Book Description

While tropical forests are being cleared at an alarming rate, the clearing is rarely complete and is often not permanent. A considerable amount of tropical forest exists as remnants that have significant value both for the conservation of biological diversity and for meeting the needs of local people.

This volume brings together world-renowned scientists and conservationists to address the biological and socio-economic value of forest remnants and to examine practical efforts to conserve those remnants. An outgrowth of a year-long study by the policy program at the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, Forest Patches in Tropical Landscapes provides a broad overview of theory and practice, and will help foster both interdisciplinary research and more effective approaches to tropical conservation and development. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Forest fragments in a context
This is an excellent collection of distinct approaches to the forest fragmentation process in tropical landscapes. These approaches include social economical and environmental aspects well based on case studies andscientific data. With one publication it's possible to analyze severalpoints of view and draw an image of the tropical forest's situation. ... Read more

Book Description

This book is a first hand investigation into water management in a fast-growing region of the arid American West. It presents three states that adopted the conjunctive management (CJM) of groundwater and surface water to make resources go further in serving people and the environment. CJM has followed a different history, been practiced differently, and produced different outcomes in each state. The authors question why different results have emerged from neighbors trying to solve similar problems with the same policy reform.

The first book on conjunctive water management,Common Waters, Diverging Streams describes how CJM came into existence, how it is practiced, and what it does and does not accomplish. A further contribution is its linkages between institutions and policy outcomes. Scholars often declare that institutions matter, but few works provide an explicit study of how policy linkages operate in practice. The authors show how diverging courses in CJM can be explained by state laws and regulations, legal doctrines, the organizations governing and managing water supplies, and the division of authority between levels of government.

Reviews (3)

Another Great Book about Viktor Schauberger
This book has more details in it than Living Water but by no means does it explain exactly how Viktor created his mystical healing water that cured many disorders. If anyone wants to be a great water researcher or just knowledgeable on water they should read and re-read this book 4-5 times and then read in-between the lines. A great book if you want to learn about water. No-ONE today even comes close to Viktor Schauberger, he was the Water King.

The nature of water
This is the first book of the "Eco-Technology" series, and as so, gives you the foundation of the therories presented by Vikto Schauberger, and amplified by Callum Coats. It DOES contain quite alot of previous information written in Living Energies (Coat's first Schauberger book), however, the discussion and the text is much more thoroughly covered. The substance of water, water supply, deep-sea water, the consequences of drinking purely mechanically treated water, notes on the secrets of water, high-frequency water, the pulsation and healing power of water, river regulation, groundwater tables, temperature and movement of water...notice my use of the word WATER. Yes, this book is about water, but, by reading it, just wait until you discover what you DID NOT know about "water". It is a very good start, and as I said, a foundation for understanding the theories of Viktor Schauberger.

Long on Theory, Short on Practicality
I enjoyed the book, but was looking for information on purification of water with a vortex. From the table of contents, it seemed to be present. I found no practical, hands-on advice. I'm a MotherEarthNews type, not NewAge, so I was disappointed. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

outstanding
This is truly fine work. The relatively new genre of environmental history has produced the usual amount of academic turgidity, but many of these young historyians clearly love the land that they write abot, and have the skills to make discussions of the history of human interacton with natural systems into literature. If you enjoy Terrie, you should also pick up Bullough's Pond by Diana Muir.

This book examines the complexity of Adirondack History
The book introduces concepts and ideas that you will have thought of before, but never had actually examined in real images and arguements.

Has some great historical facts and stories.

Tells New Yorkers about what has happened in their state.

This book is much better than Schneider's.
I have always loved the Adirondacks, but after reading this astonishingly well-written book I have a new appreciation for this remarkable region. If you're a fellow Adirondacks-lover I HIGHLY recommend this book. Also, if you have time to read only one history of the Adirondacks, then this is the one to read. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The Next Green Revolution
One of the reasons American farmers have been slow to adopt organic and other forms of sustainable farming has been the lack of truly credible messengers.Knowledge and sincerity are not enough; farmers need to get the word from other farmers, and from those who, themselves, have faced the challenges of inclement weather and a capricious marketplace.They need to hear from someone who has gotten his hands dirty.Farmers will find such a messenger in Jim Horne.

