Product Description
Identifying trees and shrubs by their scientific name is an essential component of the professional skills of foresters and other types of environmental scientists. This book is an ideal guide for learning procedures as well as a reference book for field use. Written at a more sophisticated, professional level than most field guides, this book also explains the rationale of taxonomic classification systems and explains how plant types are linked to the whole forest ecology. ... Read more

Product Description
Fire in Sierra Nevada Forests examines the woodlands through repeat photography: rephotographing sites depicted in historical photographs to compare past vegetation to present. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Revelance in Today's Fire Suppresssion Environment
My daughter, a Fire Captain for Cal Fire, feels this book is very informative to her in her Fire Suppression work.

Fire in Sierra Nevada Forests
If you are interested in the history of the forests in the Sierras and also how past practices managed the forests better than we are doing now, this is a book of photographs for you.It is a basis for the new proposed forest practice of letting the fires burn to get rid of the underbrush and fire ladders.It also benefits the animals.

A One-of-a-Kind Book About Forest Ecology
Forest ecology is in its infancy.Since humans have been messing with forests by chopping trees since their evolutionary arrival on the planet, it is rare to have any forest available to serve as a "before and after" example of human impact.With the Sierra Nevada, we do have photographic data available on the impact of European man on them thanks to those early pioneers of photography who hiked the mountains and photographed them.

George Gruell has done a lot of leg work here to bring many examples of Sierra Nevada forests in photographs from the past 150 years or so of human impact, and compared them to recent shots he took from as close to the origial location of the shot taken by the original photographer.These are presented side by side to give the reader a nice comparision.In this way, one is able to visually compare the forest from say 100 years ago to today.The images are startling.

For example; his photos prove that there really are a lot more trees living today than there were when Europeans first entered the Sierra Nevada.Probably, this is because of fire suppression as well as early loggers having removed a lot of the big old growth stands.Even the famed floor of Yosemite is now mostly forested with conifers.I myself love conifers but George makes an interesting point that these forests are "man made" and in many ways are unhealthy from the standpoint that they lead to canopy firestorms that normally don't exsist when fires are allowed to naturally burn themselves out.Fire ecology is important and our fear of forest fires has led to an ever worsening situation in the Sierra Nevada.

I recommend a quick read through this book for anyone interested in Sierra Nevada forest ecology.

Wonderful photos
I found this book most interesting just because of the old photos. While you do look at the then and now shots and see how much has changed, it seems like most of the changes don't have a lot to do with fire. Most of the old photos were taking from development locations, be they mining operations, railroad construction, or town development. So when compared to the current photos the manmade destruction of the land is long gone. It is amaizng to see how the land will return to its wilderness origins once the hands of man are taken away.

Facts over rhetoric
With Bush touring the West talking about logging as the solution to preventing ever larger forest fires, this book provides ample documentation that FIRE SUPRESSION and MONOCULTURE REPLANTING are the real causes of the current explosive environment.

I first saw this book at the top of Mt. Harkness.The fire watchman there pointed it out to me, as we both struggled to peer at Mt. Shasta through the smoky haze created by the Biscuit and Fremont fires.

The differences in the trees and ground cover between now and the last century is striking.Most of the photos taken in the late 1800's show trees devoid of branches below 20 feet, and very little ground cover.Photos of the same area taken recently show thickly limbed trees down to ground level, with dense underbrush.Without hundreds of little fires to regularly clear out the low limbs and undergrowth, the forests become dense tinderboxes.When a fire finally breaks through fire suppression, it kills the trees instead of burning their limbs. ... Read more

Product Description
Conveying the wide-ranging scope of forestry and the great challenges that lie ahead, this Third Edition brings together leading forestry experts and gives readers a broad overview of the field. Coverage ranges from the basic cell, individual trees, and the forest stand, to management of the forest stand and acquisition of goods and services from the forest. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

My Review
Book is for a class I am taking.Great price here.More wear and tear and lots of used stickers and writing in the book.More than I expected from the description from seller.For the price it was worth it.

