Environment and Nature Books

Let's face it, picking up most environmental books, with their relentless message of doom and gloom, seems to require a talent for masochism or depression. And it's only gotten worse: in the 1970s environmentalists worried about polluted rivers or violated public lands, but now its planetary disasters like global warming, resource depletion, or mass extincitons; and the human race hasn't been showing much talent at facing these realities. How refreshing, then, to come upon a book that inspires environmental hope. The concept of environmental restoration, the idea that humans can nurse damaged landscapes back into health, has been quietly gathering momentum for years, and this book finally brings its thinking and its leaders and its dramas into full view. Peter Friederici is uniquely placed to write this story, since he has been involved in two of the leading restoration efforts in America, the efforts to restore prairies in Illinois and ponderosa pine forests in the Southwest. In addition to these places this book offers an even greater variety of landscapes, from an Hawaiian island long used for military target practice to a Bermuda invaded by luxury developments to ghost chestnut forests in Virginia to a flooded canyon in the Southwest. That such a variety of landscapes can be addressed by the same concept of restoration is a testimony to its value. Friederici also comes up with an amazing cast of characters who are involved in restoration efforts, people deeply in love with their land, dreamers enough to take on a major challenge yet practical enough to maneuver through complicated politicial realities. Restoration involves some philosophical challenges to our usual sense of nature, including challenges to environmentalists. Here in northern Arizona environmentalists will walk through a grotesquely unnatural forest, the product of a century of logging and fire suppression, a forest almost groomed to produce catastrophic fires, and yet they will feel a naive, book-induced sense of oneness with primordial nature and will oppose any interventions in the forest. Environmental restoration includes the paradox that the only way to return the land to pre-pioneer "naturalness" is through further human intervention. Thus restoration efforts have been opposed both by developers and by environmentalists. The political complexities faced by restoration efforts are also explored in this book. But amid all the complexities, Friederici maintains a poetic feel for the land and offers graceful philosophical musings on the place of humans in nature.

This book is designed for seasoned NEPA practioners as well as for beginners and students who seek mastery of the NEPA process. NEPA can best be mastered by organizing all of its requirements and guidance in a systematic way around key topics, and illustrating with examples. Essential guidance for each topic is scattered in different parts of the Act, Regulations and related sources. NEPA Effectivness collects all this under one of ten major headings: PURPOSES, DOCUMENTS, ANALYSIS, COVERAGE, EFFECTIVENESS, INVOLVEMENT,APPLICATION, DECISIONS, AGENCIES, and PROCEDURES. Having practiced NEPA for over twenty years, my experience has enabled me to produce a book that is truly useful to the practitioner.

At the beginning, Tyler and Dana have a problem. There is a big oil spill in Badger Bay (an inlet of the Atlantic). Then Aunt Lissa and Uncle Joe try to have a boom sent to Parson's Point but it can't get there in time. Animals are drenched in oil, seals die, birds die, and fish die all because of the oil spill. Tyler, Dana, Uncle Joe, Aunt Lissa, Charlie and Carter Mote, and even mean old Mr. Mote (who hates project Neptune) team up to save the animals. Aunt Lissa and Uncle Joe rescue sea animals for a living (that's project Neptune) Mr. Mote is a commercial fisherman. So while they're getting animals to the rescue building, the oil spill is getting spread around in the bay and endangering the Atlantic wildlife. Finally, Mr. Mote gets the boom and brings it to the oil spill on his boat, the Bonnie Jean, and saves the day! After they were done cleaning gulls, seals and more cleaning, they rested in the 200 year old lighthouse that Aunt Lissa and Uncle Joe bought 13 years ago when they started project Neptune. THE END P.S. There was nothing I didn't like about this book!

From Planeta Journal - This anthology gathers 16 of editor David Rothenberg's favorite essays from the first 10 issues of the journal I never heard of. The book format suits the subject well. The New Earth Reader marks an effort to reconcile the human and natural worlds. The highlights of this collection are Rothenberg's interview with the translator of the Chief Seattle Speech and one of the best essays about the US-Mexico border, "Tune Country" by Charles Bowden.

