Nature

Name: Unmaking the Bomb
Brand: Shannon Cram
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The California Naturalist Handbook

Natural History of the Point Reyes Peninsula

Field Guide to Grasses of California

James P. Smith, Jr.

Paperback

$26.95

California Plant Families

Glenn Keator

Paperback

$34.95

Geology of the San Francisco Bay Region

Doris Sloan

Paperback

$26.95

In the Shadow of the Seawall

Trees and Shrubs of California

John D. Stuart and John O. Sawyer

Field Guide to Mushrooms of Western North America

R. Michael Davis, Robert Sommer, and John A. Menge

Paperback

$26.95

California Indians and Their Environment

Kent G. Lightfoot and Otis Parrish

Paperback

$32.95

Ground Truths

Edited by Chad Raphael and Martha Matsuoka

California Native Gardening

Helen Popper

Paperback

$29.95

Introduction to California Soils and Plants

Arthur R. Kruckeberg

Paperback

$24.95

Disrupting the Patron

Joel E. Correia

Paperback

$34.95

Field Guide to California Insects

Kip Will, Joyce Gross, Daniel Rubinoff, and Jerry A. Powell

Paperback

$26.95

Field Guide to the Common Bees of California

Gretchen LeBuhn

Paperback

$21.95

Designing California Native Gardens

Glenn Keator and Alrie Middlebrook

Paperback

$38.95

Introduction to the Plant Life of Southern California

Philip W. Rundel and Robert Gustafson

The Accidental Ecosystem

Peter S. Alagona

Paperback

$24.95

The Low-Carbon Contradiction

Gustav Cederlöf

Paperback

$29.95

An Island Called California

Elna Bakker

Paperback

$28.95

Field Guide to the Spiders of California and the Pacific Coast States

Richard J. Adams

Paperback

$26.95

Field Guide to Marine Mammals of the Pacific Coast

Sarah G. Allen, Joe Mortenson, and Sophie Webb

Paperback

$28.95

Prescribed Burning in California Wildlands Vegetation Management

Harold Biswell

Paperback

$28.95

California Forests and Woodlands

Verna R. Johnston

Paperback

$28.95

Early Uses of California Plants

Edward K. Balls

Paperback

$17.95

Introduction to Trees of the San Francisco Bay Region

Glenn Keator

Paperback

$24.95

The Landscaping Ideas of Jays

Judith Larner Lowry

Paperback

$34.95

Living with the Changing California Coast

Gary Griggs

Paperback

$36.95

Introduction to California's Beaches and Coast

Gary Griggs

Paperback

$24.95

Fighting for the River

The Fall and Rise of the Wetlands of California's Great Central Valley

Introduction to Fire in California

David Carle

Paperback

$24.95

Sierra Nevada Natural History

Tracy I. Storer

Paperback

$29.95

Common Spiders of North America

Richard A. Bradley

Paperback

$34.95

Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of California

Robert C. Stebbins, and Samuel M. McGinnis

Paperback

$34.95

Growing California Native Plants, Second Edition

Marjorie G. Schmidt and Katherine L. Greenberg

Paperback

$28.95

Wildflowers of California

Laird R. Blackwell

Paperback

$35.00

Introduction to California Spring Wildflowers of the Foothills, Valleys, and Coast

Philip A. Munz

Paperback

$24.95

Introduction to Shore Wildflowers of California, Oregon, and Washington

Philip A. Munz

Paperback

$23.95

Introduction to California Desert Wildflowers

Philip A. Munz

Paperback

$24.95

Edible and Useful Plants of California

Charlotte Bringle Clarke

Paperback

$26.95

Introduction to California Plant Life

Robert Ornduff

Paperback

$23.95

Introduction to California Chaparral

Ronald D. Quinn and Sterling C. Keeley

Paperback

$26.95

A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert

Natural History of the Islands of California

Allan A. Schoenherr, C. Robert Feldmeth, and Michael J. Emerson

Carl N. McDaniel and John M. Gowdy

Paperback

$31.95

The Sunflower Forest

William R. Jordan III

Robert L. Thayer, Jr.

Paperback

$34.95

Urban Ecologies on the Edge

Kristian Karlo Saguin

Paperback

$29.95

Field Guide to California Rivers

California Rivers and Streams

Tracy I. Storer and Lloyd P. Tevis, Jr.

Paperback

$30.95

Birds of the Sierra Nevada

Ted Beedy

Paperback

$39.95

Mammals of California

E. W.

Paperback

$26.95

Fireflies, Honey, and Silk

Gilbert Waldbauer

Paperback

$23.95

California Naturalist Handbook, Second Edition

Greg de Nevers, Deborah Stanger Edelman, and Adina Merenlender

Paperback

$34.95

Ferns and Fern Allies of California

Steve J. Grillos

Paperback

$39.95

Auxins and Plant Growth

A. Carl Leopold

Paperback

$49.95

A Flora of the White Mountains, California and Nevada

Robert M. Lloyd and Richard S. Mitchell

Paperback

$39.95

The California Wildlife Habitat Garden

Nancy Bauer

Paperback

$29.95

A Flora of the Trinity Alps of Northern California

William J. Ferlatte

Paperback

$39.95

With Broadax and Firebrand

Warren Dean

Paperback

$36.95

The Oligocene Haynes Creek Flora of Eastern Idaho

Daniel I. Axelrod

Paperback

$29.95

Between Earth and Sky

Nalini M. Nadkarni

Paperback

$26.95

Observatory Seismology

Edited by Joe J. Litehiser

Paperback

$39.95

Sustainable Water

Edited by Allison Lassiter

Paperback

$29.95

San Francisco Bay Shoreline Guide

State Coastal Conservancy

The Seven States of California

Philip L. Fradkin

Paperback

$31.95

The Natural History of Big Sur

Paul Henson and Donald J. Usner

Paperback

$36.95

Geologic History of the Feather River Country, California

Robert H. Mohlenbrock

Paperback

$36.95

Essentials of Paleomagnetism

The Myth of Silent Spring

Chad Montrie

Paperback

$24.95

Biodiversity in a Changing Climate

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Shannon Cram

Unmaking the Bomb

$29.95

"A powerfully researched and important look at the ravages of nuclear waste remediation."—One of the Best Indie Books of 2023, Kirkus Reviews

What does it mean to reckon with a contaminated world? In Unmaking the Bomb, Shannon Cram considers the complex social politics of this question and the regulatory infrastructures designed to answer it. Blending history, ethnography, and memoir, she investigates remediation efforts at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, a former weapons complex in Washington State. Home to the majority of the nation's high-level nuclear waste and its largest environmental cleanup, Hanford is tasked with managing toxic materials that will long outlast the United States and its institutional capacities. Cram examines the embodied uncertainties and structural impossibilities integral to that endeavor. In particular, this lyrical book engages in a kind of narrative contamination, toggling back and forth between cleanup's administrative frames and the stories that overspill them. It spends time with the statistical people that inhabit cleanup's metrics and models and the nonstatistical people that live with their effects. And, in the process, it explores the uneven social relations that make toxicity a normative condition.

Daniel Jaffee

Unbottled

$27.95

"An essential book for everyone who seeks to reclaim the commons and build a just and equitable society."—John Nichols, The Nation

An exploration of bottled water's impact on social justice and sustainability, and how diverse movements are fighting back.

In just four decades, bottled water has transformed from a luxury niche item into a ubiquitous consumer product, representing a $300 billion market dominated by global corporations. It sits at the convergence of a mounting ecological crisis of single-use plastic waste and climate change, a social crisis of affordable access to safe drinking water, and a struggle over the fate of public water systems. Unbottled examines the vibrant movements that have emerged to question the need for bottled water and challenge its growth in North America and worldwide.

Drawing on extensive interviews with activists, residents, public officials, and other participants in controversies ranging from bottled water's role in unsafe tap water crises to groundwater extraction for bottling in rural communities, Daniel Jaffee asks what this commodity's meteoric growth means for social inequality, sustainability, and the human right to water. Unbottled profiles campaigns to reclaim the tap and addresses the challenges of ending dependence on packaged water in places where safe water is not widely accessible. Clear and compelling, it assesses the prospects for the movements fighting plastic water and working to ensure water justice for all.

Jules G. Evens

Natural History of the Point Reyes Peninsula

$28.95

Jules Evens weaves history, science, and personal anecdote into an absorbing chronicle of one of the most biologically diverse places in North America. His account of this enchanted "island in time," separated by tectonics from the rest of the continent, provides a comprehensive overview of the Point Reyes Peninsula, exploring its dynamic character and its haunting appeal. Evens thoroughly investigates the climate, geology, and flora and fauna of Point Reyes, giving special attention to its most characteristic species and their ecological relationships. He delves into the past as well, evoking images of salmon-swollen creeks, herds of elk, and canyons echoing with the cries of cougars to enliven our imagination and set the stage as he traces the changes that have occurred at Point Reyes since the first Spanish explorers visited its shores in the late 1500s. Extensively illustrated with color photographs, original illustrations, and maps, the book also includes species lists for the reptiles, amphibians, birds, mammals, common invertebrates, fish, and plants found on the peninsula today, making it an essential companion for anyone who plans to visit one of California's most unique natural areas.

Lindsey Dillon

Toxic City

$29.95

Toxic City presents a novel critique of postindustrial green gentrification through a study of Bayview-Hunters Point, a historically Black neighborhood in San Francisco. As cities across the United States clean up and transform contaminated waterfronts and abandoned factories into inviting spaces of urban nature and green living, working-class residents—who previously lived with the effects of state abandonment, corporate divestment, and industrial pollution—are threatened with displacement at the very moment these neighborhoods are cleaned, greened, and revitalized. Lindsey Dillon details how residents of Bayview-Hunters Point have fought for years for toxic cleanup and urban redevelopment to be a reparative process and how their efforts are linked to long-standing struggles for Black community control and self-determination. She argues that environmental racism is part of a long history of harm linked to slavery and its afterlives and concludes that environmental justice can be conceived within a larger project of reparations.

Christy Spackman

The Taste of Water

$29.95

Have you ever wondered why your tap water tastes the way it does? The Taste of Water explores the increasing erasure of tastes from drinking water over the twentieth century. It asks how dramatic changes in municipal water treatment have altered consumers’ awareness of the environment their water comes from. Through examining the development of sensory expertise in the United States and France, this unique history uncovers the foundational role of palatability in shaping Western water treatment processes. By focusing on the relationship between taste and the environment, Christy Spackman shows how efforts to erase unwanted tastes and smells have transformed water into a highly industrialized food product divorced from its origins. The Taste of Water invites readers to question their own assumptions about what water does and should naturally taste like while exposing them to the invisible—but substantial—sensory labor involved in creating tap water.

James P. Smith, Jr.

