by some of the people who know the Tongass best, offer a multi-faceted introduction to the mind-boggling vitality of this remote and precious region. At its core, this book is an invitation to one of the world's most intact and vibrant wildernesses, and an exhortation to see this extraordinary, publicly owned resource as a model for what it is: a rare and not to be repeated opportunity to get it right. --John Vaillant, author of The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness, and Greed
Gathering from the Grassland: A Plains Journal 2017 This book is a rumination on the daily lives of an extraordinary writer-rancher, on the folk who raised her, and on the many ways physical and spiritual in which grass has sustained them and their cattle on this daunting South Dakota land. Hasselstrom s new journal, created day by day over an entire year, one blade at a time, unfolds like a new season s grasses. On the horizon, encircling everything she has seen, are echoes from the past. In offering a companion volume to her thirty-year-old Windbreak, Hasselstrom brings her prairie to life and puts her own self, and her forebears, under the microscope and makes sense of what once seemed chaotic.
Writings Collected from the Land First publishing 1991, Fulcrum Publishing Paperback, 432 pages This book is a collection of essays, poetry, and observations about South Dakota, about ranching and neighbors, about life and the death of a husband, about being a woman and a neighbor. Hasselstrom deals with both a land ethic and a work ethic, modern life on the grasslands of the high plains. She is a rancher and an environmentalist, planting wildflowers and raising cattle. She is an advocate of the prairies and the people and wildlife who inhabit them. This book shows how those who live off the land often have the greatest love of and respect for the land. This is a treasure of a book about the spirituality of the land. Excerpt: We are all creatures born to soil and wilderness; the outdoors, not an air-conditioned office or schoolroom with windows that can’t be opened, is our natural habitat. Night or day, walk out into the grass or woods alone, sit down, and listen. Dig in the earth; plant something. Walk and watch any living thing except another human. You will find some guidance, some comfort. To find more, to become fully human, you must commit more of yourself to the search.
![]() Flowers in the Sky The night sky of southern Africa offers some of the best stargazing on the planet. Consequently, the indigenous people of the subcontinent have been exposed to a cosmic clarity since time immemorial, developing complex knowledge systems in the process. Flowers in the Sky is a collection of stories that provides insight into our traditional cosmologies. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in astronomy and indigenous cultures, and the links they share. Researching this title entailed scouring academic records, reading widely and interviewing traditional healers and members of numerous indigenous societies. Over the years an idea that started out as intuition has slowly taken form in her mind. African culture reveals an intimacy with the natural environment that can provide an essential key to retrieving a global sense of kinship with nature. In other words, the sense of disease that results from a spiritual separation from the cosmos may be repaired by exposure to Review: This is a gem of a book. It is historically significant in that it reminds us that one of the great psychological tasks we face as human beings is that of our search for meaning, continuity and a sense of belonging in our world. We must never forget the continuity that exists between the ‘just so’ stories of the human narrative and the ‘so it is’ discoveries of modern science. Born from the same creative crucible of the human imagination, modern astronomy now confirms what human intuition has somehow always suspected -- that the fiery lives of stars have something to do with us. Indeed, without them, the trace elements that ultimately define biological life would not exist. Yes, we are connected, not only to the stars but to the lives of all living things. Imbued with fun, mischief and wisdom, it is what the traditional stories compiled by Clarissa Hughes conveys. As an environmentalist with a special interest in the lessons we learn about ourselves from the wild, this book will be a red-blooded companion to the teaching of the basic yet awesome principles of astronomy. Review: In the world of conservation, science has long been able to have its say, but there has been a lack of the authentic indigenous voices. This is a book not to be missed for those of us who seek deeper meaning in the stories of the indigenous cultures. [Clarissa’s] book adds a completely new dimension to star gazing. I agree wholeheartedly ... where she says, “In the West’s pursuit of the rational and the scientific, we have forgotten what we once knew – that all knowledge is interconnected,” and how in Southern African star tales religion is told in relation to nature. Jung would have heartily approved of Clarissa Hughes statement, “that we cannot survive alone. Reconnecting with our natural selves requires a spiritual development never before demanded of our species.” Clarissa Hughes has written a beautiful little book and she is to be congratulated for the warmth and the passion of
Aposematic Poison Frogs (Dendrobatidae) of the
Andean Countries “This guide in the diversity of poisonous frogs is a pleasure to read. The authors of each section are experts on the particular taxa… The distribution maps are well done and there are numerous photographs illustrating typical habitats. One thing that really stands out is the inclusion of generous illustrations of each species by Ted R. Kahn. These depictions are accurate and stunningly beautiful—one cannot help but be awed by the beauty and diversity of these frogs after perusing these wonderful renditions… All-in-all this is an excellent field guide that should serve as an invaluable resource to scientists and hobbyists alike.”
