Wetlands Books

This is a good book for the brand new person to wetlands, or the intermediate person who needs a refresher. I am the latter, and I have found that there are new insights or anecdotes in this book that I never knew. Also, I like the figures.

I'm a fan of pictures, and there are not many of those...

This book is a must have for all wetland researchers, managers, scientists, and anyone with a general interest in wetland ecosystems. If I had to choose 1 wetland book, this is it. It is one of THE most popular textbooks for university wetland courses and workshops. I have been a wetland scientist for almost 15 years, and this is one of the books I use on a regular basis, and recommend to all my assistants and students. Wetland researchers will also want to keep in mind that with the release of the 4th edition, this 3rd edition is still a must have in your wetland library. The 4th edition removed all the wetland ecosystem specific chapters that are in this edition, so this edition is far from outdated. Don't choose one over the other! Buy them both :).

The Mitsch & Gosselink Wetlands 4th edition arrived promptly and in very good condition as was claimed it would by the seller.

This book is very helpful in understanding the various aspects and dynamics relating to wetlands. It includes management, legal, and various other topics of importance to wetland biologists, wildlife students or researchers working in wetland delineation or consultation.

Overall, this is a very good text on wetlands (for students and professionals both). However, I personally feel that a entire chapter could be devoted to wetland soils and wish that this book gave a better presentation of wetland soils. Furthermore, a great deal of research has been performed in Boreal wetlands and Boreal Prairie wetlands of Canada yet the Canadian literature is somewhat lacking in this text. Its still the best option out there for professors.

"Brittle Stars..." was the first of Lichen's "Uncommon Field Guide" series I discovered. They are all uncommonly delightful to poke into. One can read them chapter-by-chapter or just open the book anywhere and delve in. I picked up this one to add to my school's marine biology collection. After scanning it, I bought a second copy for myself. After reading part of it, I ordered the other two books in the series. Recently I showed one of the guides to a friend who is a lifelong outdoorsman. He immediately purchased a set for himself. She gives the reader the sort of understanding about nature one usually only finds in going on a field tour with a great guide. My only complaint is that there is not one of Feltner's lovely detailed illustrations with every single chapter.

What could have been a very dry, factual book about marine life turned out to be a book filled with interesting info about northwest marine life and a writing style that isn't just data. I bought the book to use with teenagers and, because of their great interest in anything sexual, I told them, tongue in cheek, the first chapter they should read is the one about dragonflies and damsels. LOL It was hilarious. This is the number one book of interest about local marine life as far as I'm concerned.

Patricia Lichen's Brittle Stars & Mudbugs truly is an uncommon field guide. Newly relocated to the Pacific Northwest and Puget Sound area I have half-filled a bookshelf with the more traditional field guide. Those, with their high quality photos or detailed drawings, I use to key out the fine distinctions between hard to discern animals and plants.

When I want pure enjoyment exploring Puget Sound's natural environs I bring out Lichen's book. Her conversational writing style and twinkle-in-the-eye wit along with her obvious love for her subject matter breath life into whatever she describes. Linda Feltner's illustrations are ideally suited for this book and enhance the pleasurable reading. As soon as I finish writing this review I am ordering her two other books on the Northwest.

This delightful little book is an absolute pleasure to read. It fits nicely in the hand, the pages are easy to read, and the illustrations are gentle and lovingly drawn. The author tells you stories about these animals, plants and algae the way she would if you were walking with her along the beach and came across each specimin. It's not ordered by phylum or habitat, but apparently randomly, which ensures that you won't tire of reading all about fish, but instead will move quickly to birds and seaweed and echinoderms and back.

I live on the beach, and volunteer at the Seattle Aquarium, and these stories help me tell compelling stories to audiences and friends of all ages. They bring the funny objects you see on the beach to life, and make each animal or plant that you see seem a friend, a neighbor, someone whose life you care about. This should slow your steps on the beach, so that you will see the life around you more clearly, and should increase your commitment to conservation and cleanup. It's tough to abuse a neighborhood that you care about, and Patricia and Linda bring these organisms close to you so that you will care about them.

As an earlier reviewer pointed out, this is not a field guide that will help you identify what you see -- it is one that will help you understand what you see, and that's what makes it uncommon and (in my opinion) so very special.

Thanks to the author and illustrator for such a magnificent addition to my library of field guides and books on biology. This one is a treasure.