Field Guide to Grasses of California

$26.95

Grasses and grasslands are of increasing interest to conservationists, biologists, and gardeners. There are more than 300 species of native California grasses and they are found in almost every climate—from cool, wet forests to hot, dry deserts. Native grasses are also important to land restoration as they improve soil quality, increase water infiltration, and recycle nutrients. Their deep roots can tap soil water, which allows them to stay green year-round and to act as fire buffers around residences. Native grasses also provide vital habitat for many species of insects, birds, reptiles, and mammals. Despite their importance, grasslands remain one of the most underprotected of California's vegetation types, and native grasslands have undergone the greatest percentage loss of any habitat type in the state. Grasses are also among the most difficult plants to identify. Organized alphabetically, Field Guide to Grasses of California covers common native and naturalized grasses and, to help identify them, also features over 180 color illustrations.

Doris Sloan

Geology of the San Francisco Bay Region

$26.95

Why does a bit of ocean floor lie on top of Mt. Diablo? Why is Red Rock, that small, knobby island in San Francisco Bay, red? Why is Loma Prieta high? This book is for San Francisco Bay Area residents and visitors who want to explore the geologic world of this spectacular area, to learn about its shapes, colors, and rocky foundations. Doris Sloan illuminates the colorful geologic mosaic that surrounds San Francisco Bay and lucidly explains the complex and fascinating processes that have forged it over millions of years.

In a lively and engaging style, Sloan describes forces such as the movement of tectonic plates, erosion, the waves on the coast, and human activity. She provides background information on the processes, time frame, and rocks that are the key to understanding the Bay Area landscape and geologic history, then turns to distinct regions of the Bay Area and to San Francisco Bay itself.

* Superbly illustrated with 139 color photographs, 41 drawings, and 29 maps

* Covers Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma counties

* Gives clear, nontechnical explanations of complex topics including plate tectonics and the Bay Area's fault systems

* Suggests locales in parks and open space preserves to view Bay Area geology in action

David Bond

Negative Ecologies

$29.95

So much of what we know of clean water, clean air, and now a stable climate rests on how fossil fuels first disrupted them. Negative Ecologies is a bold reappraisal of the outsized role fossil fuels have played in making the environment visible, factual, and politically operable in North America. Following stories of hydrocarbon harm that lay the groundwork for environmental science and policy, this book brings into clear focus the dialectic between the negative ecologies of fossil fuels and the ongoing discovery of the environment. Exploring iconic sites of the oil economy, ranging from leaky Caribbean refineries to deepwater oil spills, from the petrochemical fallout of plastics manufacturing to the extractive frontiers of Canada, Negative Ecologies documents the upheavals, injuries, and disasters that have long accompanied fossil fuels and the manner in which our solutions have often been less about confronting the cause than managing the effects. This history of our present promises to re-situate scholarly understandings of fossil fuels and renovate environmental critique today. David Bond challenges us to consider what forms of critical engagement may now be needed to both confront the deleterious properties of fossil fuels and envision ways of living beyond them.

John D. Stuart and John O. Sawyer

Trees and Shrubs of California

$28.95

California's varied landscape is characterized by a spectacular abundance of plant life, including a magnificent variety of trees and shrubs. This is the first book to combine the trees and shrubs of California in one accessible field guide. Trees and Shrubs of California identifies and describes native California tree species and most common shrub species. The text is complemented by more than 200 beautiful line drawings, 300 range maps, and 40 color photographs.

In their introduction, the authors discuss the dominant vegetation types, climates, principal landforms, and elevations of California's ecological regions. They explain the classification system and nomenclature used in the book, which includes both scientific and common plant names and is based on the 1993 edition of The Jepson Manual. The authors also provide a step-by-step explanation of how to use the dichotomous keys to identify plants and distinguish between trees and shrubs.

This user-friendly field guide minimizes technical terms and includes a checklist, making it an invaluable resource on California's profuse vegetation.

Corrie Grosse

Working across Lines

$29.95

How are communities uniting against fracking and tar sands to change our energy future?

Working across Lines offers a detailed comparative analysis of climate justice coalitions in California and Idaho—two states with distinct fossil fuel histories, environmental contexts, and political cultures. Drawing on ethnographic evidence from 106 in-depth interviews and three years of participant observation, Corrie Grosse investigates the ways people build effective energy justice coalitions across differences in political views, race and ethnicity, age, and strategic preferences. This book argues for four practices that are critical for movement building: focusing on core values of justice, accountability, and integrity; identifying the roots of injustice; cultivating relationships among activists; and welcoming difference. In focusing on coalitions related to energy and climate justice, Grosse provides important models for bridging divides to reach common goals. These lessons are more relevant than ever.

R. Michael Davis, Robert Sommer, and John A. Menge

Field Guide to Mushrooms of Western North America

$26.95

California and the Western States are rich in abundant and diverse species of mushrooms. Amateur mushroom collectors and mycologists alike will find over 300 species of the region’s most common, distinctive, and ecologically important mushrooms profiled in this comprehensive field guide. It provides the most up-to-date science on the role of fungi in the natural world, methods to identify species, and locations of mushroom habitats. With excellent color illustrations showing top and side views of mushrooms of the Western States and a user-friendly text, it is informative but still light enough to be carried into the woods. When used to identify mushrooms, keys bring the reader to individual species, with a descriptive text providing cues for identifying additional species. Mushrooms common in urban landscapes are included, which is especially useful for the casual encounter with backyard fungi. The guide also provides a table of both old and new species names, and information on edibility and look-alikes, both dangerous and benign.

A section on mushroom arts and crafts features mushroom photography, painting, philately, spore prints, dyes, and cultivation. The guide also offers a comprehensive list of resources including national field guides, general mushroom books and periodicals, club and society contact information, and web sites.

· Primary descriptions and illustrations of 300 species of mushrooms plus text descriptions of many more.

· Latest word in mushroom taxonomy and nomenclature. Clear discussion of DNA sequencing and new classifications.

· Especially good coverage of southern California and Southwestern mushrooms often neglected in other field guides.

Kent G. Lightfoot and Otis Parrish

California Indians and Their Environment

$32.95

Capturing the vitality of California's unique indigenous cultures, this major new introduction incorporates the extensive research of the past thirty years into an illuminating, comprehensive synthesis for a wide audience. Based in part on new archaeological findings, it tells how the California Indians lived in vibrant polities, each boasting a rich village life including chiefs, religious specialists, master craftspeople, dances, feasts, and ceremonies. Throughout, the book emphasizes how these diverse communities interacted with the state's varied landscape, enhancing its already bountiful natural resources through various practices centered around prescribed burning. A handy reference section, illustrated with more than one hundred color photographs, describes the plants, animals, and minerals the California Indians used for food, basketry and cordage, medicine, and more. At a time when we are grappling with the problems of maintaining habitat diversity and sustainable economies, we find that these native peoples and their traditions have much to teach us about the future, as well as the past, of California.

Edited by Chad Raphael and Martha Matsuoka

Ground Truths

$34.95

A free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos, University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more.

This is the first book devoted entirely to summarizing the body of community-engaged research on environmental justice, how we can conduct more of it, and how we can do it better. It shows how community-engaged research makes unique contributions to environmental justice for Black, Indigenous, people of color, and low-income communities by centering local knowledge, building truth from the ground up, producing actionable data that can influence decisions, and transforming researchers’ relationships to communities for equity and mutual benefit. The book offers a critical synthesis of relevant research in many fields, outlines the main steps in conducting community-engaged research, evaluates the major research methods used, suggests new directions, and addresses overcoming institutional barriers to scholarship in academia. The coauthors employ an original framework that shows how community-engaged research and environmental justice align, which links research on the many topics treated in the chapters—from public health, urban planning, and conservation to law and policy, community economic development, and food justice and sovereignty.

Phaedra C. Pezzullo

Beyond Straw Men

$29.95

Addressing plastics can feel overwhelming. Guilt, shame, anger, hurt, fear, dismissiveness, and despair abound. Beyond Straw Men moves beyond “hot take” or straw man fallacies by illustrating how affective counterpublics mobilized around plastics reveal broader stories about environmental justice and social change. Inspired by on- and offline organizing in the Global South and the Global South of the North, Phaedra C. Pezzullo engages public controversies and policies through analysis of hashtag activism, campaign materials, and podcast interviews with headline-making advocates in Bangladesh, Kenya, the United States, and Vietnam. She argues that plastics have become an articulator of crisis and an entry point into the contested environmental politics of carbon-heavy masculinity, carceral policies, planetary fatalism, eco-ableism, greenwashing, marine life endangerment, pollution colonialism, and waste imperialism. Attuned to plastic attachments, Beyond Straw Men illustrates how everyday people resist unsustainable patterns of the plastics-industrial complex through imperfect but impactful networked cultures of care.

Helen Popper

California Native Gardening

$29.95

This is the first month-by-month guide to gardening with native plants in a state that follows a unique, nontraditional seasonal rhythm. Beginning in October, when much of California leaves the dry season behind and prepares for its own green “spring,” Helen Popper provides detailed, calendar-based information for both beginning and experienced native gardeners. Each month’s chapter lists gardening tasks, including repeated tasks and those specific to each season. Popper offers planting and design ideas, and explains core gardening techniques such as pruning, mulching, and propagating. She tells how to use native plants in traditional garden styles, including Japanese, herb, and formal gardens, and recommends places for viewing natives. An essential year-round companion, this beautifully written and illustrated book nurtures the twin delights of seeing wild plants in the garden and garden plants in the wild.

Arthur R. Kruckeberg

Introduction to California Soils and Plants

$24.95

Carnivorous pitcher plants, pygmy conifers, and the Tiburon jewel flower, restricted to a small patch of serpentine soil on Tiburon Peninsula in Marin County, are just a few of California's many amazing endemic plants—species that are unique to particular locales. California boasts an abundance of endemic plants precisely because it also boasts the richest geologic diversity of any place in North America, perhaps in the world. In lively prose, Arthur Kruckeberg gives a geologic travelogue of California's unusual soils and land forms and their associated plants—including serpentines, carbonate rocks, salt marshes, salt flats, and vernal pools—demonstrating along the way how geology shapes plant life. Adding a fascinating chapter to the story of California's remarkable biodiversity, this accessible book also draws our attention to the pressing need for conservation of the state's many rare and fascinating plants and habitats.

*148 outstanding, accurate photographs, more than 100 incolor, illustrate California's diverse flora

*Covers a wide range of locations including the Channel Islands, the Central Valley, wetlands, bristlecone pine forests, and bogs and fens

*Provides selected trip itineraries for viewing the state's geobotanical wonders

*Includes information on human influences on the California landscape from the early Spanish explores through the gold rush and to the present

Joel E. Correia

Disrupting the Patron

$34.95

A free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos, University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more.