The Inner Green: This powerfully felt and deeply thoughtful book is full of stories, adventure and observations about the Columbia Mountains of British Columbia. K.Linda Kivi and Eileen Delehanty Pearkes have explored their connections to place and captured the essence of the ecosystems of the Interior Temperate Rainforest. The Inner Green is the kind of book I have been searching for -- it is destined to become a classic of its kind. --Luanne Armstrong, author of The Bone House
A Handbook on International Wilderness Law and Policy The book focuses on areas corresponding to the IUCN’s Category 1b-Wilderness classification. These areas are said to have three key values—biological, social, and iconic—that no other protected area classification can provide. The first of four sections in this book provides an overview of the wilderness concept, discusses the importance of creating law and policy to protect wilderness, and generates a list of compatible, rarely compatible, and incompatible forms of land use. The latter list may be somewhat controversial, as it is primarily based on the American conception of wilderness. For example, grazing is considered rarely compatible, and mechanized recreation is considered incompatible. The first section also provides a useful matrix of international wilderness definitions, legislative purpose, allowed activities, and administration and management of wilderness. As little discussion of this matrix is provided, this chapter might have been included as an appendix. A related useful addition would be an appendix providing copies of wilderness legislation, or to save space, a list of websites that provided each country’s legislation and policy. The second and largest section of the book provides an analysis of wilderness legislation from 11 countries. I found the discussion in each chapter that outlined the idiosyncratic history and primary issues affecting the creation of wilderness legislation in each nation to be the most interesting reading, and was disappointed not to see additional discussion of each country’s limitations and enabling factors that led to the protection of wilderness via legislation. Although beyond the scope of this handbook, it would be interesting to have a global analysis of the critical success (and failure) factors, to allow individuals and groups to learn from these lessons. The third section reviews wilderness policy from countries in Africa and Europe, and the final section discusses future directions for wilderness law and policy. In the latter chapter, issues such as ocean, indigenous, and private sector wilderness are discussed, and key findings from previous chapters are briefly outlined. This handbook admirably succeeds in its attempt to provide a state of the art review of global wilderness legislation and policy. I have no doubt that governments and nongovernmental organizations throughout the world would be well served to obtain a copy of this book to aid in their efforts to give wilderness the global protection it deserves. --John Shultis, the Interntional Journal of Wilderness
Summer/Fall 2016. Sojourns: celebrates the 100-year anniversary of the US National Park Service in this centennial issue. The editors reached out to ILCW member (USA) Page Lambert and asked her to craft an essay. The result was her piece, “Mother Tongue, Heartbeat of the Land.” Marcel Rodriguez of Utah wrote this about the essay: “I've been reading nature writers for most of my 93 years on the planet but the first seven paragraphs of your Mother Tongue essay in the current Sojourns is the most profoundly moving bit of writing I have ever read......” Read more about Sojourns magazine. Read more aboutPage Lambert’s writing.