I bought two of the books in the 3 book series. The writing is excellent, however, what good is a "field guide" if illustrations are not included for all of the featured plants and animals? If the publisher is ever going to consider a new edition, perhaps this could be taken into consideration. I will keep these books, however still look for a "Field Guide" that offers more reference material.

Fritchey does a masterful job allowing the general public to view the deception that has gone on with so-called conservation organizations in the Gulf, and Atlantic, in order to achieve their selfish re-allocation objectives. From making commercial fishermen red herrings for the "alleged" slide in fishery stocks, to the ouright grab of resources for themselves, these allocation organizations have lied, perjured, and extorted the public's resources right out of the public's reach. In so doing, they have driven a wedge between the user groups, and deprived the non-fishing public access to the most regulated fishery resource in the world. Meanwhile, the marsh habitat that these resources depend on are being lost at an ever increasing rate daily. A truly spectacular job connecting the dots that have led to the ruin of many hard working, tax paying, American fishermen, and have left the marsh habitat they depend on in sad shape. Britton Shackelford

Wow, what a great book. It is sad that this is an account of true events. Unfortunately, these events are still taking place all over America's coastal states. Wherever Exxon's faux conservation group the Coastal Conservation Association shows up, they make it there mission to destroy the commercial fishing industry, and reallocate fish stocks to their wealthy membership. With Exxon's record profits and friends all the way to the white house it hasn't been hard for them to do. The argument the Coastal Conservation Association uses, is that more money is generated by wealthy sportfishers then by lowly commercial fishers and seafood consumers. Therefore all fish should be protected for their membership's exclusive enjoyment. Sounds simple, but this puts thousands of people out of work and denies the consumers their right to the fisheries resource.
This is truely a David and Goliath story. David being the inshore finfishermen whom represents the Free American Spirit that refuses to die and Goliath being Exxon who represents corprate greed.
Read this!
I Understand the sequel is being written as I type this. Can't wait for it to come out!!

I'm doing a research paper for english and I chose the net ban as a topic. My father used to be a commercial fisherman on the Florida coast. He was put out of business after the net ban was put into effect in 1995. He's always had theories about why the ban was passed. He read and loved the book Wetland Riders and with his information, and the facts I got from the book I was able to write a strong paper against the net ban. The book was great and was a lot of help. Anyone who's been affected by Net limitations in any state should read this book.

I'm Robert Fritchey, the author of "Wetland Riders." I fell in with South Louisiana's traditional coastal finfishermen in 1980, deciding after graduate school that I would earn my living only from renewable resources. A lifelong sport fisherman, my addiction to fishing and the outdoor life led me to the Bayou State's rapidly vanishing coastal marshes, where I earned my livelihood netting redfish and other wetland-dependent species of fish through the 1980s.

"As the 1980s opened, fishermen worked freely, under few restrictions other than those imposed by nature," I wrote in the book's preface. "But earning a living as an inshore finfisherman became progressively more difficult--and finally next to impossible. What happened?"

"Wetland Riders" details my own search for the answer to this question. But my interests were more than academic--in 1988, Louisiana's anglers--prodded by a Texas-based sportfishing organization which has since gone national--claimed the redfish for their own exclusive use. By taking the fish from us fishermen--and the seafood markets and restaurants--the sportsmen began to devalue Louisiana's threatened coastal wetlands. I wrote "Wetland Riders" as an educational tool, to circumvent a biased media and inform the public directly, as a prelude to getting back our fish.

Equipped with my experience as both a sport and commercial fisherman, I investigated the escalating fish fights between the recreational and food-producing industries which, I learned, were occurring around the coasts of America.

I also learned that the underlying cause of the sportsmen's aggression against our traditional seafood harvesters lies deeply embedded within our emotional human nature. In the book's introduction, I quoted a true sportsman, a Texan who-- in the 1930s--also sought to quell the destructive friction between these two environmentally important industries: "When the average sportsman sees a net fisherman make a good catch he is overcome in many cases with a feeling that must be experienced but cannot well be described." That feeling, unfortunately, is envy, an emotion that can easily overpower rational thought.

The number of recreational fishermen began to steadily increase following World War II, and exploded during the 1980s and 1990s, as financially successful Baby Boomers and their children took up fishing. A critical mass of these anglers have proven more than willing to be organized into a political movement which imperils our domestic seafood industry.