Great, couldn't be better!
It is a very clean book and arrived on time. I liked what i got and help me save some money by buying it online instead of at the bookstore. Thank you. ... Read more

Product Description
Colorful transparent pages that peel away to vary the illustrations explore the mysteries of the Amazon rain forest and the creatures that live amidst its dense and colorful foliage. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Rain Forest
It's an excellent first discovery book. It tells you a lot about the Amazon Rain forest and the river basin.

This book shows children the rain forest plants and animals and things destroying this area today.Ithas many colourful pictures, some on transparent flip pages. From lazylizards to beautiful birds, from chattering capuchins to wet water lily,this book shows some of the rarest species living in the rain forest.

This book would be excellent for children under the age ofeleven. ... Read more

Product Description
In this far-reaching examination of environmental problems and politics in northern Thailand, Tim Forsyth and Andrew Walker analyze deforestation, water supply, soil erosion, use of agrochemicals, and biodiversity in order to challenge popularly held notions of environmental crisis. They argue that such crises have been used to support political objectives of state expansion and control in the uplands. They have also been used to justify the alternative directions advocated by an array of NGOs. In official and alternative discourses of economic development, the peoples living in Thailand's hill country are typically cast as either guardians or destroyers of forest resources, often depending on their ethnicity.Political and historical factors have created a simplistic, misleading, and often scientifically inaccurate environmental narrative: Hmong farmers, for example, are thought to exhibit environmentally destructive practices, whereas the Karen are seen as linked to and protective of their ancestral home. Forsyth and Walker reveal a much more complex relationship of hill farmers to the land, to other ethnic groups, and to the state.They conclude that current explanations fail to address the real causes of environmental problems and unnecessarily restrict the livelihoods of local people. The authors' critical assessment of simplistic environmental narratives, as well as their suggestions for finding solutions, will be valuable in international policy discussions about environmental issues in rapidly developing countries.Moreover, their redefinition of northern Thailand's environmental problems, and their analysis of how political influences have reinforced inappropriate policies, demonstrate new ways of analyzing how environmental science and knowledge are important arenas for political control. This book makes valuable contributions to Thai studies and more generally to the fields of environmental science, ecology, geography, anthropology, and political science, as well as to policy making and resource management in the developing world. Tim Forsyth is a reader at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Andrew Walker is a fellow in the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, the Australian National University. ... Read more

Product Description
Secondary environmental education program. Includes a special section of fire ecology and management. ... Read more

Product Description
The popular Rookie Books expand their horizons - to all corners of the globe! With this series all about geography, emergent readers will take off on adventures to cities, nations, waterways, and habitats around the worldÂ…and right in their own backyards. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Living in a Rain Forest
This book is for emergent readers and ESOL students specifically but I also use them to reinforce and introduce topics to better readers.They are quick easy reads which can help clear up the cobwebs of confusion at times. ... Read more

Product Description
Throughout much of human history, changes to forest ecosystems have come about through natural climatic changes occurring over long periods of time. But scientists now find changes in forest cover dramatically accelerated by such human activities as large-scale agriculture, the building of dams and roads, and the growth of cities with vast areas of asphalt. Changes that once took centuries now take only decades. Seeing the Forest and the Trees examines changes in land cover and land use in forested regions as major contributors to global environmental change. It investigates why some forested areas thrive even in the presence of high human densities and activity while others decline and disappear.

The book brings together findings from an ongoing, large-scale, multidisciplinary research project undertaken by anthropologists, geographers, economists, sociologists, political scientists, environmental scientists, and biologists in more than twelve countries at over eighty locations. After addressing theory and methodology, including chapters on satellite remote sensing, geographic information systems, and modeling of land-cover change, the book presents case studies that compare data across sites and across temporal and spatial scales. It contributes to Human Dimensions in Global Change research and proposes new directions for this area of study. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The second growth club
What people do is behind the build-up of earth-warming gases. For example, carbon dioxide builds up from people using fossil fuels and cutting down tropical forests. Methane builds up from people raising so many animals and so much irrigated rice. These gases change climate. Changed climate means changed air and water, changed farming, and changed life.