![]() Your Water Footprint 2014, We know about our carbon footprint. Now environmental journalist Leahy alerts us to an even more daunting reality, our water footprint. There are no alternatives to water, and the supply of freshwater is finite. Obviously, we drink and use water in our daily routines, but we also consume massive quantities in agriculture and manufacturing. More than can be replaced. Leahy takes a uniquely clear and direct approach to revealing the magnitude of our hidden water profligacy by matching his exceptionally lucid narration with arresting, full-page infographics. We see that a pair of jeans, from cotton field to factory to you, requires 2,000 gallons of water. One measly liter of soybean-based biodiesel fuel requires 11,397 liters, or 3,010 gallons, of water. Page after page of such eye-opening calculations recalibrates our understanding of the invisible role water plays in every aspect of our lives, jarring disclosures that can help us make choices, however modest. For example, the production of one cup of tea requires 9 gallons of water; one cup of coffee, 37 gallons; two pounds of tomatoes, 56.5 gallons; two pounds of beef, 4,068 gallons. More information) --American Library Association
Tales from Concrete Jungles:
Born and raised in London, David Lindo's passionate interest in the natural world, especially birds, began at an early age. His thriving curiosity opened a door for him into an unexplored world of urban birding. Years later he decided to champion the delights of birding in cities and reinvented himself as the Urban Birder. Using this illustrious alias David Lindo has brought urban birding back into the public consciousness, promoting its virtues at every opportunity and writing about it in the birding press. He urges people to look up when walking around in cities, or to stop and close your eyes in a busy street just to listen to the birds that may be singing.
“Lindo... manages to find wildlife havens in every city he visits.” --Caroline Morley, New Scientist
“It's a hugely energising tome, recasting travel-frowned concrete slabs of the UK and some global stop-offs as secret tweety paradises.” --Wanderlust
The Urban This engaging autobiography of a lifelong fascination with birding reaches out to readers urging us to connect with the natural world, as it exists around us, no matter where we are. Lindo tells and shows us that, just beyond our normal but limited perceptions, is a world that goes its own way whether or not we notice. So he asks, why don’t we take some time, look around, ask questions, research and learn about this not so hidden environment? More than shows on TV or information on the internet is available to all of us and especially children who don’t have the means to independently go into the wild. Lindo shows us that our contact with nature is not limited to the wilderness as he demonstrates how to see, listen and discover the natural world within our Another more unexpected aspect of this book is Lindo’s exposure of his fear of birds. He saw Hitchcock’s movie, The Birds, as a young child and still carries the fear Hitchcock intended to convey. While able to control his reaction to that fear, and having viewed the movie with adult eyes that allow him to see the not so special effects used, the fear is still primal. Not all of us are able to see ourselves so clearly. --Judy Volc
John Muir In a series of richly painted landscapes, Thomas Locker brings the world and words of John Muir to readers of all ages. Equally at home in the wilderness of California and Alaska, Muir was a fervid naturalist who wrote inspiring lyrical descriptions of nature for the benefit of future generations. He also founded the Sierra Club to encourage citizens to protect what he considered our greatest treasure: the natural world. With text and illustrations accompanied by excerpts from Muir's writings, John Muir allows readers to experience Muir's adventures in nature and his contagious passion for wild lands. He recognized that wilderness should not only be appreciated but should be fought for, and his life and work eventually sparked the preservationist movement in the United States and throughout the world. Includes excerpts from Muir's work and a time line of major events in his life.
Ecological Intelligence
Rediscovering Ourselves in Natur Ecological Intelligence defines a new way of thinking about the unprecedented environmental pressures of our day. The book explores the relationship between nature and humans from both a biological and a poetic perspective, arguing that understanding and reinforcing the evolutionary bonds will lead to a greater sense of our place in the world. The notion of ecological intelligence is a wild and ethical imperative—a reminder that we are intrinsically linked to the land, that the history of every living creature is within us, that we are a mindful species that must not be the creatures of our own undoing. Excerpt Have we forgotten that wilderness is not a place but a pattern of soul where every tree, every bird and beast is a soul marker? Have we not forgotten that wilderness is not a place but a moving feast of stars, footprints, scales and beginnings? Since when did we become afraid of the night and that only the bright stars count? Or that a moon is not a moon unless it is full?
Off Grid and Free: New from Moon Willow Press, Off Grid and Free: My Path to the Wilderness, is about the journey Ron Melchiore undertook as a young man from the city, who first homesteaded in northern Maine and then lived in the bush of northern Saskatchewan. Living off grid since 1980 Melchiore speaks candidly about the joys and tribulations of his chosen lifestyle. He shares the diversity of his experiences in an easy-to-read, humorous, and sometimes harrowing narrative that includes hiking the 2,100 mile Appalachian Trail in winter, bicycling across the United States, homesteading off grid, and the terror of being surrounded by a wildfire and surprise encounters with bears, and more. Melchiore hopes to inspire others to “take the road less traveled.” He and his wife Johanna have lived off grid for many decades and currently reside in their Saskatchewan wilderness home that they built themselves. They rely on solar energy, a wind turbine, and growing their own vegetables. More information is available here.