Daniel Fiorino is a highly respected expert on public administration, who has focused especially on regulatory reform. Fiorino may have the the wettest finger in the air of any major expert writer on regulatory policy. He should, because he has for some time headed a program at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that evaluates regulatory policy and effectiveness. Consequently, he probably has as much in-depth knowledge of how our system has been working since the middle 1980s as any person in America.

After briefly reviewing regulatory history, evaluating needs for change, and a large number of "Reinvention" experiments in the Clinton Administration, Fiorino points out that the basic assumption of the 1970s environmental laws that continue to form the bedrock of the U.S. system are based on the assumption that environmental protection and business was a zero sum game. In other words, there had to be a top down system of tough laws and compliance requirements or powerful economic forces would always prevail over environmental protection.

Recent European experience has shown that this assumption is not necessarily valid. Moreover leading nations in the European Union, like the Netherlands, have not only gone past us in many respects in enviromental performance (including dealing with global environmental change) but have done so while achieving strong performance in industrial sectors.

In the last two of seven chapters, Fiorino reviews "what has worked and what has not worked", for example, voluntary programs can't just be add ons to the core system, but must be integral parts or they have little chance of success.

It's remarkable and infrequent that a person with responsibilities within our federal regulatory bodies is willing to put themselves out on a limb and discuss issues so candidly. Not surprisingly, the Fiorino book is being adopted by a number of university departments for their courses in U.S. environmental policy.

The last

This is a terrific book. It takes on many sacred cows in the conservation movement including the myth of "wilderness", the dreadfully sloppy use of the the word "nature" and the often misguided attempts of well-meaning conservationists. It's largely based on Australian examples, but there would be lessons here for al continents. We can't wind back the clock: if we are to move to some sort of balance with other life forms we have to come to grips with the fact that they don't see the world through our mental prisms. For example, sewage treatment farms are very rich environments for birds; rubbish tips full of old corrugated iron and junk are havens for reptiles and controlled grazing by sheep and cattle can actually preserve more biodiversity than "native" kangaroos!

This book is the work of a sociologist, and the academic conventions of this profession are readily visible, including tables, analysis, data and scholarly attention to detail. The overall effect, however, is not the boring treatise one might expect. Instead, the author delivers a lively work that is more a trade title on homesteading than a research report. This is a fascinating study of the individuals and groups who are drawn to the roots of urban civilization, complete with romantic misconceptions, hard-edged political values, escapes from the rat race, and the appeal of nature. As much as is possible with this social segment, descriptions and measurements are included, as well as individual anecdotes -- sometimes humorous, sometimes grim -- that put life and meaning into the search for agrarian fulfillment.

I've long held to the common environmentalist's view that cattle and sheep grazing in the arid west was an environmental disaster, destroying vegetation, habitat, and displacing wild animals. New research and books like this have changed my opinion. Sayre, a well know dry-land ecologist, profiles six ranches in Arizona and New Mexico and describes how ranchers have enhanced their grazing land with environmentally-sound techniques. This sounds like dry stuff, but this attractive book and a not-too-technical text make the subject interesting.

Traditionally, ranchers and environmentalists were sworn enemies with nothing but contempt for each other. This was silly. The threat to the open land of the West now is 2-acre "ranchettes" and galloping suburbanization. Preserving the big ranches from "development" is the best means we have to ensure that the lone prairies remain for future generations. What we now see, with books like this one, is science rather than emotion being used to evaluate how ranch land can be improved and preserved -- or at least damage minimized -- through better techniques of grazing cattle.

The New Ranch Handbook is large-format; the cover features dramatic before and after color photos of good and bad grazing; and 100 good black and white photos are scattered among 100 pages of text. It's an excellent book for the dry-land rancher, the environmentalist, or people like me who just like to know what we're looking at as we explore the great American Southwest.

Smallchief

As relevant today as it was when first published , this book is a treasure of information on the facts of nuclear energy and the better solutions that are available.

I understand that an update is in the works....I look forward to it.

This is the definitive version of O Holy Night. Lushly orchestrated, this should be in every singers repertoire. For sopranos and tenors alike this is a great choice for the singer with a larger voice. I only wish it came in c.d. I use this track over and over and it is always a blessing.