In these cases, people change land cover by changing land use. Is it surprising that changing forest cover is so serious? Trees are homes to plants, people, bugs, birds and animals. They keep us all breathing, by adding oxygen to the air. They make sure there's carbon, what with green things growing old and dying. They make sure there's water by getting rainfall into the ground and the water table. They make sure water levels stay about the same in streams and stop soil erosion on stream banks.

Land cover always changes. But that used to be part of natural climate changes taking place over a long time. What's different now is fast-paced land clearing for grazing, farming, and building dams, roads and suburbs. Some forests grow back. Others not.

Natural scientists were the first squeaky wheels about the role of people in all this. They couldn't come up with solutions, on their own, to problem changes in air and weather. They needed the help of social scientists. For everywhere natural scientists were SEEING THE FOREST AND THE TREES they were also seeing HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS IN FOREST ECOSYSTEMS.

Editors Emilio F Moran and Elinor Ostrom, along with their contributing writers, all agree the future of forests, forest livers, and people depends on natural and social scientists working together. The problems of the forest, and of the quality of life on earth, have nature and people aspects. But our educational system gets in the way of this kind of problem-solving. From elementary schools all the way through universities, the natural and social sciences are kept apart. That can change, with enough time, goodwill and effort, say the editors and writers. And the Center for the Study of Institutions, Population, and Environmental Change at Indiana University sets a fine example.

This well-indexed book has helpful tables, photographs and figures. It ends with a good glossary and an up-to-date set of references. The editors say they're writing for university and university-level research settings. The style and wording can be academic. But the problems and problem-solving go with clear graphics, examples and conclusions. So readers should catch all the fine points of what Virginia Tech master gardeners call that most important wildlands-urban interface. ... Read more

Product Description
Janisse Ray grew up in a junkyard along U.S. Highway 1, hidden from Florida-bound vacationers by the hedge at the edge of the road and by hulks of old cars and stacks of blown-out tires. Ecology of a Cracker Childhood tells how a childhood spent in rural isolation and steeped in religious fundamentalism grew into a passion to save the almost vanished longleaf pine ecosystem that once covered the South. In language at once colloquial, elegiac, and informative, Ray redeems two Souths. "Suffused with the same history-haunted sense of loss that imprints so much of the South and its literature. What sets Ecology of a Cracker Childhood apart is the ambitious and arresting mission implied in its title. . . . Heartfelt and refreshing." - The New York Times Book Review.Amazon.com Review
The scrubby forests of southern Georgia, dotting a landscapeof low hills and swampy bottoms, are not what many people wouldconsider to be exalted country, the sort of place to inspire lyricalconsiderations of nature and culture. Yet that is just what essayistJanisse Ray delivers in her memorable debut, a memoir of life in apart of America that roads and towns have passed by, a land settled byhardscrabble Scots herders who wanted nothing more than to be leftalone, and who bear the derogatory epithet "cracker" with quietpride.

Ray grew up in a junkyard outside what had been longleafpine forest, an ecosystem that has nearly disappeared in the AmericanSouth through excessive logging. Her family had little money, but thatwas not important; they more than made up for material want throughunabashed love and a passion for learning, values that underlie everyturn of Ray's narrative.She finds beauty in weeds and puddles,celebrates the ways of tortoises and woodpeckers, and arguespowerfully for the virtues of establishing a connection with one'snative ground.

"I carry the landscape inside like an ache," Raywrites. Her evocations of fog-enshrouded woods and old ways of livingare not without pain for all that has been lost--but full of hope aswell for what can be saved. --Gregory McNamee ... Read more

Customer Reviews (45)

Rare gift
I came across this book quite by accident and was intrigued by its title. Despite it's being a "Georgia Book of the Year" I had never heard of it (because I'm in Seattle?) This book tells the story of a way of life and the ecology of a region that is often ignored. It was so beautifully written that I think of it as prose poetry. I recently passed it on to my parents who live in northeast Florida. It was hard for me to give it up. I want to read it again and share it with other people. I guess I'll just be buying more copies.