The Adventures of Anuk is an ecological story of an Assisi Human on a quest to save the world. Despite her curious appearance as an Assisi Human, Anuk had a normal childhood and was happy living with her adopted parents in a faraway land where three suns pass in the sky overhead. She loved collecting yamagoos berries in the fields and helping her mother run the kitchen at their Inn. Then, on her sixteenth birthday, Anuk receives a summons by the messenger Aye who says it is time to return to faraway Roese Island. Though reluctant to leave her home and family, Anuk is assured by her parents that they always knew the time would come when she must leave and fulfill her destiny as an Assisi.
Anuk Book of Words This is book two in the Anuk Series, Adorable Assisi Human Anuk. The exploring equine human hybrid, embarks on a second life-changing journey to save the Orb’s animal beings from extinction. Guided by the mystical, priceless, and powerful Book of Words, Anuk and her faithful crew risk everything trekking to the underside of the Orb. With her loyal friends and new mentors, Anuk learns leadership as she confronts harsh truths of humanity, love, and loss while navigating the joyful journey to personal power.
![]() The Soul of Yosemite Yosemite Valley's finely-woven ecological fabric is unraveling due to a combination of too many visitors and too much development. Barbara J. Moritsch gained a stunning insider's view of park management when she worked as a biologist in Yosemite Valley between 2002 and 2005. In The Soul of Yosemite, she shares her passion for the Valley, addresses management decisions that resulted in severely degraded natural resources, and presents a new vision that will fully embrace the Valley's incredible uniqueness and restore its wild nature. Moritsch strongly urges the National Park Service to reduce the impact of humans on Yosemite Valley once and for all, to bring their management focus back to the basics: natural beauty and wildness, and to recognize Yosemite's unique role as an emissary for wildness in the world--a much more important role than serving as a playground for the masses.
WILD ROOTS: --From a review by L. G. Cullens
Zulu Wilderness This is a book about Ian Player and his lifelong mentor, Magqubu Ntombela, a Zulu chief and game guard who spent almost all of his life in the service of wilderness conservation. It is also the story of South Africa, of civilization and wilderness, and of learning about nature and ourselves, about the past and the future. The last half-century has been an important time in the development of ideas about the importance of wilderness and its preservation. Ian Player is one of the most important individual in this fight. This book describes his and Magqubu’s friendship and experiences in South Africa. Excerpt On frequent trips to Europe, the United States, and the Far East, I have noticed that among people, there is a weariness caused by travel without purpose. Instead of pilgrimages there are escapes. Africa can reintroduce this pilgrimage and give a new dimension to travel linked to our new age of exploration not only of outer space but also of the inner dimensions of humaness.
The compelling essays in Bernard Quetchenbach’s Accidental Gravity move from upstate New York to the western United States, from urban and suburban places to wild lands. In the first section of the book, he focuses on suburban neighborhoods, where residents respond ambivalently to golf-course geese and other unruly natural presences; in the second section, he juxtaposes these humanized places with Yellowstone National Park. Quetchenbach writes about current environmental issues in the Greater Yellowstone area—wildfire, invasive species, ever-increasing numbers of tourists—in the context of climate change and other contemporary pressures. Accidental Gravity negotiates the difficult edge between a naive belief in an enduring, unassailable natural world and the equally naive belief that human life takes place in some unnatural, more mediated context. The title refers to the accidental but nonetheless meaningful nexus where the personal meets and combines with the universal—those serendipitous moments when the individual life connects to the larger rhythms of time and planet.