As old Claude McCall--one of the 7 net fishermen that I profiled in "Wetland Riders"--explained, "There needs to be regulation, but not the kind we have now. The management that's being used now just tries to knock the commercial fisherman down. We'll wind up with almost no domestic production of seafood; it'll all be imported.

"How about if we get in a war and can't get imports? We'll have to eat steak, I guess."

In the chapter, "It's Not Me, It's Him!," I revealed that, "The collective impact of great numbers of recreational fishermen, each landing just a few fish, quickly adds up." Indeed, virtually every species of fish that is currently defined as "overfished" is being harvested by both recreational and commercial fishermen. And data presented in this chapter reveal that, in many fisheries, the recreational sector is responsible for harvesting a far larger slice of the pie than the food-producing sector!

As I investigated why this fact is not publicized, I described in "The `Con' in Conservation" the first attempt by a media conglomerate to expand their "educational program" beyond the sportsmen, to 30 million members of the general public. The campaign typified the recreational media's tactic of focusing blame on our family fishermen while avoiding any responsibility by sport fishermen.

In "The Recreational Fishing Industry: Something of Value?" I deconstructed the incredibly diverse recreational industry that is displacing our traditional commercial fisheries. Many of our commercial fisheries are centuries old, and predate recreational fisheries. They have achieved sustainability by merely harvesting fish which they send out to consumers in urban areas, thereby bringing only money into their rural communities. The tourism-based recreational industry, on the other hand, brings people into coastal communities which spurs coastal real-estate development.

The co-existence of both industries leads to a natural tension, a sort of two-party system where each "party" limits the impact of the other, though in different ways. As we go to a one-party system, the astute reader may envision the future of these old fisheries.

In "Conservation Through Use: Resource Management for the Twenty-First Century," I advocated sharing hotly-contested finfish species on an equitable basis, and cite the precedent for such an action. Upon the increased allocation of fish that commercial fishermen and consumers would receive, I proposed a per-pound severance tax. Inspired by the self-reliance, resourcefulness and optimism of our inshore fishermen, I suggested that taxes on our product be used to establish a local, sustainable source of revenue for a stewardship action fund dedicated to slowing the loss of fishery habitat.

As noted in the update to the book's second edition, "1998: New Players, Same Game," sportsmen in the mid-1990s benefited from a multimillion dollar national "fish crisis" campaign, which eerily failed to mention any negative impacts by the vast sportfishing industry. Amid that backdrop, well-heeled sportsmen demonized and outlawed nets, destroying some of the largest traditional food fisheries in the country, including Louisiana's.

Mr. Fritchey drew on his background as a commercial fisherman and his impressive skills as a researcher to put together this compelling story behind the story of the so-called "fish conservation" movement that's become so popular with the mass media today. In Wetland Riders he's exposed this blatant resource grab for what it really is; a well-coordinated and well-financed assault on the U.S. consumer's right to fisheries resources that belong to us all. From consumer to commercial fisherman to someone who enjoys the ambiance of coastal communities without boardwalks and amusement parks and tee shirt shops, if you have any connection to the seafood industry at all you owe it to yourself to read this book.

I remember reading H. Allen Smith's "Three Men On Third" years and years ago, and Salisbury's product is in the same vein. I enjoyed it tremendously: great choices, fun trivia, and the constant reminders that sports heroes are, after all, inestimably mortal. It is really too bad that Salisbury's stuff (see other titles on Amazon.com under his name) don't get a wider appreciation.

With dry wit and solid research, Luke Salisbury tackles that American creature known as baseball. He looks at why stats make the game so special, and how people get fascinated with quirks such as hitting streaks. Famous figures abound--Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Ty Cobb, and of course, the Babe. There are lesser-known ones as well, such as Louis Sockalexis, baseball's first Indian, whose hot career fizzled due to alcoholism. Salisbury answers questions you'd never thought of before: who was baseball's first Polish player and how did "Dummy" Hoy get his nickname?

"The Answer Is Baseball" is packed with interesting facts for baseball fans of all ages!

This is a great book about baseball. The author does not ask stupid questions that anyone could look up for themselves. He doesn't treat baseball trivia like it is an answer to be found in an encyclopedia. Why is this book not in print?