Janisse Ray weaves the story of her childhood and her family through the warp and weft of life in rural Georgia and the ecology of the once vast longleaf pine forests. It is a book that reminds us that all things are connected, and that people everywhere have worth and essentially desire the same things. I highly recommend this book. I could not put it down.

growing up in a south Georgia junkyard
My husband and I have bicycled all over the southern part of Georgia, so that I particularly enjoyed revisiting the town of Baxley through this book and seeing it through the eyes of someone who grew up there.Janisse Ray's family owned a junkyard, and that seems somewhat incongruous in a book whose title includes the word "ecology."Oddly enough, the junkyard was a giant recycling zone of sorts, where discarded parts could be resurrected in other vehicles.It's a stretch, but I get it.The author alternates chapters about her childhood with observations on the deforestation and diminishing wildlife populations in the area.Her focus is largely on the longleaf pine, which was all but eliminated from the planet by construction, turpentine production and wood-burning locomotives. There's also a heartbreaking story about a captured gopher tortoise that will forever haunt me.Although, she was well-loved, well-fed, and well-educated, Ms. Ray did not have an easy life, having to dress and behave in accordance with her family's apostolic religious beliefs.Her family stories are mostly upbeat, though, except for that of the whipping her father doles out to all the children for witnessing an episode of animal cruelty without making an effort to stop it.Also, my husband and I obsessed for several hours over a math problem that appears in the book without its solution.Only in my household....

The Hobo Philosopher
Ecology of a Cracker Childhood

By Janisse Ray

Book Review

By Richard Edward Noble

I've lived in Florida and on a bay for a few decades. I have been a seafood worker. I caught oysters for a living. Seafood workers from my area have been fighting for clean water and a clean bay forever. But it is strange. The same folks who toss their old washing machines onto the beach and watch them get buried by the tide; the same folks who throw their old couches out into the woods; the same folks who clutter the bay water with the beer cans and debris from their work boats; the same folks who put an old 50 gallon metal drum in their backyard to drain their sewerage in place of a proper septic system; these are the same people who are marching in front of the capital building protesting for clean water and a properly managed bay. It all seems so ... inconsistent.

Oh, I know why they do these improper things. They do them because they are poor and the bay and the woods that surround them belong to them, they think. Truthfully speaking, pollution and a lack of concern for the environment have long been an American tradition for most of us. I have been one of the poor, stupid polluters. If you don't have any money, it is easier to toss that old washing machine onto the beach, or throw that couch into the woods. I understand those actions.

And that is what I see in this book - the inconsistency. When I was a young man I smoked, drank and worked out every other day to build a strong body. Sometimes I smoked while I was lifting my weights. The winding river that ran through the industrial mill town where I lived was filled with textile dyes and paper industry chemicals. It was used as a city dump for the tenement dwellers in the area. Today the children of the violating polluters are busy forming groups to dredge out all the old automobile tires, furniture and old bicycles. Seems strange ... inconsistent ... but very real. It has got to make you stop and think.

The author of this book was raised in a junkyard beside route 1 along the east coast. She grew up and became an environmentalist. She has written this autobiography of her junkyard childhood and alternates it with chapters about the dwindling Florida longleaf pine. On the one hand we can say how cleaver. What a unique writing trick or technique. But the book isn't a writing ploy. Her autobiography is no "Tobacco Road," making light of her poor upbringing. It is the counter positioning of two things that the author has grown to love and respect, wright or wrong - her struggling family, friends and neighbors and the beautiful trees and woods surrounding their homestead.

This is a good book. Well worth buying and reading. It is filled with contrasts and inconsistencies. But they are viewed with love and understanding - the good and the bad side by side. We get an honest look at ourselves and a glimpse of what we can be - if we try hard enough.


Books written by Richard Noble - The Hobo Philosopher:
"Hobo-ing America: A Workingman's Tour of the U.S.A.."
"A Summer with Charlie" Salisbury Beach, Lawrence YMCA
"A Little Something: Poetry and Prose
"Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother" Novel - Lawrence, Ma.
"The Eastpointer" Selections from award winning column.
"Noble Notes on Famous Folks" Humor - satire - facts.
"America on Strike" American Labor - History
"A Baker's Dozen" Short Stories

Very unhappy with Amazon, Barnes and Noble is better!
I never received the book I ordered from Amazon.I needed the book for class so I ordered it from Barnes and Noble and received it within two days at a much cheAper price.Amazon's delivery charges Are inflated also.I tell people not use Amazon be cause paid for a product and never received it.Their customer service said it is the third parties responsibility to send my money or the book.How convenient.