ILCW member *Bernard Quetchenbach contributed one of the stories in this anthology effort to raise awareness and activism regarding the need to protect wild lands of the greater Yellowstone ecosystem from extractive and destructive threats. Profits will be used to assist environmental organizations in their efforts to protect these lands. The project grew out of local efforts in Park County to stop two gold mining proposals at the northern gateway to Yellowstone, and includes poetry, essay and fiction by 32 Montana writers including Rick Bass, Tami Haaland, Doug Peacock and the late Jim Harrison. “When multinational companies aspire to tear through one of the most pristine ecosystems in the world for the sake of the gold underneath, the only civilized response is outrage. And if you’re a writer, an artist, the most natural corollary to outrage is creation. Building something beautiful in the face of a prospect that is unspeakably ugly. With Unearthing Paradise, some of the best writers in the Rocky Mountain West come together to speak against the possibility of gold mines in Montana’s Paradise Valley and the border of Yellowstone National Park. An urgent and compelling call to arms as well as a significant work of art in its own right, Unearthing Paradise is a must read for anyone who cares about Montana, about the greater Yellowstone ecosystem or the simple justice of preserving an invaluable public resource against private exploitation.
–Allen Morris Jones, author of A Bloom of Bones and A Quiet Place of Violence
Creatures of the Intertidal Zone A collection of poetry, Creatures of the Intertidal Zone, was inspired by Richardson’s journey through Iceland, Greenland and Newfoundland in the footsteps of an intrepid eleventh century female Viking. One of the collection’s central themes is the impact of climate change and other environmental issues on the landscape of the arctic and sub-arctic.
Skindancing Susan Richardson knows her poems off by heart. She doesn’t read them; she performs them. When you hear the words, it’s easy to understand why. Her words fit together; pick one up and you pick up the whole concatenation. Not only are the vowels and consonants locked together but the ideas, too, flow as indivisibly – and refreshingly – as water in a stream. If a lion could speak,
Where the Air is Rarefied Where the Air is Rarefied is the culmination of a long-term collaboration between Susan Richardson and printmaker Pat Gregory, which explores environmental and mythological themes relating to the idea of “the North”. In the process of making the work, and engaging with ideas around climate change, biodiversity loss and resource depletion, both poet and artist have drawn on a wide variety of sources, including Inuit Folk Tales and polar explorers' narratives, as well as on their own travels in Northern, sub-Arctic and Arctic regions. The book is available here Review: The subject matter of this collaboration builds on the concerns and subjects of Susan Richardson's previous volume, Creatures of the Intertidal Zone, but the interplay with visual art has stimulated a new freedom and experiment with language ... pushing her work well beyond her previous comfort zones and ... making her emergence into a new breadth and vividness of voice, a new stage in her life as a poet. —Philip Gross, poet
Words the Turtle Taught Me
Described by writer Philip Hoare as ‘vital, glorious, salutary’, it grew out of Susan’s recent poetry residency with the Marine Conservation Society. Fostering engagement with endangered ocean species, it blends poetry and prose, science and shamanism, contemporary ecological peril and ancient myth. For more information, click here.
Saving Wild According to scientists, we are entering the sixth great mass extinction event. Full of inspiration and hope, this book is an antidote for anyone who suffers from ecological despair over the current state of our planets wildlife and wild places. Lori Robinson sought out fifty of the world’s leading conservationists, men and women who have devoted their lives to saving some of the most endangered species and the most threatened areas on earth. To each she posed the question: How do you stay inspired? This book is the result. Among the people Robinson interviewed are wildlife filmmakers Beverly and Dereck Joubert, elephant experts Daphne Sheldrick, Cynthia Moss and Joyce Poole, and ocean warrior Paul Watson. She spoke with Kristine McDivitt Tompkins, former CEO of Patagonia, and with Laura Turner, daughter of one of America’s most prominent conservationists. In the foreword Jane Goodall explains that she finds hope in the indomitable human spirit “embodied in the people who tackle seemingly impossible problems, and refuse to give up, and who so often succeed— like the inspirational people in this book.” Lori Robinson holds degrees in environmental studies, biology and psychology. She writes about conservation for various blogs and magazines, including Africa Geographic and her own site, SavingWild.com and is a fellow of the International League of Conservation Writers. She lives alongside deer, coyote, rabbits, and bear in a small old adobe home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. This is her second book. Info