If you have any interest in baseball--or if you were ever a devotee of H. Allen Smith's THREE MEN ON THIRD--you'll have trouble putting this one down. Yes, you will add tremedously to your factoid collection and probably never again pay for another glass of whatever you drink at your local watering hole. But that's only half the story of this book. Salisbury loves his subject and that sympathy for facts is contagious, reminding us that "fan" does come from "fanatic." Yes, some of the collection tells stories that are not very happy, and Boston fans are going to struggle reliving the part on Conigliaro, but Salisbury does an excellent job throughout. I finally forced myself to a chapter a night just to prolong things.

This is a really great book. It explains way more then you would expect for a field guide. It goes in depth about each plant, animals that depend on them and other interesting tidbits that you wont find in any other guide. The awsome illustrations are done so beautifully and true to life no one should have any problems idtentifying plants on the trail. They also truly give this book a nice touch. It's like a book of old documenting new discoveries!

The authors' love of nature and years of experience clearly show in this unique field guide. Most books have an encyclopedic and repetitive approach. In contrast, this book looks at the individual plants and how they fit into the entire ecosystem ranging from companion plants, and dependent bird, mammal, and insect species. I have not seen another book that describes eastern wetlands in as much detail and yet still be highly readable.

For those people who already kind of know their way around the forest, and are more interested in what they are going to see ASSOCIATED with the plants they see than what an Audobon book says, this is a naturalist's dream come true!

Great b/w illustrations of not only leaves and fruits, but insects, diseases, toothmarks, clawmarks and nests that can be found on and around the trees and plants listed in the book...

Also highly recommended is the Forest and Thicket book by the same authors...

This is a must have book if you live in areas with swamps/bogs. Its so accurate I'm just amazed. It is also very easy to use. It has drawings and it talks not only about id of the plants but also their "lifestyle" (e.g. how they reproduce, various ideosyncasies of the plants, insects that are associated etc.) Each plant also has a short section on lore which adds a nice bit of history. I really like the book

I remember and you will remember the Naples of long ago. Just looking at the pictures in this wonderful book brought tears to my eyes. A real treasure of a book for anyone who lived in and loved Naples in it's early days. My father, Ted Brack, was also a native coming to Naples in 1923. A treasure too for those who want to know the early beginnings of a fabulous city today.

I am thrilled to see this book so readily available. Rob Storter was my Great Grandfather and was a wonderful man. His experiences and stories were remarkable. Although most know him as Rob Storter, we all refered to him as Papaw. As a family member I received a paperback copy of the original release and enjoyed reading it repeatedly. Not only because it is regarding my heritage, but because it was educational and entertaining. I highly recommend this to everyone!

I have not had the opportunity to meet Peter Mathiessen, but I could relate to his mention of sitting and listening to Captain Rob's tales, because I, too, have had that privilege. The book, Cracker in the Glade, is a collection of his ledger and it is written in his conversational tone. It is a recount of how Captain Rob saw the evolution of the growth in population in south Florida and the consequential degredation of the environment as he knew it. He is not judgmental in his description, rather it is matter of fact. Just as he viewed the hardships of living in Florida in the early 1900's as matter of fact. The reader is left with the sense that he knows the history of the Collier County area, and the inhabitants that endured the hardships together. While they were separate families with their own trials, they were one as a family of pioneers in area that was as rife with dangers as it was beautiful in the pristene sense of the tropical paradise. Betty Briggs is to be complimented for her sharing of her grandfather with the rest of us, so that we, too can know the adventures and evolution of this part of the Everglades.

capt. rob storter never owned a camera, so when he wasn't fishing or working on a boat he drew or painted pictures and wrote a note netx to it telling about the scene. this book was compiled with those photo's and drawings by my friend betty briggs savage, the granddaughter of capt. rob. it is a testament to hardships of the mullet fishermen, local hunters and the women that lived in a time before manatee and wake zones fishing & hunting permits and the park put an end to a much better way of life. is a look at south florida before it was all gone and told by a man that lived it. thank's robert

This is the best book ever written for identification of fresh and saltwater aquatic and wetland plants along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast.

I can't believe that it's out-of-print in paperback as this constitutes a great void in the available knowledge for the growing number of people who are becoming interested in learning about these plants and identifying which ones are valuable to wildlife, and which ones are detrimental.

I have found this book extremely useful for me an interested amateur with no technical background. I find the book very accessible. The illustrations and photos are very good and the text is excellent.