Musings on our many environments from a kindred spirit
"Ecology of a Cracker Childhood" is probably the most moving autobiography I've ever read. By turns heartbreaking, inspirational, and motivational, Ray's story is one of an outsider in every respect; the daughter of a junkyard owner in rural Georgia, she faces a number of obstacles including her father's precarious mental stability. Looking back with a mix of fondness and acceptance rather than anger, Ray looks at how her environment (built and natural, as well as home) shaped who she became. Ray intersperses the book with chapters on long-leaf pines, gopher tortoises, and other uniquely Southern flora and fauna that is endangered and rapidly disappearing. While it may be jarring to the reader, Ray is making a larger point; we are forcing the environment to adapt or die to suit our needs rather than adapting to the environment. Ray writes lovingly of how nature slowly reclaims the wrecked hulks of cars in her father's junkyard; nature slowly, steadily winning over man and man's folly. Along the way she recounts unusual tales of her difficult path to adulthood that are profoundly moving. In some respects the chapters are by turns explanations and a badge of honor rather than excuses. Her recounting of a rare visit to the North will likely register profoundly with any Southerner who has ventured there. Perhaps it is because Ray and I are the same age or perhaps because our backgrounds are eerily similar, but I feel a connection and a deeper understanding and appreciation for where she's coming from and who she is. Ray is unabashedly unapologetic and "Ecology" will alternately move you to fits of laughter and sometimes nearly to tears, but it will not leave you unmoved. ... Read more

Product Description

The Guarani of Paraguay have survived over four centuries of contact with the commercial system, while keeping in tact their traditions of leadership, religion and kinship.  This concise ethnography examines how the Guarani have adapted over time, in concert with Paraguay’s subtropical forest system.

The titles in the Cultural Survival Studies in Ethnicity and Change series, edited by David Maybury-Lewis and Theodore Macdonald, Jr. of Cultural Survival, Inc., Harvard University, focus on key issues affecting indigenous and ethnic groups worldwide.  Each ethnography builds on introductory material by going further in-depth and allowing students to explore, virtually first-hand, a particular issue and its impact on a culture.

Product Description
The new edition meets the needs of today's ecologically- and environmentally-oriented students, emphasizing the ecological aspects of forest soils.
* Includes elements from Dr. Binkley's 1986 Wiley book, Forest Nutrition Management.
* Reflects the change in emphasis from production forestry to ecology and environmental concerns.
* Unites two strong publishing areas--forestry and soil science. ... Read more

Product Description
The remarkable web of plants and animals living around a single old fir tree takes on a life of its own in this stunningly illustrated story. Carol Reed-Jones' repetitive, cumulative verse--a poetic technique that children universally enjoy--aptly portrays the amazing ways in which the inhabitants of the forest depend upon one another for survival. Christopher Canyon's memorable full-color paintings manage to be both magical and true to life. Complete with a guide to the forest creatures and their interrelationships, this book is a valuable learning tool as well as fun for kids. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Great illustrations, terrible verse
This book has wonderfully bold, creatively designed illustrations which makes it enjoyable to flip through. But the plodding text makes it impossible to read! Cumulative verse can be very fun and effective, but in this book the author made no attempt to create a lyrical "chorus" that kids would be able to chime in on when being read to, or even that adults would be able to read aloud pleasantly. The point of the interconnectedness of life in an ecosystem doesn't come across well in the story alone... only by reading the letter from the author at the beginning and the pages of notes at the end do you get the full picture of what the book is trying to say. I think the concept of the book was great, but it failed miserably in execution, thanks to the poorly written verse.

Wonderful story and Beautiful pictures!
I purchased this as a gift for my daughter's teacher.I love the poem-like story explaining how everything is connected to something else.The pictures are very beautiful with a lot of detail.