![]() Wild Lives Leading Conservationists on the Animals and the Planet They Love 2017, Skyhorse Publishing Hardcover, 224 pages Passionate and inspiring,Wild Lives is an important and timely reminder of the beauty and fragility of our world and the obligation that every person has towards preserving it. “Almost every day we hear one more story about a species facing extinction, a habitat destroyed. And indeed, planet earth has never been so threatened by human actions. This is why Wild Lives is so desperately important. The people in this book are united by their belief that it is not too late to turn things around. You will be inspired by their stories. You will realize that there is hope for the future if we join the fight, if each of us does our bit.” ―Jane Goodall, PhD, DBE,
Doug Scott Our Wilderness
In the seventeenth century, America was wilderness except for a small strip along the Atlantic Ocean. Through the westward migration, increases in population, and modern industry and mining, much of it disappeared. Yet throughout the twentieth century, and especially in the 1950s through the 1980s, many people fought for wilderness, clean air, and clean water. Our Wilderness is a visual and verbal celebration of the importance and joy of wilderness. This book should be read by everyone who cares about wilderness and recognizes the obligation to preserve wilderness for our grandchildren. Excerpt Of the many values wilderness offers, none is more important than stimulating our understanding of the natural world, on a small as well as a large scale. In wilderness areas we protect the natural communities of plants and animals, including threatened and endangered species. Here wildflowers bloom in dazzling displays and wildlife can be found “pasturing freely,” in Thoreau’s phrase—including species such as mountain goats, elk, spawning salmon, woodpeckers, wolverine, and grizzlies, which require large, undisturbed habits to survive. Thus preserving wilderness areas helps maintain life-sustaining biodiversity.
Ladders to Heaven:
Gods, Wasps and Stranglers: 2016, 208 pages, Chelsea Green Publishing (No. Am. Ed.) They are trees of life and trees of knowledge. They are wish-fulfillers … rainforest royalty. They are the fig trees, and they have affected humanity in profound but little-known ways. Ladders to Heaven / Gods, Wasps and Stranglers tells their amazing story. Fig trees fed our pre-human ancestors, influenced diverse cultures and played key roles in the dawn of civilization. They feature in every major religion, starring alongside Adam and Eve, Krishna and Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad. This is no coincidence – fig trees are special. They evolved when giant dinosaurs still roamed and have been shaping our world ever since. These trees intrigued Aristotle and amazed Alexander the Great. They were instrumental in Kenya’s struggle for independence and helped restore life after Krakatoa’s catastrophic eruption. Egypt’s Pharaohs hoped to meet fig trees in the afterlife and Queen Elizabeth II was asleep in one when she ascended the throne. And all because 80 million years ago these trees cut a curious deal with some tiny wasps. Thanks to this deal, figs sustain more species of birds and mammals than any other trees, making them vital to rainforests. In a time of falling trees and rising temperatures, their story offers hope. Ultimately, it’s a story about humanity’s relationship with nature. The story of the fig trees stretches back tens of millions of years, but it is as relevant to our future as it is to our past.
![]() Changing Paths Written in three parts, Changing Paths: Travels and Meditations in Alaska's Arctic Wilderness explores author Bill Sherwonit's long-running and life-changing relationship with the Central Brooks Range. The narrative is framed by a two-week, 50-mile solo trek that Sherwonit took through Alaska's northernmost mountain chain at age 50. Within that framework, he moves across space and time to explore both his own and our culture's evolving relationship with wilderness and, more generally, wild nature. Part 1 describes Sherwonit's introduction to the Brooks Range, his years as an exploration geologist, and the narrative's key scene or transforming moment: a discovery he makes in the Ambler River Valley. Part 2 takes the author deeper into the past, to explore his childhood roots in rural Connecticut and his recognition of wild nature as refuge. Part 3 follows Sherwonit as he becomes a nature writer and wilderness advocate, moving steadily deeper into the wilderness, both physically and spiritually. Here the narrative "opens up" to include reflections on the larger importance of wilderness to humans and the essential value of wild nature, in and of itself. The story also reflects upon Bob Marshall's wilderness-preservation legacy, the creation of Gates of the Arctic National park, the Nunamiut Eskimo people who live here, the necessity of solitude, and much more.