For anyone who does wetland delineations in Texas, this book is a must. All the pictures are well detailed, and the descriptions of the flora are first rate. It's an excellent field guide.

Its a great book i needed it for a science fair project and it helped me out alot i had 1 day and it practically did it for me!!

Great ecology guide to aquatic life. It takes you from the chemistry of water through a section on glaciers and into life in a pond, stream, and a wetland. Great guide for elementary/middle school teachers and would make a great text for a high school course.

Let me get right to the point--this is a great book for learning about aquatic ecology. It's all the things many conventional textbooks are not--readable, concise, interesting and useful in the field. I highly recommend this book for kids in grade 8 and up, for adults who need a concise and thorough introduction to ecology and environmental issues, and for anyone with a naturalist bent. If I were going to teach a high school or community college course in ecology, this is the book I would use.

For my M.S. degree in wetland ecology in 2001, I studied the impacts of channelization and sedimentation on the Middle Fork of the Forked Deer River in West Tennessee--one of the river systems discussed by Mr. Johnson. At the time, I thought "someone should really write a book about this." Finally, someone has given voice to the problems plaguing the rivers in our state. I'm thrilled to see this book in print, and even more thrilled to read it! This topic touches my soul, as well as my scientific interest, as I have witnessed first-hand the impacts on the natural resources and on the people who live hand-in-hand with the wetlands and rivers in West Tennessee. I identified my very first Prothonotary warbler in the Hatchie River bottoms, learned to drive a Go-Devil in Reelfoot Lake, and caught my first Sunfish in the rivers of West Tennessee. I highly recommend it & think it should be required reading for anyone studying wetlands in the south.

Finally someone has told the true the story of the devastation of the West Tennesee river system - a major player in the complex hydraudics of the Mississippi, our major river in the US. The pork barrel politics, the bureaucratic boondoggles are all here- and best of all, the author has proposed a solution that may just bring us back to somewhere near normal.

Rivers Under Siege provides a detailed description of how government agencies, farm interest and politicians forced a 225 mile river channelization (ditching) and wetland drainage project on the public. Jim Johnson, the author, then explains how conservationists fought the project to a halt over a 30 year period. Yet over time, efforts to resolve the destructive project brought harmony and then tremendous rift even between conservation interest. To date the project has destroyed 122 miles of beautiful rivers and over 100,000 acres of wetlands. For now the terrible project is stopped but political scheming could start it again. This book describes one diasterous project but hundreds of similar projects have occurred at other locations along the Mississippi River drainage. Johnson's book relates his personal experience in this saga and is instructive to those who face similar situations.

Being new to Vermont I had a lot to learn of the structure and contents of the natural communities here. This book is well organized and packed with information not only for VT but for the surrounding states as well because the habitats may exist in NY, NH, MA, CT and even Canada. As Tom Vechten pointed out it may be difficult to read from cover to cover but if you read most of the beginning chapters I think it is safe to venture to the regions that interest or concern you. Nice pictures and great line drawings help with visualization. The maps for each section are also useful but it will still be up to you to figure out which habitat you are actually standing in at any given moment, however, the book will guide you to narrow the decision. I think this is an outstanding guide to the region and I recommend it to biologists, naturalists, ecologists, hikers, campers, hunters, outdoorsman, foragers and anyone interested in learning about the history to structure of Vermonts amazing landscape. A big THANK YOU to the authors for compiling this much needed resourceful guide and it's worth every penny!

I came to this book as a relative beginner in nature observation, I could pick out the major tree species, but not much more than that. This guide was of tremendous help to me in learning to see relationships between tree types and the soil, exposeur, water, and other plants. The text is focused on Vermont, but I found it very helpful in New Hampshire, and I am sure it would be useful in Maine and New York as well as some of the Great Lakes areas. It is also very beautiful to look at, though some what difficult to read straight through from cover to cover. Take it with you on a hike, or during fly season look at it when you get back.

I hope there are or will be additional books of this type for other areas of the country / world. The authors and artist have set a high standard.

As a resident of Vermont, I found this book to be one of the definitive works about Vermont's natural habitat. It is quite the eyeopener. The interactions of all the natural wonders of the state are completely explained, as well as the definitions of the specific ecosystems found everywhere. With this book I was able to map vernal pools, hemlock swamps and other sensitive habitats around me. Absolutely invaluable.