Life in a conifer forest, up close & vivid!
Come into a deep, old northern forest where trees reach for the sky, hundreds of feet high. Where their roots beneath the duff, spread out in vast tendrils seeking food, creating food for voles & mice, who, in turn, are fattened up for the owls hunting for food for their owlets.

Carol Reed-Jones has created a lyrical story of life around an old-growth fir tree, & Christopher Canyon's illustrations are bright, powerful & absorbing.

A keeper, its story is delightful & its images memorable.

Outstanding depiction of the Circle of Life!
"The Tree in the Ancient Forest" depicts the"circle of life" concept in a beautifully presented, easilyread format.The author, Carol Reed-Jones captures the essence of the importance and beauty of an ancient forest, presenting a different element on each page.Christopher Canyon's illustrations offer additional beauty to the ideas penned by the author.A wonderful book for children and adults alike -- a great gift book for the ecologically-minded, nature-lover! Highly recommended! ... Read more

Product Description

This volume focuses on interaction between vegetation, relief, climate, soil and fauna in the treeline ecotone, and the effects of climate change and land use in North America and Europe.

Product Description

The Amazon rain forest covers more than five million square kilometers, amid the territories of nine different nations. It represents over half of the planet’s remaining rain forest. Is it truly in peril? What steps are necessary to save it? To understand the future of Amazonia, one must know how its history was forged: in the eras of large pre-Columbian populations, in the gold rush of conquistadors, in centuries of slavery, in the schemes of Brazil’s military dictators in the 1960s and 1970s, and in new globalized economies where Brazilian soy and beef now dominate, while the market in carbon credits raises the value of standing forest.

            Susanna Hecht and Alexander Cockburn show in compelling detail the panorama of destruction as it unfolded, and also reveal the extraordinary turnaround that is now taking place, thanks to both the social movements, and the emergence of new environmental markets. Exploring the role of human hands in destroying—and saving—this vast forested region, The Fate of the Forest pivots on the murder of Chico Mendes, the legendary labor and environmental organizer assassinated after successful confrontations with big ranchers. A multifaceted portrait of Eden under siege, complete with a new preface and afterword by the authors, this book demonstrates that those who would hold a mirror up to nature must first learn the lessons offered by some of their own people.

Product Description
The first text in a series of single topic ecology books, Tropical Forests is an ideal text or supplement for introductory biology, ecology, and environmental science courses. It provides students with an accurate, easy to read, and easy to understand account of this important biome that is often covered too briefly in general texts. This guide provides a compact picture of the world's tropical forests with overviews on the meteorological and geological influences on the biology of the ecosystem. It describes many of the interactions of plants and animals of the tropics in an evolutionary context. It's narrative style and clear illustrations and diagrams engage students, and paint a clear picture of the important concepts presented throughout the text. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An ideal classroom textbook
The world's tropical forests are sometimes referred to as the 'lungs of the world', being as they are, a major source of oxygen for the planet. They are also the home of incredibly diversified flora and fauna. That's why their continuing diminishment is of such vital concern. A part of the outstanding 'Ecosystems and Biomes' series from Jones & Bartlett Publishers, "Tropical Forests" by Bernard A. Marcus (Genessee Community College, Batavia, New York) provides an analytical and descriptive survey of world tropical forests in terms of the issues confronting them today. Addressing soil and water concerns, the ecosystem networks of plants and animals, the varying nature of tropical forests, and a great deal more, "Tropical Forests" is a superbly written and presented introduction. Of special note is the chapter focusing on the role tropical forests play in our global climate. Enhanced with the inclusion of an extensive glossary and a comprehensive index, "Tropical Forests" is an ideal classroom textbook and strongly recommended to the attention of non-specialist general readers with an interest in contemporary global environmental issues. ... Read more

Product Description
The popular view of the tropical rainforest as a monolithic tangle of rain-soaked trees, vines, birds, monkeys and big cats is a widespread myth.Tropical Rain Forests: An Ecological and Biogeographical Comparison explodes that myth by showing that rain forests in different tropical regions are unique despite superficial similarities.