In Paraguay’s Chaco region, cattle ranching drives some of the world’s fastest deforestation and most extreme inequality in land tenure, with grave impacts on Indigenous well‑being. Disrupting the Patrón traces Enxet and Sanapaná struggles to reclaim their ancestral lands from the cattle ranches where they labored as peons—a decades-long resistance that led to the Inter‑American Court of Human Rights and back to the frontlines of Paraguay’s ranching frontier. The Indigenous communities at the heart of this story employ a dialectics of disruption by working with and against the law to unsettle enduring racial geographies and rebuild territorial relations, albeit with uncertain outcomes. Joel E. Correia shows that Enxet and Sanapaná peoples enact environmental justice otherwise: moving beyond juridical solutions to harm by maintaining collective lifeways and resistance amid radical social-ecological change. Correia’s ethnography advances debates about environmental racism, ethics of engaged research, and Indigenous resurgence on Latin America’s settler frontiers.

Kip Will, Joyce Gross, Daniel Rubinoff, and Jerry A. Powell

Field Guide to California Insects

$26.95

Beautifully illustrated and approachable, this is the only California-specific, statewide book devoted to all groups of insects.

Completely revised for the first time in over 40 years, Field Guide to California Insects now includes over 600 insect species, each beautifully illustrated with color photographs. Engaging accounts focus on distinguishing features, remarkable aspects of biology, and geographical distribution in the state. An accessible and compact introduction to identifying, understanding, and appreciating these often unfamiliar and fascinating creatures, this guide covers insects that readers are likely to encounter in homes and natural areas, cities and suburbs, rural lands and wilderness. It also addresses exotic and invasive species and their impact on native plants and animals. Field Guide to California Insects remains the definitive portable reference and a captivating read for beginners as well as avid naturalists.

Gretchen LeBuhn

Field Guide to the Common Bees of California

$21.95

This engaging and easy-to-use natural history guidebook provides a thorough overview of native and honey bee biology and offers tools for identifying the most common bees of California and the Western United States. Full-color illustrations introduce readers to more than 30 genera of native bees, noting each one's needs and habits and placing them in their wider context. The author highlights bees’ ties to our own lives, the food we eat, and the habitat we provide, and suggests ways to support bees in our own backyards.

In addition to helping readers understand and distinguish among major groups of bees, this guide reveals how bees are an essential part of healthy ecosystem and how many plants, including important crop plants, depend on the pollination they provide. As growing evidence points to declining bee populations, this book offers critical information about the bond between plants and pollinators, and between humans and nature. Thoroughly researched and full of new insights into the ancient process of pollination, Field Guide to the Common Bees of California; Including Bees of the Western United States is invaluable for the window it opens onto the biodiversity, adaptive range, and complexity of invertebrate communities.

Glenn Keator and Alrie Middlebrook

Designing California Native Gardens

$38.95

Inspirational, practical, and easy to use, this book was created with the aim of conveying the awesome diversity and beauty of California's native plants and demonstrating how they can be brought into ecologically sound, attractive, workable, and artful gardens. Structured around major California plant communities—bluffs, redwoods, the Channel Islands, coastal scrub, grasslands, deserts, oak woodlands, mixed evergreen woodlands, riparian, chaparral, mountain meadows, and wetlands—the book's twelve chapters each include sample plans for a native garden design accompanied by original drawings, color photographs, a plant list, tips on successful gardening with individual species, and more. Both residential and professional gardeners will learn the benefits of going native with gardens that require less water and fewer fertilizers, attract wildlife, engage the senses, create a sense of place, and, at the same time, preserve our rich natural heritage.

Designing Native California Gardens includes:

* More than 600 selected native species recommended for the garden

* More than 300 photographs of native plants, natural plant communities, and residential native gardens

* Recommended places to visit for viewing each plant community

Philip W. Rundel and Robert Gustafson

Introduction to the Plant Life of Southern California

$26.95

Field guides often provide little ecological information, or context, for understanding the plants they identify. This book, with its engaging text and attractive illustrations, for the first time provides an ecological framework for the plants and their environments in the coast and foothill regions of Southern California, an area that boasts an extremely rich flora. It will introduce a wide audience—from general readers and students to natural history and outdoor enthusiasts—to Southern California's plant communities, their ecological dynamics, and the key plants that grow in them.

Coastal beach and dune habitats, coastal and interior sage scrub, chaparral, woodlands, grasslands, riparian woodlands, and wetlands all contribute unique plant assemblages to Southern California. In addition to discussing each of these areas in depth, this book also emphasizes ecological factors such as drought, seasonal temperatures, and fire that determine which plants can thrive in each community. It covers such important topics as non-native invasive plants and other issues involved with preserving biodiversity in the ecologically rich yet heavily populated and increasingly threatened area. * 327 color photographs provide overviews of each plant community and highlight key plant species

* Describes more than 300 plant species

* Covers the counties of Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, western Riverside, San Bernardino, and the Channel Islands

* Includes a list of public areas and parks for viewing Southern California's plant communities

Bhawani Venkataraman

The Paradox of Water

$21.95

Water is a molecular marvel. Its seemingly simple formula—H2O—dictates the properties that make water both essential for life and easily contaminated. Herein lies the paradox of water: we cannot live without it, but it is easily rendered “unsafe.” The Paradox of Water explores the intersection of the scientific, social, and policy implications around access to safe drinking water. Drinking water is the smallest fraction of water used by a nation. Yet, the quality of this fraction is what dictates whether a community is healthy, educated, and economically sustained.

Bhawani Venkataraman argues that a deeper understanding of the chemical nature of water is crucial to appreciating the challenges around access to safe drinking water. Drawing on recent research and case studies from the US and abroad, this book offers students an understanding of:

the processes and oversight needed to ensure the safety of drinking water
the role of the precautionary principle in managing drinking water
potential solutions for expanding sustainable and equitable access to safe drinking water

Peter S. Alagona

The Accidental Ecosystem

$24.95

One of Smithsonian Magazine's Favorite Books of 2022

With wildlife thriving in cities, we have the opportunity to create vibrant urban ecosystems that serve both people and animals.

The Accidental Ecosystem tells the story of how cities across the United States went from having little wildlife to filling, dramatically and unexpectedly, with wild creatures. Today, many of these cities have more large and charismatic wild animals living in them than at any time in at least the past 150 years. Why have so many cities—the most artificial and human-dominated of all Earth’s ecosystems—grown rich with wildlife, even as wildlife has declined in most of the rest of the world? And what does this paradox mean for people, wildlife, and nature on our increasingly urban planet?

The Accidental Ecosystem is the first book to explain this phenomenon from a deep historical perspective, and its focus includes a broad range of species and cities. Cities covered include New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Austin, Miami, Chicago, Seattle, San Diego, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. Digging into the natural history of cities and unpacking our conception of what it means to be wild, this book provides fascinating context for why animals are thriving more in cities than outside of them. Author Peter S. Alagona argues that the proliferation of animals in cities is largely the unintended result of human decisions that were made for reasons having little to do with the wild creatures themselves. Considering what it means to live in diverse, multispecies communities and exploring how human and nonhuman members of communities might thrive together, Alagona goes beyond the tension between those who embrace the surge in urban wildlife and those who think of animals as invasive or as public safety hazards. The Accidental Ecosystem calls on readers to reimagine interspecies coexistence in shared habitats, as well as policies that are based on just, humane, and sustainable approaches.

Gustav Cederlöf

The Low-Carbon Contradiction

$29.95

In the pursuit of socialism, Cuba became Latin America’s most oil-dependent economy. When the Soviet Union collapsed, the country lost 86 percent of its crude oil supplies, resulting in a severe energy crisis. In the face of this shock, Cuba started to develop a low-carbon economy based on economic and social reform rather than high-tech innovation. The Low-Carbon Contradiction examines this period of rapid low-carbon energy transition, which many have described as a “Cuban miracle” or even a real-life case of successful “degrowth.” Working with original research from inside households, workplaces, universities, and government offices, Gustav Cederlöf retells the history of the Cuban Revolution as one of profound environmental and infrastructural change. In doing so, he opens up new questions about energy transitions, their politics, and the conditions of a socially just low-carbon future. The Cuban experience shows how a society can transform itself while rapidly cutting carbon emissions in the search for sustainability.

Richard J. Adams

Field Guide to the Spiders of California and the Pacific Coast States

$26.95

With over 40,000 described species, spiders have adapted to nearly every terrestrial environment across the globe. Over half of the world’s spider families live within the three contiguous Pacific Coast states—not surprising considering the wide variety of habitats, from mountain meadows and desert dunes to redwood forests and massive urban centers. This beautifully illustrated, accessible guide covers all of the families and many of the genera found along the Pacific Coast, including introduced species and common garden spiders. The author provides readers with tools for identifying many of the region’s spiders to family, and when possible, genus and species. He discusses taxonomy, distribution, and natural history as well as what is known of the habits of the spiders, the characters of families, and references to taxonomic revisions of the pertinent genera. Full-color plates for each family bring to life the incredible diversity of this ancient arachnid order.

Sarah G. Allen, Joe Mortenson, and Sophie Webb

Field Guide to Marine Mammals of the Pacific Coast

$28.95

From gray whales giving birth in the lagoons of Baja California to sea otters nestled in kelp beds off California to killer whales living around Vancouver Island—this spectacular stretch of the Pacific Coast boasts one of the most abundant populations of sea mammals on earth. This handy interpretive field guide describes the 45 whales, dolphins, seals, and otters that are resident in, migrate through, or forage from Baja in Mexico to British Columbia in Canada. The guide’s rich species accounts provide details on identification, natural history, distribution, and conservation. They also tell where and how these fascinating animals can best be viewed. Introductory chapters give general information on the ecology, evolution, and taxonomy of marine mammals; on the Pacific Coast’s unique environment; and on the relationship between marine mammals and humans from native cultures to today. Featuring many color illustrations, photographs, drawings, and maps, this up-to-date guide illuminates a fascinating group of animals and reveals much about their mysterious lives in the ocean.

Verna R. Johnston

California Forests and Woodlands

$28.95

From majestic Redwoods to ancient Western Bristlecone Pines, California's trees have long inspired artists, poets, naturalists—and real estate developers. Verna Johnston's splendid book, illustrated with her superb color photographs and Carla Simmons's detailed black-and-white drawings, now offers an unparalleled view of the Golden State's world-renowned forests and woodlands.

In clear, vivid prose, Johnston introduces each of the state's dominant forest types. She describes the unique characteristics of the trees and the interrelationships of the plants and animals living among them, and she analyzes how fire, flood, fungi, weather, soil, and humans have affected the forest ecology. The world of forest and woodland animals comes alive in these pages—the mating games, predation patterns, communal life, and the microscopic environment of invertebrates and fungi are all here.

Johnston also presents a sobering view of the environmental hazards that threaten the state's trees: acid snow, ozone, blister rust, over-logging. Noting the interconnectedness of the diverse life forms within tree regions, she suggests possible answers to the problems currently plaguing these areas. Enriched by the observations of early naturalists and Johnston's many years of fieldwork, this is a book that will be welcomed by all who care about California's treasured forests and woodlands.