Montevivo
Montevivo follows in the genre of anthropomorphised animal fiction classics such as The Wind in the Willows or Watership Downand targets everyone who loves animals, nature and the countryside. The novel begins with a mysterious character's miraculous escape from death. Reading on, one is submerged into the idyllic world of Montevivo; a remote mountain which could be in any temperate wilderness on Earth. The protagonists are talking animals who have developed a culture based on literacy, self-sufficiency, farming, barter and crafts. Events are narrated through the eyes of the protagonist who is saved by a noble brown bear whom he loyally accompanies through many adventures. These would appear to culminate with the Montevivo annual Harvest and Music festival which brings together hundreds of other animal characters from the surrounding sierras. However passions for food, poetry, partying, music and romance have to be put to one side when a vile crime is perpetrated. Thereafter the suspense of a brutal thriller engulfs the reader.This story spans 33 chapters, and includes more than 30 colour original pictures created by the author (etchings, paintings, lithographs, ink and graphite works of art all digitally enhanced using computer graphics). Wildlife conservation and environmental awareness are woven into this story and the environmental focus is complemented by a factual Wildlife Glossary with colour photographs that details the conservation status of the 42 animal species appearing in Montevivo. More information
A River Runs Again Meera Subramanian is a US-based journalist and Fulbright-Nehru senior research fellow writes about culture, faith and the environment for newspapers and magazines around the world. The narrative nonfiction explores the human and global health implications of India’s ravaged environmental landscape in stories framed around the five elements. Publishers’ Weekly gave it a starred review, Kirkus Reviews called it “right thinking and accusatory in all the right places,” and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Elizabeth Kolbert said it is “at once sweeping and intimate—a smart, informative, richly reported book full of memorable characters.”
David Brower In this first comprehensive authorized biography of David Brower, a dynamic leader in the environmental movement over the last half of the twentieth century, Tom Turner explores Brower's impact on the movement from its beginnings until his death in 2000. Frequently compared to John Muir, David Brower was the first executive director of the Sierra Club, founded Friends of the Earth, and helped secure passage of the Wilderness Act, among other key achievements. Tapping his passion for wilderness and for the mountains he scaled in his youth, he was a central figure in the creation of the Point Reyes National Seashore and of the North Cascades and Redwood national parks. In addition, Brower worked tirelessly in successful efforts to keep dams from being built in Dinosaur National Monument and the Grand Canyon.
The 6th book in the America's Ecosystems series by Marianne D. Wallace explores everything from ponderosa pines of the West to the tropical rain forests of Central America. A great resource for budding naturalists and their families, including clear, informative text and superb illustrations by the author. Did you know there are forests all over North America that provide homes to thousands of unique trees, plants and animals? This fun, informative book gives color pictures and lively description of many different kinds of forests, along with guides to discovering new and interesting animals. The whole family can have fun learning about forest layers, changing seasons and diverse habitats with this fascinating guide.
Aldo Leopold’s Odyssey, Tenth Anniversary Edition With a new preface and foreword by Bill McKibben, Aldo Leopold’s Odyssey, Tenth Anniversary Edition, underscores the ever-growing importance of Leopold’s ideas in an increasingly human-dominated landscape. Drawing on unpublished archives, Julianne Lutz Warren traces Leopold’s quest to define and preserve land health. Leopold's journey took him from Iowa to Yale to the Southwest to Wisconsin, with fascinating stops along the way to probe the causes of early land settlement failures, contribute to the emerging science of ecology, and craft a new vision for land use. Leopold’s life was dedicated to one fundamental dilemma: how can people live prosperously on the land and keep it healthy, too? For anyone compelled by this question, the Tenth Anniversary Edition of Aldo Leopold’s Odyssey offers insight and inspiration.
Tread Softly After living on the Arabian Peninsula and the Tibetan Plateau, in the Everglades (as a poet-in-residence), in Macau, Thailand, and Chengdu, China—a city so polluted the sun seldom breaks through the smog to shine—Diana Woodcock now follows Christina Georgina Rossetti’s mandate, “Tread softly! All the earth is holy ground.” This, her third collection of poems, was inspired by it. Perhaps for a poet who grew up memorizing nature psalms of the Old Testament and singing “This is My Father’s World,” it was inevitable that her poetry eventually would take a turn toward ecological concerns, merging her spirituality with her love for all earthly beings. For more information, click here.
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