Throughout the book the distinctive characteristics of rain forests in tropical Asia, tropical America, Africa, Madagascar, New Guinea, and Australia are emphasized.After an introduction to the climate, biogeographic history and environment of tropical rain forests, successive chapters are devoted to plants, primates, other mammals, birds, canopy animals and insects.The final chapter considers the impact of people on tropical forests and discusses conservation strategies that, based upon the characteristics of particular regions rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, may prove more effective in preserving different forest ecosystems.

This exciting new book, filled with natural history examples, figures and stunning photographs, will be invaluable reading for undergraduate students in a wide range of courses.The book’s comparative approach also poses many questions that will be of special interest to researchers and advanced students. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

For college
I had to get this book for one of my classes. We have yet to use it and the semester is half over. I have tried to read it several times... It is difficult to keep my attention on this book. It would be much easier to read it there were not text citations behind every sentence. Also, I believe that it is much easier to understand what the writer is describing when there are full color pitures, especially with any type of Biology book.

Excellent review of the rainforests of the world
This is a brilliant comparative overview of the tropical rainforests of the world. If you have a keen interest in travel and natural history you may enjoy this. It lacks many images, and it might be a little dense and technical for general readers, but if you any biological training you will find it a great read. It is an expensive book, but I bought it twice (I lost the first one in the Daintree - I hope whoever ended up with it, enjoys it!). As the author of a book on the tropical rainforest of Australia, which gets ignored quite a bit on an international scale, it was great to see 'our' forest (along with New Guinea), get a many mentions.
Damon Ramsey, Author, "Ecosystem Guides Rainforest of tropical Australia" ... Read more

Product Description
Fraser's vibrant acrylic paintings and fascinating story teach children that fire, though frightening and destructive, also brings new life to the forest and its ecosystem. Full color. ... Read more

Product Description
Can we prevent the destruction of the world's tropical forests? In the fire-scarred hills of Costa Rica, award-winning science writer William Allen found a remarkable answer: we can not only prevent their destruction--we can bring them back to their former glory. In Green Phoenix, Allen tells the gripping story of a large group of Costa Rican and American scientists and volunteers who set out to save the tropical forests in the northwestern section of the country. It was an area badly damaged by the fires of ranchers and small farmers; in many places a few strands of forest strung across a charred landscape. Despite the widely held belief that tropical forests, once lost, are lost forever, the team led by the dynamic Daniel Janzen from the University of Pennsylvania moved relentlessly ahead, taking a broad array of political, ecological, and social steps necessary for restoration. They began with 39 square miles and, by 2000, they had stitched together and revived some 463 square miles of land and another 290 of marine area. Today this region is known as the Guanacaste Conservation Area, a fabulously rich landscape of dry forest, cloud forest, and rain forest that gives life to some 235,000 species of plants and animals. It may be the greatest environmental success of our time, a prime example of how extensive devastation can be halted and reversed. This is an inspiring story, and in recounting it, Allen writes with vivid power. He creates lasting images of pristine beaches and dense forest and captures the heroics and skill of the scientific teams, especially the larger-than-life personality of the maverick ecologist Daniel Janzen. It is a book everyone concerned about the environment will want to own. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Hope for the forest, the people, and biodiversity
I have the greatest respect and admiration for Dan Janzen and have supported the Rincon Rainforest project before seeing this book. This book is a good explanation for why the Guanacaste Conservation Area (GCA) in Costa Rica may be the key to all successful tropical forest conservation projects.

The author relates the detail of conservation work to restore overgrazed, eroded land and land filled with difficult to eradicate foreign weeds back to the point of reforestation with all the original species from microbes, insects, up to birds and mammals.It is encouraging to see that despite the difficulty of this work that they are achieving success and that model of success may help other tropical conservation projects.

The book also describes the life work of one of the most important conservation biologist of all time and all of those who have been pushed, coereced, reluctantly persuaded and inspired to do this most significant project.If you are discouraged in any way about the fate of the diverse tropical forests you should read this book.It truely is an inspiration.

Good case study of an important conservation project
Without duplicating the book description, I'll just explain why I would recommend this book to anyone interested in conservation.