Glenn Keator

Introduction to Trees of the San Francisco Bay Region

$24.95

The mild Mediterranean climate of the San Francisco Bay Region nurtures an enormous variety of trees: majestic oaks and coast redwoods, lovely flowering dogwood and western redbud, graceful bigleaf maple, and many others. This guidebook, with its easy-to-use keys, informative species accounts, and copious illustrations, is the perfect guide to California's native and naturalized trees for those who want a handy, authoritative manual to carry into the field.

o Species descriptions give fascinating and little-known facts about each tree and suggest locales to visit for viewing them

o 250 color photographs illustrate traits essential for identification and show surrounding habitats for many species

o Provides detailed tips on learning to use keys and other identification aids

o Covers all nine counties of the San Francisco Bay Region and includes trees found in adjacent Monterey and Mendocino counties

Judith Larner Lowry

The Landscaping Ideas of Jays

$34.95

Elegantly organized by season, this lyrical yet practical guide to backyard restoration gardening celebrates the beauty, the challenges, and the rewards of growing native plants at home. Judith Larner Lowry, winner of the prestigious John Burroughs award, here builds on themes from her best-selling Gardening with a Wild Heart, which introduced restoration gardening as a new way of thinking about land and people. Drawing on her experiences in her own garden, Lowry offers guidance on how to plan a garden with birds, plants, and insects in mind; how to shape it with trees and shrubs, paths and trails, ponds, and other features; and how to cultivate, maintain, and harvest seeds and food from a diverse array of native annuals and perennials. Working in passionate collaboration with the scrub jays, quail, ants, and deer who visit her garden, and inspired by other gardeners, including some of the women pioneers of native plant horticulture, Lowry shares the delights of creating site-specific, ever-changing gardens that can help us better understand our place in the natural world.

Gary Griggs

Living with the Changing California Coast

$36.95

Crowded into the beautiful, narrow strip at the edge of the ocean, the large number of people who live near California's dynamic coastline often have little awareness of the hazards—waves, tides, wind, storms, rain, and runoff—that erode and impact the coast and claim property on a regular basis. This up-to-date, authoritative, and easy-to-use book, a geological profile of the California coast from Mexico to the Oregon border, describes the landforms and processes that shape the coastline and beaches, documents how erosion has affected development, and discusses the options that are available for dealing with coastal hazards and geologic instability.

A completely revised and updated edition of Living with the California Coast (1985), this book features hundreds of new photographs and the latest data on human activity on the coast, on climate change, on rising seas levels, and on coastal erosion and protection. With its dramatic photographs and mile-by-mile maps, Living with the Changing California Coast will be an essential resource for those intending to buy or build along the coast, those who need specific information about various coastal regions, and those who are seeking information about how this remarkable coastline has evolved.

*279 photographs portray natural coastal features and processes and illustrate many instances of what can happen to buildings on the coast

*81 maps, covering the entire coast, detail types of coastal landforms, coastline erosion rates, locations of seawalls or armor, and other specific areas of interest

*Offers specific advice for homebuyers,residents, and developers on which areas to avoid, on what safety measures should be taken, and on what danger signals should be heeded

Özge Yaka

Fighting for the River

$29.95

Fighting for the River portrays women's intimate, embodied relationships with river waters and explores how those relationships embolden local communities' resistance to private run-of-the-river hydroelectric power plants in Turkey. Building on extensive ethnographic research, Özge Yaka develops a body-centered, phenomenological approach to women's environmental activism and combines it with a relational ontological perspective. In this way, the book pushes beyond the "natural resources" frame to demonstrate how our corporeal connection to nonhuman entities is constitutive of our more-than-human lifeworld. Fighting for the River takes the human body as a starting point to explore the connection between lived experience and nonhuman environments, treating bodily senses and affects as the media of more-than-human connectivity and political agency. Analyzing local environmental struggles as struggles for coexistence, Yaka frames human-nonhuman relationality as a matter of socio-ecological justice.

Robert Fletcher

Failing Forward

$29.95

Failing Forward documents the global rise of neoliberal conservation as a response to biodiversity loss and unpacks how this approach has managed to "fail forward" over time despite its ineffectiveness. At its core, neoliberal conservation promotes market-based instruments intended to reconcile environmental preservation and economic development by harnessing preservation itself as the source of both conservation finance and capital accumulation more generally. Robert Fletcher describes how this project has developed over the past several decades along with the expanding network of organizations and actors that have come together around its promotion. Drawing on Lacanian psychoanalysis, he explores why this strategy continues to captivate states, nongovernmental organizations, international financial institutions, and the private sector alike despite its significant deficiencies. Ultimately, Fletcher contends, neoliberal conservation should be understood as a failed attempt to render global capitalism sustainable in the face of its intensifying social and ecological contradictions. Consequently, the only viable alternative capable of simultaneously achieving both environmental sustainability and social equity is a concerted program of "degrowth" grounded in post-capitalist principles.

Philip Garone

The Fall and Rise of the Wetlands of California's Great Central Valley

$34.95

This is the first comprehensive environmental history of California’s Great Central Valley, where extensive freshwater and tidal wetlands once provided critical habitat for tens of millions of migratory waterfowl. Weaving together ecology, grassroots politics, and public policy, Philip Garone tells how California’s wetlands were nearly obliterated by vast irrigation and reclamation projects, but have been brought back from the brink of total destruction by the organized efforts of duck hunters, whistle-blowing scientists, and a broad coalition of conservationists. Garone examines the many demands that have been made on the Valley’s natural resources, especially by large-scale agriculture, and traces the unforeseen ecological consequences of our unrestrained manipulation of nature. He also investigates changing public and scientific attitudes that are now ushering in an era of unprecedented protection for wildlife and wetlands in California and the nation.

Jason Robison

Vision and Place

$34.95

The Colorado River Basin’s importance cannot be overstated. Its living river system supplies water to roughly forty million people, contains Grand Canyon National Park, Bears Ears National Monument, and wide swaths of other public lands, and encompasses ancestral homelands of twenty-nine Native American tribes. John Wesley Powell, a one-armed Civil War veteran, explorer, scientist, and adept federal administrator, articulated a vision for Euro-American colonization of the “Arid Region” that has indelibly shaped the basin—a pattern that looms large not only in western history, but also in contemporary environmental and social policy.

One hundred and fifty years after Powell’s epic 1869 Colorado River Exploring Expedition, this volume revisits Powell’s vision, examining its historical character and its relative influence on the Colorado River Basin’s cultural and physical landscape in modern times. In three parts, the volume unpacks Powell’s ideas on water, public lands, and Native Americans—ideas at once innovative, complex, and contradictory. With an eye toward climate change and a host of related challenges facing the basin, the volume turns to the future, reflecting on how—if at all—Powell’s legacy might inform our collective vision as we navigate a new “Great Unknown.”

David Carle

Introduction to Fire in California

$24.95

An up-to-date, essential guide to California's long relationship with fire, for the climate-change generation.

What is fire? How are wildfires ignited? How do California's weather and topography influence fire? How did Indigenous people use fire on the land we now call California? David Carle's clearly written, dramatically illustrated first edition of Introduction to Fire in California helped Californians, including the millions who live near naturally flammable wildlands, better understand their own place in the state's landscape. In this revised edition, Carle covers the basics of fire ecology; looks at the effects of fire on people, wildlife, soil, water, and air; discusses fire-fighting organizations and land-management agencies; and explains how to prepare for an emergency and what to do when one occurs.

This second edition brings the wildfire story up to the year 2020, with information about recent extreme and deadly fire events and the evidence that climate change is swiftly changing the wildfire story in California. This update reflects current debates about California's future as a climate-crisis leader facing massive, annual natural disasters; the future of California development and housing; and the critically necessary alternatives to traditional energy options.

Features:

A larger, more reader-friendly page format
More than 110 color illustrations and maps
An overview of major wildfires in California's history
An updated and expanded discussion of the effect of climate change on fires in natural landscapes
Tips on what to do before, during, and after fires
Discussion of utility companies and massive power shutoffs

Tracy I. Storer

Sierra Nevada Natural History

$29.95

The magnificent and much-loved Sierra Nevada, called the "Range of Light" by John Muir, is the dominant feature on the California landscape. First published forty years ago, this handbook has become an enduring natural history classic, used by thousands to learn more about virtually every aspect of this spectacular mountain range—from its superb flora and fauna to its rugged topography. Comprehensive yet concise and portable, the book describes hundreds of species: trees and shrubs, flowering plants and ferns, fungi and lichens, insects and fish, amphibians and reptiles, and birds and mammals. Now completely updated and revised, it will continue to be the essential guide to the Sierra Nevada for a new generation of hikers, campers, tourists, naturalists, students, and teachers—everyone who wants to know more about this unique and beautiful mountain range.

* Describes more than 750 of the species most likely to be encountered with more than 500 new color photographs and 218 detailed black-and-white drawings

* Includes engaging and accessible introductory sections on Sierra Nevada topography, climate, geological history, and human history

* The compact, updated species accounts make identification easy, provide informative remarks on ecology and life history, and note which species are threatened or endangered

Richard A. Bradley

Common Spiders of North America

$34.95

This stunning field guide provides a comprehensive resource for identifying and appreciating nearly 500 species of spiders.

Arachnids are among the most diverse groups of terrestrial invertebrates, yet they are among the least studied and understood. This is the most comprehensive field guide to all 68 spider families in North America, with beautiful illustrations of 469 of the most commonly encountered species. Group keys enable accurate identification by web pattern, morphology, and other observable details, and species descriptions include tips to help everyday naturalists identify spiders, as well as their common names, typical habitat, geographic distribution, and behavioral notes. A concise illustrated introduction to spider biology and anatomy explains spider relationships. Featuring 82 gorgeous color plates, this book is an accessible and detailed resource for curious naturalists who want to understand this ubiquitous and ecologically critical component of our biosphere.

Marjorie G. Schmidt and Katherine L. Greenberg

Growing California Native Plants, Second Edition

$28.95

First published thirty years ago, the long-awaited second edition of Growing California Native Plants is the ideal hands-on native plant guide for both experienced and novice gardeners. In addition to the voluminous knowledge contributed by Marjorie G. Schmidt, now deceased, Katherine L. Greenberg has taken note of the vibrant state of today’s horticultural scene, adding plants and ideas that were little known when the book first appeared. Lavishly illustrated with 200 new color photographs, drawings, maps, and charts, this concise and easy-to-use reference covers trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, bulbs, grasses, and vines, and includes a plant selection guide for quick reference. The authors, whose combined experience spans six decades, take California’s summer-dry climate and restricted water supplies into account and provide helpful notes on companion plants and gardening with wildlife. Practical and informative, Growing California Native Plants is a valuable reference for gardeners everywhere in California and an enjoyable book simply to explore.

Laird R. Blackwell

Wildflowers of California

$35.00

In this photograph-driven field guide to California’s spectacular wildflowers, Laird R. Blackwell expertly provides several ways to find them in bloom: by month, by place, and by flower. The month-by-month descriptions—found in no other statewide guide—suggest what to see and where to go throughout the state during the blooming season. The author also supplies more than 300 locations arranged in 10 geographical regions, highlighting 67 of his favorite places with detailed driving and walking directions and difficulty, blooming times, and lists of predominant wildflowers as well as a featured flower. The guide contains more than 650 color photographs by the author, including 600 species arranged by flower, with natural history notes and places and months to find the flower in bloom. Throughout, experienced wildflower guide Blackwell shares his love of the beautiful places and flowers he has visited throughout California.

Philip A. Munz

Introduction to California Spring Wildflowers of the Foothills, Valleys, and Coast

$24.95

In the spring, California's rolling hills, green valleys, and coastal slopes are colored with wildflowers treasured by both residents and visitors to the state. First published more than forty years ago, this popular guidebook has helped thousands of amateur and intermediate wildflower enthusiasts learn the names of the flowers located in some of the state's loveliest and most accessible areas—from below the yellow pine belt in the Sierra Nevada westward to the coast. Thoroughly revised and updated throughout, it is now easier to use and more accurate—the perfect guide to take along on outdoor excursions in California and surrounding regions.

* Includes 244 new color photographs and 102 detailed drawings

* Now describes more than 400 wildflowers emphasizing the species most likely to be encountered in the state today

* Plant descriptions now include more detail, helpful identifying tips, and locales where flowers are likely to be seen

Philip A. Munz

Introduction to Shore Wildflowers of California, Oregon, and Washington

$23.95

The diverse coastal habitats of the spectacular Pacific Coast include sandy beaches and dunes, salt- and freshwater marshes, coastal prairies and bluffs, riparian woodlands, and coniferous forests. This guide, first published nearly forty years ago, has introduced thousands to the wildflowers and other plants that grow along the coastline. Now thoroughly updated and revised, it is the perfect field guide to pack for a day at the seashore anywhere in California or the Pacific Northwest.

* 268 species are described and illustrated by a new color photograph, a precise line drawing, or both

* Includes native and introduced species of wildflowers, common trees, and shrubs

* This new edition includes more plants, gives helpful hints for identifying species, and incorporates new taxonomic and distribution information

Philip A. Munz

Introduction to California Desert Wildflowers

$24.95

Some of the most spectacular and famous spring wildflower displays in California occur in the state's deserts. In fact, California's deserts support a surprisingly rich diversity of plants and animals year-round, making them a rewarding destination for outdoor enthusiasts as well as professional naturalists. First published forty years ago, this popular field guide has never been superseded as a guide to the wildflowers in these botanically rich areas. Easy-to-use, portable, and comprehensive, it has now been thoroughly updated and revised throughout, making it the perfect guide to take along on excursions into the Mojave and Colorado Deserts.

* Includes 220 new color photographs and 123 detailed drawings

* Now identifies more than 240 wildflowers in informative, engaging species accounts

* Covers such popular destinations as Death Valley, Palm Springs, and Joshua Tree National Park

Charlotte Bringle Clarke

Edible and Useful Plants of California

$26.95

Both American Indians and the pioneers knew and used many different plant species-for food, fibers, medicine, tools, and other purposes. This unique book is a guide to identifying more than 220 such plants. But it goes much further-it also tells the reader how to prepare, cook, and otherwise use them. Some of the dishes for which recipes are given have won culinary prizes. All have been tested not only by the author but also by her students and by journalists-who have been uniformity surprised and impressed.

The plants are organized by habitat communities. Description, photos, drawings, and distribution information are given. Where poisonous look-alikes exist, they too are illustrated. Much fascinating information about Indian uses of native and introduced species is included.

The author emphasizes conservation considerations; the aim of the book is to educate the reader about intriguing uses of the plants, and to tell how to gather and use the most palatable and abundant species without damaging the environment.

Ronald D. Quinn and Sterling C. Keeley

Introduction to California Chaparral

$26.95

The characteristic look of California Chaparral—a soft bluish-green blanket of vegetation gently covering the hills—is known to millions who have seen it as the backdrop in movies and television productions. This complex ecological community of plants and animals is not just a feature of the hills around Hollywood, but is a quintessential part of the entire California landscape. It is a highly resilient community adapted to life with recurring fires and droughts. Written for a wide audience, this concise, engaging, and beautifully illustrated book describes an ancient and exquisitely balanced environment home to wondrous organisms: Fire Beetles that mate only on burning branches, lizards that shoot blood from their eyes when threatened, Kangaroo Rats that never drink water, and seeds that germinate only after a fire, even if that means waiting in the soil for a 100 years or more. Useful both as a field guide and an introductory overview of the ecology of chaparral, it also provides a better understanding of how we might live in harmony, safety, and appreciation of this unique ecological community.

* Identifies chaparral’s common plants, animals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and insects

* Features 79 color illustrations, 56 black-and-white photographs, and 3 maps

* Examines the role of humans and fire in chaparral, covering the placement and design of homes, landscaping, and public policy

Steven John Phillips

A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert

$39.95

The landscape of the Sonoran Desert Region varies dramatically from parched desert lowlands to semiarid tropical forests and frigid subalpine meadows. Covering southeasternmost California, much of southern and central Arizona, most of Baja California, and much of the state of Sonora, Mexico, it is home to an extraordinary variety of plants and animals. A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert takes readers deep into its vast expanse, looking closely at the relationships of plants and animals with the land and people, through time and across landscapes.

In accessible language, more than forty scientists and/or naturalists examine the region’s biodiversity, geology, weather, plants, and animals (from invertebrates to fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals), as well as potential threats to the species and habitats. The text is supplemented throughout with anecdotes, essays, photographs, maps, diagrams, and 450 finely rendered drawings.

This new edition adds chapters on the Sky Islands, Sea of Cortez, desert pollinators, and conservation issues. Taxonomic nomenclature has been updated and new color plates and figures have been added. This comprehensive natural history, like the original edition, will surely become an invaluable companion for nature enthusiasts, birdwatchers, hikers, students, naturalists, and anyone interested in the desert Southwest.

Published in association with the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.

David R. Montgomery

Dirt

$24.95

Dirt, soil, call it what you want—it's everywhere we go. It is the root of our existence, supporting our feet, our farms, our cities. This fascinating yet disquieting book finds, however, that we are running out of dirt, and it's no laughing matter. An engaging natural and cultural history of soil that sweeps from ancient civilizations to modern times, Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations explores the compelling idea that we are—and have long been—using up Earth's soil. Once bare of protective vegetation and exposed to wind and rain, cultivated soils erode bit by bit, slowly enough to be ignored in a single lifetime but fast enough over centuries to limit the lifespan of civilizations. A rich mix of history, archaeology and geology, Dirt traces the role of soil use and abuse in the history of Mesopotamia, Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, China, European colonialism, Central America, and the American push westward. We see how soil has shaped us and we have shaped soil—as society after society has risen, prospered, and plowed through a natural endowment of fertile dirt. David R. Montgomery sees in the recent rise of organic and no-till farming the hope for a new agricultural revolution that might help us avoid the fate of previous civilizations.

Allan A. Schoenherr, C. Robert Feldmeth, and Michael J. Emerson

Natural History of the Islands of California

$36.95

Islands have always been fascinating places, their separateness evoking a sense of mystery and inspiring a yearning for exploration. California's islands are unique evolutionary laboratories, places where plants and animals have grown and interacted in isolation for millions of years. This comprehensive book discusses both the human and the natural history of the islands of California, including all eight Channel Islands, Año Nuevo, the Farallons, and the islands of San Francisco Bay. It is also useful as a field guide for visitors, and details on reaching the islands are contained in the first chapter.

The authors explore the formation of the islands; discuss the history of human habitation, beginning with the Native Americans who first visited the islands 12,000 years ago; and provide a thorough introduction to the marine and terrestrial biotas of the islands. The authors also discuss past damage and ongoing threats to island ecosystems, including devastation caused by the introduction of non-native animals and plants. Large herbivorous animals in particular have caused considerable damage, since island plants evolved in the absence of herbivores and therefore have no defenses against them.

At present all of California's islands are managed by conservancies and public agencies such as the National Park Service and State Park system, and various environmental organizations are working with them to return the islands to their original condition.

Kelly D. Alley

Microbial Machines

$29.95

Around 2004, members of governmental and nongovernmental organizations, science institutes, and private companies throughout India began brainstorming and then experimenting with small-scale treatment systems that could produce usable water from wastewater. Through detailed case studies, Microbial Machines describes how residents, workers, and scientists interact with technology, science, and engineering during the processes of treatment and reuse. Using a human-machine-microbe framework, Kelly Alley explores the ways that people's sensory perceptions of water—including disgust—are dynamic and how people use machines and microbes to digest wastewater. A better understanding of how the human and nonhuman interact in these processes will enable people to generate more effective methods for treating and reusing wastewater. While decentralized wastewater treatment systems may not be a perfect solution, they alleviate resource stress in regions that are particularly hard hit by climate change. These case studies have broad relevance for solving similar problems in many other places around the world.

Peter S. Alagona

After the Grizzly

$27.95

Thoroughly researched and finely crafted, After the Grizzly traces the history of endangered species and habitat in California, from the time of the Gold Rush to the present. Peter S. Alagona shows how scientists and conservationists came to view the fates of endangered species as inextricable from ecological conditions and human activities in the places where those species lived.

Focusing on the stories of four high-profile endangered species—the California condor, desert tortoise, Delta smelt, and San Joaquin kit fox—Alagona offers an absorbing account of how Americans developed a political system capable of producing and sustaining debates in which imperiled species serve as proxies for broader conflicts about the politics of place. The challenge for conservationists in the twenty-first century, this book claims, will be to redefine habitat conservation beyond protected wildlands to build more diverse and sustainable landscapes.

Bill Sharpsteen

The Docks

$29.95

The Docks is an eye-opening journey into a giant madhouse of activity that few outsiders ever see: the Port of Los Angeles. In a book woven throughout with riveting novelist detail and illustrated with photographs that capture the frenetic energy of the place, Bill Sharpsteen tells the story of the people who have made this port, the largest in the country, one of the nation’s most vital economic enterprises. Among others, we meet a pilot who parks ships, one of the first women longshoremen, union officials and employers at odds over almost everything, an environmental activist fighting air pollution in the “diesel death zone,” and those with the nearly impossible job of enforcing security. Together these stories paint a compelling picture of a critical entryway for goods coming into the country—the Port of Los Angeles is part of a complex that brings in 40% of all our waterborne cargo and 70% of all Asian imports—yet one that is also extremely vulnerable. The Docks is a rare look at a world within our world in which we find a microcosm of the labor, environmental, and security issues we collectively face.