Although the creation of Guanacaste Conservation Area -- which combines pre-existing national parks and added land between and around them, along with a marine sector -- is unique in representing the world's only large-scale tropical forest restoration project, the story illustrates elements common to nature conservation projects in general.These include the importance of understanding the local ecology (in this case, especially forest succession and the necessity of controlling fires); political aspects, both local and national (Costa Rican president, parks service, etc.); how money is raised and land purchased or otherwise secured; and ways of involving people from the local area in conservation and the importance of that.

I have just returned from Guanacaste and was impressed by the program that trains local people as "parataxonomists" to help with the huge task of identifying and cataloguing the area's many species.Another program gives instruction on natural history to children in local schools.The result has been an important cultural shift toward appreciating nature and the many benefits it provides.

The writing is sometimes long-winded and ponderous, but the careful recounting of details was worthwhile, and the integration of interesting snippets of tropical biology and anectodes of the people involved made it an enjoyable read.

Of particular interest as well was the recounting of the reaction to the revolutionary suggestion that tropical forest can indeed be restored on land taken out of agriculture, an assertion that initially met with skepticism and alarm from conservation organizations, as it conflicted with the conservation message that a tropical forest, once cut down, can "never" regenerate.

In this end, this is a great and stirring conservation success story.The book illustrates how much hard work that entailed on the part of many dedicated people.

Deforestation? How about rainforest restoration!?!
How often have you've heard the tales of gloom and doom regarding the deforestation of the tropics?Undoubtedly, the numbers are grim and the outlook for many forests is not good.This is why this story, wonderfully told by William Allen, a science writer at the ST. LOUIS DISPATCH, is particularly refreshing and guardedly optimistic.

Allen craftily weaves anecdote with history, real people with events to present a story that tells how a relatively small park in NW Costa Rica (Guanacaste National Park) developed into the Guanacaste Conservation Area, some 10 times larger than its original size.But the story is not limited to the success in creating a larger park.Rather, the author depicts the efforts of a determined group of Costa Rican and foreign scientists (led by Daniel Janzen) as they attempt to reverse the effects of deforestation and actually bring a substantial area back to some semblance of its original state.

The story delves quite a bit into Janzen's personality and raises the issue of a foreigner's role in a project such as this.Would it succeed without him?Just what would it take to restore non-virgin forest?Is this an idea that might work elsewhere?Just a few of the intriguing questions dealt with in this book.

I particularly enjoyed the beginning of each chapter, where the author introduces an anecdote upon which the rest of chapter usually builds.The anecdotal information is highly entertaining of itself, and when used as metafor, it is easier to remember the larger points made.

If you're into eco-whatever, this is great stuff...

paul e. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Hmmmm.
I think it's wonderful that Ms. Langston has begun to evaluate some of the causes of deforestation in the western U.S. The forest service has certainly been careless and haphazard in its management of our forests. Insect infestation and diseases have undoubtedly ravaged our forests. Conspicuously undercovered in Ms. Langston's book, though, is the damage caused by unselective logging. Any honest (and I'm not trying to suggest that Ms. Langston is deliberately dishonest) tree biologist will tell you that logging, more than any other manmade activity, has had the severest impact on our wilderness.

A terrific study of the paradox between man and nature!
Even though I work in the field of cultural & historic resources management,I have recommended this study of the Blue Mountains to my colleagues in the natural resources department at Montpelier, the home ofJames & Dolley Madison, as they struggle with several fundimentalissues (clear cutting, natural re-seeding, etc.).My sister's work isclear, concise (so that a lay person can understand the principles setforth in her work), and an enjoyable read.I highly recommend this toanyone who has an interest in saving America's natural resources! LeeLangston-Harrison Director of Curatorial Operations Montpelier MontpelierStation, Virginia

Thorough critique, but offers no technical solutions
Langston has done a thorough job of historical research.However, what makes an environmental critique good is the solution offered.The book is very weak in this area.The author does mention society needing a betterrelationship with the land, but this cannot be applied to silviculturewithout details attatched.She may be a good historian, but she is notinnovative.Langston offers no real clue as to how the Forest Serviceshould continue in the future according to her ideals.A critique is notvalid with out offering a better way, and she fails in that department. ... Read more