Carl N. McDaniel and John M. Gowdy

Paradise for Sale

$31.95

The grim history of Nauru Island, a small speck in the Pacific Ocean halfway between Hawaii and Australia, represents a larger story of environmental degradation and economic dysfunction. For more than 2,000 years traditional Nauruans, isolated from the rest of the world, lived in social and ecological stability. But in 1900 the discovery of phosphate, an absolute requirement for agriculture, catapulted Nauru into the world market. Colonial imperialists who occupied Nauru and mined it for its lucrative phosphate resources devastated the island, which forever changed its native people. In 1968 Nauruans regained rule of their island and immediately faced a conundrum: to pursue a sustainable future that would protect their truly valuable natural resources—the biological and physical integrity of their island—or to mine and sell the remaining forty-year supply of phosphate and in the process make most of their home useless. They did the latter.

In a captivating and moving style, the authors describe how the island became one of the richest nations in the world and how its citizens acquired all the ills of modern life: obesity, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension. At the same time, Nauru became 80 percent mined-out ruins that contain severely impoverished biological communities of little value in supporting human habitation.

This sad tale highlights the dire consequences of a free-market economy, a system in direct conflict with sustaining the environment. In presenting evidence for the current mass extinction, the authors argue that we cannot expect to preserve biodiversity or support sustainable habitation, because our economic operating principles are incompatible with these activities.

William R. Jordan III

The Sunflower Forest

$29.95

Ecological restoration, the attempt to guide damaged ecosystems back to a previous, usually healthier or more natural, condition, is rapidly gaining recognition as one of the most promising approaches to conservation. In this book, William R. Jordan III, who coined the term "restoration ecology," and who is widely respected as an intellectual leader in the field, outlines a vision for a restoration-based environmentalism that has emerged from his work over twenty-five years.

Drawing on a provocative range of thinkers, from anthropologists Victor Turner, Roy Rappaport, and Mary Douglas to literary critics Frederick Turner, Leo Marx, and R.W.B. Lewis, Jordan explores the promise of restoration, both as a way of reversing environmental damage and as a context for negotiating our relationship with nature.

Exploring restoration not only as a technology but also as an experience and a performing art, Jordan claims that it is the indispensable key to conservation. At the same time, he argues, restoration is valuable because it provides a context for confronting the most troubling aspects of our relationship with nature. For this reason, it offers a way past the essentially sentimental idea of nature that environmental thinkers have taken for granted since the time of Emerson and Muir.

Robert L. Thayer, Jr.

LifePlace

$34.95

Robert Thayer brings the concepts and promises of the growing bioregional movement to a wide audience in a book that passionately urges us to discover "where we are" as an antidote to our rootless, stressful modern lives. LifePlace is a provocative meditation on bioregionalism and what it means to live, work, eat, and play in relation to naturally, rather than politically, defined areas. In it, Thayer gives a richly textured portrait of his own home, the Putah-Cache watershed in California's Sacramento Valley, demonstrating how bioregionalism can be practiced in everyday life. Written in a lively anecdotal style and expressing a profound love of place, this book is a guide to the personal rewards and the social benefits of reinhabiting the natural world on a local scale.

In LifePlace, Thayer shares what he has learned over the course of thirty years about the Sacramento Valley's geography, minerals, flora, and fauna; its relation to fire, agriculture, and water; and its indigenous peoples, farmers, and artists. He shows how the spirit of bioregionalism springs from learning the history of a place, from participating in its local economy, from living in housing designed in the context of the region. He asks: How can we instill a love of place and knowledge of the local into our education system? How can the economy become more responsive to the ecology of region? This valuable book is also a window onto current writing on bioregionalism, introducing the ideas of its most notable proponents in accessible and highly engaging prose.

At the same time that it gives an entirely new appreciation of California's Central Valley, LifePlace shows how we can move toward a new way of being, thinking, and acting in the world that can lead to a sustainable, harmonious, and more satisfying future.

Kristian Karlo Saguin

Urban Ecologies on the Edge

$29.95

Laguna Lake, the largest lake in the Philippines, supplies Manila's dense urban region with fish and water while operating as a sink for its stormflows and wastes. Transforming the lake to deliver these multiple urban ecological functions, however, has generated resource conflicts and contradictions that unfold unevenly across space.

In Urban Ecologies on the Edge, Kristian Karlo Saguin tracks the politics of resource flows and unpacks the narratives of Laguna Lake as Manila's resource frontier. Provisioning the city and keeping it safe from floods are both frontier-making processes that bring together contested socioecological imaginaries, practices, and relations. Combining fieldwork and historical accounts, Saguin demonstrates how people—powerful and marginalized—interact with the state and the environment to produce the unequal landscapes of urbanization at and beyond the city's edge.

Norris Hundley, Jr.

The Great Thirst

$36.95

The story of "the great thirst" is brought up to date in this revised edition of Norris Hundley's outstanding history, with additional photographs and incisive descriptions of the major water-policy issues facing California now: accelerating urbanization of farmland and open spaces, persisting despoliation of water supplies, and demands for equity in water allocation for an exploding population. People the world over confront these problems, and Hundley examines them with clarity and eloquence in the unruly laboratory of California.

The obsession with water has shaped California to a remarkable extent, literally as well as politically and culturally. Hundley tells how aboriginal Americans and then early Spanish and Mexican immigrants contrived to use and share the available water and how American settlers, arriving in ever-increasing numbers after the Gold Rush, transformed California into the home of the nation's preeminent water seekers. The desire to use, profit from, manipulate, and control water drives the people and events in this fascinating narrative until, by the end of the twentieth century, a large, colorful cast of characters and communities has wheeled and dealed, built, diverted, and connived its way to an entirely different statewide waterscape.

Jeffrey F. Mount

California Rivers and Streams

$36.95

California Rivers and Streams provides a clear and informative overview of the physical and biological processes that shape California's rivers and watersheds. Jeffrey Mount introduces relevant basic principles of hydrology and geomorphology and applies them to an understanding of the differences in character of the state's many rivers. He then builds on this foundation by evaluating the impact on waterways of different land use practices—logging, mining, agriculture, flood control, urbanization, and water supply development.

Water may be one of California's most valuable resources, but it is far from being one we control. In spite of channels, levees, lines and dams, the state's rivers still frequently flood, with devastating results. Almost all the rivers in California are dammed or diverted; with the booming population, there will be pressure for more intervention.

Mount argues that Californians know little about how their rivers work and, more importantly, how and why land-use practices impact rivers. The forceful reconfiguration and redistribution of the rivers has already brought the state to a critical crossroads. California Rivers and Streams forces us to reevaluate our use of the state's rivers and offers a foundation for participating in the heated debates about their future.

E. W.

Mammals of California

$26.95

From river otters and minks to bobcats, pikas, and flying squirrels, California boasts a diverse and intriguing fauna. But many of these animals can be secretive, shy, and nocturnal and observing them in the wild can be difficult. During the past two decades, the first edition of this popular guide introduced thousands to California's mammals by describing techniques for recognizing their presence, and when possible, methods for watching them in their natural habitats. Mammals of California is now completely revised and updated throughout, making it an ideal companion in the field or classroom.

* Includes 144 line drawings, 143 range maps, and 18 illustrated color plates

* Gives valuable overviews of mammal evolution, biology and anatomy, natural history, and conservation

* Features an expanded and updated section on diseases harbored by wild mammals that can affect humans—including Lyme disease and Hanta virus

Gilbert Waldbauer

Fireflies, Honey, and Silk

$23.95

The ink our ancestors wrote with, the beeswax in altar candles, the honey on our toast, the silk we wear. This enchanting book is a highly entertaining exploration of the myriad ways insects have enriched our lives–culturally, economically, and aesthetically. Entomologist and writer Gilbert Waldbauer describes in loving, colorful detail how many of the valuable products insects have given us are made, how they were discovered, and how they have been used through time and across cultures. Along the way, he takes us on a captivating ramble through many far-flung corners of history, mythology, poetry, literature, medicine, ecology, forensics, and more. Enlivened with personal anecdotes from Waldbauer's distinguished career as an entomologist, the book also describes surprising everyday encounters we all experience that were made possible by insects. From butterfly gardens and fly-fishing to insects as jewelry and sex pheromones, this is an eye-opening ode to the wonder of insects that illuminates our extraordinary and essential relationship with the natural world.

Greg de Nevers, Deborah Stanger Edelman, and Adina Merenlender

California Naturalist Handbook, Second Edition

$34.95

The go-to guide to California’s natural history, now updated with fresh insights on stewardship for a changing climate and diverse naturalist perspectives.

The California Naturalist Handbook offers a fun, science-based introduction to California’s natural history, emphasizing observation, discovery, communication, and stewardship. This accessible guidebook explores geology, native plants and animals, freshwater resources, forest and rangeland resources, conservation biology, and the effects of pressing environmental issues. Aspiring naturalists will learn how to keep a nature journal, practice participatory science, and restore ecosystem resilience.

Used statewide for the California Naturalist Program, this updated edition includes:

Updated overview of California’s unique ecosystems and plant and animal communities
Expanded discussions of Indigenous knowledge and stewardship
Greater focus on diverse naturalist leaders including women, Indigenous peoples, and naturalists of color
A deeper dive into southern California’s urban and desert ecologies
Current climate change information, including fire and forest management, drought, flooding and groundwater issues, and recognition of climate grief
Higher quality images showing a more diverse range of habitats

Steve J. Grillos

Ferns and Fern Allies of California

$39.95

This book describes all ferns commonly found in California. Species accounts for eighty-six ferns have been included. In addition to a brief introduction, sections are devoted to the life cycle of a typical fern, a key to the fern families, a glossary of terns, and a list of suggested references.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1966.
This book describes all ferns commonly found in California. Species accounts for eighty-six ferns have been included. In addition to a brief introduction, sections are devoted to the life cycle of a typical fern, a key to the fern families, a glossary of

A. Carl Leopold

Auxins and Plant Growth

$49.95

Auxins and Plant Growth explores the critical role of auxins in plant physiology and their applications in agricultural technology, emphasizing the need for a strong scientific foundation to drive meaningful advancements. The book provides a comprehensive integration of fundamental knowledge about auxins—how they are formed, their functions, and methods for identification and measurement—with their practical applications in agriculture. It highlights the dangers of research conducted without a solid understanding of auxin physiology and aims to guide researchers in designing effective and scientifically grounded experiments.

The author bridges the gap between theory and application, offering insights into the physiological basis of auxin activity and the technological methods derived from it. While not a historical review or a practical manual, the book serves as a resource for graduate students and professionals, encouraging the use of foundational discoveries to achieve systematic advancements in agricultural productivity. Ultimately, the work underscores the importance of integrating science and technology to address the pressing global challenge of increasing agricultural efficiency in a rapidly growing population.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1963.

Robert M. Lloyd and Richard S. Mitchell

A Flora of the White Mountains, California and Nevada

$39.95

A Flora of the White Mountains, California and Nevada explores the rich and diverse plant life of this isolated mountain range, renowned for housing the oldest living plants on Earth—bristlecone pines (Pinus longaeva). With elevations ranging from 4,000 feet to the summit of White Mountain Peak at 14,246 feet, the flora of the White Mountains is shaped by the harsh conditions and unique geography of the region. The book delves into the four major vegetation zones—desert scrub, pinyon woodland, subalpine forest, and alpine tundra—each hosting distinct plant communities. The flora includes approximately 815 vascular plant species, many of which are shared with the Sierra Nevada and Great Basin, while others are endemic to the region. Through detailed fieldwork conducted between the 1960s and 1970s, the authors document this botanical treasure trove, contributing valuable insights to the study of plant migration, adaptation, and conservation.

The book offers an in-depth look at the plant communities across varying elevations, from the desert scrub dominated by shadscale (Atriplex confertifolia) to the alpine tundra, home to species like Eriogonum gracilipes and Phlox covillei. Special attention is given to the bristlecone pine forests in the subalpine zone, where unique species such as Heuchera duranii and Trifolium monoense thrive. The flora’s comparative study reveals the region’s significant botanical diversity, with species that span arctic-alpine and montane-boreal affinities, as well as many that have migrated from the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains. By examining the ecological and geographical influences on the flora, the book highlights the importance of the White Mountains as a critical area for understanding plant evolution and the effects of climatic change.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1973.

Nancy Bauer

The California Wildlife Habitat Garden

$29.95

This attractive, practical guide explains how to transform backyard gardens into living ecosystems that are not only enjoyable retreats for humans, but also thriving sanctuaries for wildlife. Beautifully illustrated with full-color photographs, this book provides easy-to-follow recommendations for providing food, cover, and water for birds, bees, butterflies, and other small animals. Emphasizing individual creativity over conventional design, Bauer asks us to consider the intricate relationships between plants and wildlife and our changing role as steward, rather than manipulator, of these relationships.

In an engaging narrative that endorses simple and inexpensive methods of wildlife habitat gardening, Nancy Bauer discusses practices such as recycling plant waste on site, using permeable pathways, growing regionally appropriate plants, and avoiding chemical fertilizers and insecticides. She suggests ways of attracting pollinators through planting choices and offers ideas for building water sources and shelters for wildlife. A plant resource guide, tips for propagating plants, seasonal plants for hummingbirds, and host plants for butterflies round out The California Wildlife Habitat Garden, making it an indispensable primer for those about to embark on creating their own biologically diverse, environmentally friendly garden.

William J. Ferlatte

A Flora of the Trinity Alps of Northern California

$39.95

A Flora of the Trinity Alps of Northern California offers a thorough botanical study of one of California's most unique and rugged regions. Nestled within the Klamath Mountains, this area, with its varied elevations and diverse ecosystems, presents an opportunity to explore a flora that combines influences from both the Sierran flora and the coastal regions, all within a relatively small geographical area. The flora of the Trinity Alps is distinctive due to its unique location, which hosts many plant species that are found nowhere else in the state. This flora reflects the interplay of diverse climates, ranging from cool, moist areas at higher elevations to drier, more exposed lower slopes. Fieldwork for the study was conducted over several years, with particular focus on areas above 5,000 feet, revealing 266 species and many previously undocumented plants in this region.

The book divides the flora into key ecological zones, such as Mixed Conifer Forest, Red Fir Forest, and Subalpine Forest, each with its own characteristic plant communities. Within these zones, the flora displays a remarkable diversity, including species like the endangered Picea breweriana (Weeping Spruce) and Pinus balfouriana (Foxtail Pine), as well as the alpine species Saxifraga tolmiei and Primula suffrutescens. The author also notes that many species in the Trinity Alps are relicts from past, cooler climates, adding a historical layer to the region’s botanical significance. The study highlights how glaciation and geological events shaped the current landscape and plant distribution, while also providing practical identification tools, including detailed keys and descriptions. For botanists, ecologists, and nature enthusiasts, this book serves as an essential resource for understanding and preserving the delicate ecosystems of the Trinity Alps.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1974.

Warren Dean

With Broadax and Firebrand

$36.95

Warren Dean chronicles the chaotic path to what could be one of the greatest natural disasters of modern times: the disappearance of the Atlantic Forest. A quarter the size of the Amazon Forest, and the most densely populated region in Brazil, the Atlantic Forest is now the most endangered in the world. It contains a great diversity of life forms, some of them found nowhere else, as well as the country's largest cities, plantations, mines, and industries. Continual clearing is ravaging most of the forested remnants.

Dean opens his story with the hunter-gatherers of twelve thousand years ago and takes it up to the 1990s—through the invasion of Europeans in the sixteenth century; the ensuing devastation wrought by such developments as gold and diamond mining, slash-and-burn farming, coffee planting, and industrialization; and the desperate battles between conservationists and developers in the late twentieth century.

Based on a great range of documentary and scientific resources,With Broadax and Firebrand is an enormously ambitious book. More than a history of a tropical forest, or of the relationship between forest and humans, it is also a history of Brazil told from an environmental perspective. Dean writes passionately and movingly, in the fierce hope that the story of the Atlantic Forest will serve as a warning of the terrible costs of destroying its great neighbor to the west, the Amazon Forest.

Nalini M. Nadkarni

Between Earth and Sky

$26.95

World-renowned canopy biologist Nalini Nadkarni has climbed trees on four continents with scientists, students, artists, clergymen, musicians, activists, loggers, legislators, and Inuits, gathering diverse perspectives. In Between Earth and Sky, a rich tapestry of personal stories, information, art, and photography, she becomes our captivating guide to the leafy wilderness above our heads. Through her luminous narrative, we embark on a multifaceted exploration of trees that illuminates the profound connections we have with them, the dazzling array of goods and services they provide, and the powerful lessons they hold for us. Nadkarni describes trees' intricate root systems, their highly evolved and still not completely understood canopies, their role in commerce and medicine, their existence in city centers and in extreme habitats of mountaintops and deserts, and their important place in folklore and the arts. She explains tree fundamentals and considers the symbolic role they have assumed in culture and religion. In a book that reawakens our sense of wonder at the fascinating world of trees, we ultimately find entry to the entire natural world and rediscover our own place in it.

Edited by Joe J. Litehiser

Observatory Seismology

$39.95

The first effective seismographs were built between 1879 and 1890. In 1885, E. S. Holden, an astronomer and then president of the University of California, instigated the purchase of the best available instruments of the time "to keep a register of all earthquake shocks in order to be able to control the positions of astronomical instruments." These seismographs were installed two years later at Lick Observatory on Mt. Hamilton and at the Berkeley campus of the University. Over the years those stations have been upgraded and joined by other seismographic stations administered at Berkeley, to become the oldest continuously operating stations in the Western Hemisphere. The first hundred years of the Seismographic Stations of the University of California at Berkeley, years in which seismology has often assumed an unforeseen role in issues of societal and political importance, ended in 1987.

To celebrate the centennial a distinguished group of fellows, staff, and friends of the Stations met on the Berkeley campus in May 1987. The papers they presented are gathered in this book, a distillation of the current state of the art in observatory seismology. Ranging through subjects of past, present, and future seismological interest, they provide a benchmark reference for years to come.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1989.

Edited by Allison Lassiter

Sustainable Water

$29.95

Water scarcity, urban population growth, and deteriorating infrastructure are impacting water security around the globe. Struggling with the most significant drought in its recorded history, California faces all of these challenges to secure reliable water supplies for the future. The unfolding story of California water includes warnings and solutions for any region seeking to manage water among the pressures of a dynamic society and environment.

Written by leading policy makers, lawyers, economists, hydrologists, ecologists, engineers, and planners, Sustainable Water reaches across disciplines to address problems and solutions for the sustainable use of water in urban areas. The solutions and ideas put forward in this book integrate water management strategies to increase resilience in a changing world.

Contributors: John T. Andrew, Carolina Balazs, Celeste Cantú, Juliet Christian-Smith, Matthew Deitch, Caitlin Dyckman, Howard Foster, Julian Fulton, Peter Gleick, Brian E. Gray, Ellen Hanak, Maurice Hall, Michael Hanemann, Sasha Harris-Lovett, Matthew Heberger, G. Mathias Kondolf, Jay Lund, Damian Park, Kristen Podolak, John Radke, Isha Ray, David Sedlak, Fraser Shilling, Daniel Wendell, Robert Wilkinson, Cleo Woelfle-Erskine, Sarah Yarnell

State Coastal Conservancy

San Francisco Bay Shoreline Guide

$29.95

The second edition of the popular San Francisco Bay Shoreline Guide is the one essential book for anyone who wants to explore the remarkably diverse San Francisco Bay shoreline. Comprehensive, compact, user-friendly, and studded with full-color maps and illustrations, the Guide covers the more than 325 miles of the shoreline Bay Trail already open to the public, a corridor that will eventually encircle San Francisco and San Pablo Bays with a continuous 500-mile network of bicycling and hiking trails.

The Bay Trail offers access to commercial, industrial and residential neighborhoods; points of historic, natural and cultural interest; recreational areas like beaches, marinas, fishing piers, boat launches, and over 130 parks and wildlife preserves. It passes through highly urbanized areas like downtown San Francisco as well as remote natural areas like the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The Bay Trail consists of paved multi-use paths, dirt trails, bike lanes, and sidewalks. The Guide includes natural, cultural, and historic features that reveal the Bay Area's rich multicultural heritage. It also highlights the various ecosystems that coexist along this unique urban shoreline. Common plant and animal species are illustrated and described for easy identification. Icons indicate sites suitable for various activities: boating, fishing, biking, hiking, birdwatching, picnicking, and wheelchair riding. A reference section contains public transit information, names of Bay-related organizations, and many useful phone numbers.

Access Maps to the entire San Francisco Bay Trail , including:

Walking

Biking

Hiking

Strolling

Exercising

Swimming

Boating

Fishing

Birding

Windsurfing

Kite flying

History

Views

Nature centers

Wildlife

Marinas

Parks

Piers

Places to take children

Exploration

Marshes

Peaks

Orrin H. Pilkey

The World's Beaches

$34.95

Take this book to the beach; it will open up a whole new world. Illustrated throughout with color photographs, maps, and graphics, it explores one of the planet’s most dynamic environments—from tourist beaches to Arctic beaches strewn with ice chunks to steaming hot tropical shores. The World’s Beaches tells how beaches work, explains why they vary so much, and shows how dramatic changes can occur on them in a matter of hours. It discusses tides, waves, and wind; the patterns of dunes, washover fans, and wrack lines; and the shape of berms, bars, shell lags, cusps, ripples, and blisters. What is the world’s longest beach? Why do some beaches sing when you walk on them? Why do some have dark rings on their surface and tiny holes scattered far and wide? This fascinating, comprehensive guide also considers the future of beaches, and explains how extensively people have affected them—from coastal engineering to pollution, oil spills, and rising sea levels.

Paul Henson and Donald J. Usner

The Natural History of Big Sur

$36.95

Each year millions of people visit the area of rugged California coastline and wild mountains known as Big Sur. Finally here is a book that is both a natural history of this beautiful region and an excellent guide to its extensive public lands. The first section introduces the area's geology, climate, flora, fauna, and human history. The second section describes selected sites, trails, and features that are mentioned in Part One.

Although Big Sur is world famous for awe-inspiring scenery, it is less known for its great ecological diversity and its significance as a haven for many species of terrestrial and marine wildlife. In no other part of the world do fog-loving coastal redwoods thrive on one slope of a canyon while arid-climate yuccas grow on the other. Similarly, sea otters and cormorants live near dry-climate creatures like canyon wrens and whiptail lizards. The area's staggering beauty and forbidding wilderness have inspired artists, poets, naturalists, and hikers—and also real estate developers.

As increasing tourism, development pressure, and land-use decisions continue to affect Big Sur, this book will do much to heighten awareness of the region's biotic richness and fragility. Written in nontechnical language, with generous color photographs, drawings, maps, species lists, and a bibliography, it will attract both the casual and the serious naturalist, as well as anyone concerned about preserving California's natural heritage.

Cordell Durrell

Geologic History of the Feather River Country, California

$36.95

How did the Sierra Nevada and adjacent lands come to be the size and shape they are today? This book covers 400 million years of physical evolution in a language understandable to nonscientists, tracing the volcanic activity, the folding and building of mountains, the breaking of blocks along fault lines, and the work of erosion and glaciers that have created today's dramatic landscape.

Cordell Durrell spent a lifetime reading this complex story of movement and change in the rocks of the Feather River country. He shares with readers the excitement of discovering by remote but careful inference what must have happened millions upon millions of years ago. The basic methods of geologic analysis that Durrell describes can be applied anywhere on the earth's surface, lending new fascination to our travels throughout the frozen arctic, dry deserts, tropical rainforests, low swamps, and high mountains like California's magnificent Sierra.

Timothy P. Duane

Shaping the Sierra

$45.95

The rural west is at a crossroads, and the Sierra Nevada is at the center of this social and economic change. The Sierra Nevada landscape has always been valued for its bounty of natural resource commodities, but new residents and an ever-growing flood of tourists to the area have transformed the relationship between the region's nature and its culture. In an engaging narrative that melds the personal with the professional, Timothy P. Duane—who grew up in the area—documents the impact of rapid population growth on the culture, economy, and ecology of the Sierra Nevada since the late 1960s. He also recommends innovative policies for mitigating the negative effects of future population growth in this spectacular but threatened region, as well as throughout the rural west.

Today, the primary social and economic values of the Sierra Nevada landscape are in the amenities and ecological services provided by its wildlands and functioning ecosystems. Duane shows how further unfettered population growth threatens the very values which have made the Sierra Nevada a desirable place to live and work. A new approach to land use planning, resource management, and local economic development—one that recognizes the emerging values of the landscape—is necessary in order to achieve sustainable development, Duane claims. Weaving personal experience with outstanding scholarship, he shows how such an approach must explicitly recognize the importance of values and the application of an environmental land ethic to future development in the area.

Robert H. Mohlenbrock

This Land

$36.95

Part armchair travelogue, part guide book, this projected three-volume series—divided into the western, central, and eastern United States—will introduce readers to all 155 national forests across the country. This Land is the only comprehensive field guide that describes the natural features, wildernesses, scenic drives, campgrounds, and hiking trails of our national forests, many of which—while little known and sparsely visited—boast features as spectacular as those found in our national parks and monuments. Each entry includes logistical information about size and location, facilities, attractions, and associated wilderness areas. For about half of the forests, Robert H. Mohlenbrock has provided sidebars on the biological or geological highlights, drawn from the "This Land" column that he has written for Natural History magazine since 1984.

Superbly illustrated with color photographs, botanical drawings, and maps, this book is loaded with information, clearly written, and easy to use.

This volume covers national forests in: Alaska, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, California, Utah, Idaho, Washington

Lisa Tauxe

Essentials of Paleomagnetism

$59.95

More than 400 years ago William Gilbert said, “The Earth itself is a great magnet.” Today, we know that it is also a great magnetic tape recorder. This work is a comprehensive, up-to-date textbook on extracting and using rock and paleomagnetic data in archaeological, geological, and geophysical applications. Designed for students and professionals with knowledge of college level physics and some background in earth sciences, it describes both the theory and the practice of paleomagnetism, covering topics such as the basics of magnetism, geomagnetic fields, how rocks become magnetized, and the various ways of analyzing the magnetism of rocks. The book uses the companion PmagPy software package. An appendix contains a brief introduction to Python, an easy-to-use, cross-platform, and most important, free programming environment in which PmagPy programs are written.

Stephen J. Pyne

The Pyrocene

$22.95

A provocative rethinking of how humans and fire have evolved together over time—and our responsibility to reorient this relationship before it's too late.

The Pyrocene tells the story of what happened when a fire-wielding species, humanity, met an especially fire-receptive time in Earth's history. Since terrestrial life first appeared, flames have flourished. Over the past two million years, however, one genus gained the ability to manipulate fire, swiftly remaking both itself and eventually the world. We developed small guts and big heads by cooking food; we climbed the food chain by cooking landscapes; and now we have become a geologic force by cooking the planet.

Some fire uses have been direct: fire applied to convert living landscapes into hunting grounds, forage fields, farms, and pastures. Others have been indirect, through pyrotechnologies that expanded humanity's reach beyond flame's grasp. Still, preindustrial and Indigenous societies largely operated within broad ecological constraints that determined how, and when, living landscapes could be burned. These ancient relationships between humans and fire broke down when people began to burn fossil biomass—lithic landscapes—and humanity's firepower became unbounded. Fire-catalyzed climate change globalized the impacts into a new geologic epoch. The Pleistocene yielded to the Pyrocene.

Around fires, across millennia, we have told stories that explained the world and negotiated our place within it. The Pyrocene continues that tradition, describing how we have remade the Earth and how we might recover our responsibilities as keepers of the planetary flame.

Chad Montrie

The Myth of Silent Spring

$24.95

Since its publication in 1962, Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring has often been celebrated as the catalyst that sparked an American environmental movement. Yet environmental consciousness and environmental protest in some regions of the United States date back to the nineteenth century, with the advent of industrial manufacturing and the consequent growth of cities. As these changes transformed people's lives, ordinary Americans came to recognize the connections between economic exploitation, social inequality, and environmental problems. As the modern age dawned, they turned to labor unions, sportsmen’s clubs, racial and ethnic organizations, and community groups to respond to such threats accordingly. The Myth of Silent Spring tells this story. By challenging the canonical “songbirds and suburbs” interpretation associated with Carson and her work, the book gives readers a more accurate sense of the past and better prepares them for thinking and acting in the present.

Terry Louise Root

Biodiversity in a Changing Climate

$39.95

One major consequence of climate change is abrupt, dramatic changes in regional biodiversity. Even if the most optimistic scenarios for mitigating climate change transpire, the fate of many wild species rests on the shoulders of people engaged in conservation planning, management, and policy. Providing managers with the latest and most useful climate change research is critical and requires challenging the conventional divide between scientists and managers.

Biodiversity in a Changing Climate promotes dialogue among scientists, decision makers, and managers who are grappling with climate-related threats to species and ecosystems in diverse forms. The book includes case studies and best practices used to address impacts related to climate change across a broad spectrum of species and habitats—from coastal krill and sea urchins to prairie grass and mountain bumblebees. Focused on California, the issues and strategies presented in this book will prove relevant to regions across the West, as well as other regions, and provide a framework for how scientists and managers in any region can bridge the communication divide to manage biodiversity in a rapidly changing world.

Biodiversity and a Changing Climate will prove an indispensable guide to students, scientists, and professionals engaged in conservation and resource management.

Rebecca Solnit

Savage Dreams

$26.95

"A beautiful, absorbing, tragic book."—Larry McMurtry

In 1851, a war began in what would become Yosemite National Park, a war against the indigenous inhabitants. A century later–in 1951–and a hundred and fifty miles away, another war began when the U.S. government started setting off nuclear bombs at the Nevada Test Site. It was called a nuclear testing program, but functioned as a war against the land and people of the Great Basin.

In this foundational book of landscape theory and environmental thinking, Rebecca Solnit explores our national Eden and Armageddon and offers a pathbreaking history of the west, focusing on the relationship between culture and its implementation as politics. In a new preface, she considers the continuities and changes of these invisible wars in the context of our current climate change crisis, and reveals how the long arm of these histories continue to inspire her writing and hope.

Anthony D. Barnosky

Dodging Extinction

$29.95

Paleobiologist Anthony D. Barnosky weaves together evidence from the deep past and the present to alert us to the looming Sixth Mass Extinction and to offer a practical, hopeful plan for avoiding it. Writing from the front lines of extinction research, Barnosky tells the overarching story of geologic and evolutionary history and how it informs the way humans inhabit, exploit, and impact Earth today. He presents compelling evidence that unless we rethink how we generate the power we use to run our global ecosystem, where we get our food, and how we make our money, we will trigger what would be the sixth great extinction on Earth, with dire consequences.

Optimistic that we can change this ominous forecast if we act now, Barnosky provides clear-cut strategies to guide the planet away from global catastrophe. In many instances the necessary technology and know-how already exist and are being applied to crucial issues around human-caused climate change, feeding the world’s growing population, and exploiting natural resources. Deeply informed yet accessibly written, Dodging Extinction is nothing short of a guidebook for saving the planet.

Mark E. Hostetler

The Green Leap

$34.95

Written for anyone interested in green development—including policy makers, architects, developers, builders, and homeowners—this practical guide focuses on the central question of how to conserve biodiversity in neighborhoods and to minimize development impacts on surrounding habitats. The Green Leap specifically helps move green development beyond the design stage by thoroughly addressing construction and post-construction issues.

Incorporating many real-world examples, Mark Hostetler explains key conservation concepts and techniques, with specific advice for a wide variety of stakeholders that are interested in creating and maintaining green developments. He outlines the key players and principles needed to establish biodiverse communities and illustrates eight key design and management strategies. The Green Leap not only offers essential information for constructing new developments but also helps existing communities retrofit homes, yards, and neighborhoods to better serve both people and nature.

Peter F. Sale

Our Dying Planet

$29.95

Coral reefs are on track to become the first ecosystem actually eliminated from the planet. So says leading ecologist Peter F. Sale in this crash course on the state of the planet. Sale draws from his own extensive work on coral reefs, and from recent research by other ecologists, to explore the many ways we are changing the earth and to explain why it matters. Weaving into the narrative his own firsthand field experiences around the world, Sale brings ecology alive while giving a solid understanding of the science at work behind today’s pressing environmental issues. He delves into topics including overfishing, deforestation, biodiversity loss, use of fossil fuels, population growth, and climate change while discussing the real consequences of our growing ecological footprint. Most important, this passionately written book emphasizes that a gloom-and-doom scenario is not inevitable, and as Sale explores alternative paths, he considers the ways in which science can help us realize a better future.