Jim Horne was raised on a family farm in Western Oklahoma.He has spent a lifetime in agriculture as a rancher and advisor to farmers and the agricultural community.Today, he serves as the CEO of the well-respected Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture.Together with Maura McDermott, Horne has written a book that tells the story of his journey from a believer in and proponent of status quo industrial farming to a leadership role in the sustainable agricultural community.But The Next Green Revolution is more than a personal story and more than an indictment of modern American agriculture; it provides the reader with eight realistic and comprehendible steps that farmers and ranchers can undertake to make their operations more sustainable-both economically and ecologically.As such, it not only inspires, but gives the farmer practical guidance on how to begin the transition.

The Next Green Revolution is well written and replete with personal experiences, real-farm examples, and technical references.It is advisable reading not only for farmers, but also for policy makers and for anyone who works with farmers.It belongs on the reading list of every County Extension Agent and Farm Advisor in the Country. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Some good info, but not enough
For the reader who currently knows nothing about water contamination and purification, this is a decent book, since it provides some eye-opening information. However, there are better books out there, depending on what you're looking for.

For specific advice on water contamination and safe water alternatives, including bottled water and home purification, I recommend Colin Ingram's "The Drinking Water Book." It has more information and a better format, including a simple chart that rates the effectiveness of different home purification methods for eliminating different contaminants (something this author didn't include).

If you're looking for something more political, buy "The Sierra Club Guide to Safe Drinking Water." This lists specific steps to improve drinking water on a larger level, including political action and people/agencies to contact. It also includes a list of major U.S. cities and their violations of water purity regulations. Finally, it lists the EPA drinking water standards in an appendix. Of course, it also includes advice on safe water alternatives, but this is not as extensive as the recommendations in The Drinking Water Book (see above).

Very Scary! Excellent Read! A Must for Every Nutritionist
I just got finished reading this book in between classes, and all I can say is WOW! Be aware, and beware of your tap water. If these statistics are correct, then the EPA and the U.S. government are not concerned with protecting your right to clean water, and therefore, you must educate yourself in order to protect against degenerative disease.

[ 1991-1992 EPA records showed that the nations water systems committed over 250,000 violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act, affecting more than 100 million Americans - and 10% of those exceeded the MCL (Max Contaminant Level) of the EPA. ]

This book is a great start finding out the truth of the matter. Toxins are everywhere! We all need to learn where they exist and remove them for our own and our childrens sake.

Someday, a high ranking official on TV may review this book, or a similar subject and try and spin these numbers a certain way to make it not sound so bad, but don't be fooled. Statistics seldom lie. Only politicians do. Politicians can come from any field, not just government. Politicians come from industry, medicine, lobby, and big business etc. Be a detective, and look for anything that doesn't make sense.

"The Truth is Obvious, Everything Else is Questionable"

Read this book! It contains vital information.
This book is certainly a very factual and "blunt" book about the seriousness of our domestic water quality. With the coming "Y2K" event on the horizon, I believe Lono A'o's comments are even more appropriate and noteworthy. I have given this book a 5 star and I am giving serious thought to making this book a required reading for all the students in my Environmental Studies class at New England College. That's how serious I believe the issue is.

Very thorough about current water filtration methods
If you ever plan on buying a water filter of any kind -- this is the book to read. The only reason I did not give it 5 stars is that I wish it would have given more specific information regarding name brand water filtration systems available and where to get testing information etc. ... Read more

Book Description

The United States is in the unusual position of being both the world’s top energy consumer and its top producer. Because it consumes more than it produces, though, it must import energy from Middle Eastern countries, primarily in the form of oil, to maintain its standard of living. The political, economic and environmental problems created by the need to import have developed slowly over time and are pressing issues today.

This chronology begins with Benjamin Franklin’s kite flying experiment in 1752 and ends with 2002 and a discussion of the development of new types of vehicles and the fuel systems used to power them, electricity deregulation in California, and the possible hydrogen economy of the future. Other topics covered in the chronology and appendices include the sun’s role in the creation of various types of energy, the burning of wood for energy, the development and invention of the steam engine by James Watt, the use of the hydrocarbons coal and oil, key alternatives to oil, the use of water to produce hydroelectric and other forms of energy, atomic and nuclear energy, and the solutions that have been proposed to make the country self-sufficient. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great academic work on mining landscapes
If you're interested in the cultural landscapes associated with mining, this book is a must.Great stuff on Bisbee, AZ.Fantastic maps show the development of that mining landscape over time. ... Read more

Book Description

Over the past century, solutions to natural resources policy issues have become increasingly complex. Multiple government agencies with overlapping jurisdictions and differing mandates as well as multiple interest groups have contributed to gridlock, frequently preventing solutions in the common interest. Community-based responses to natural resource problems in the American West have demonstrated the potential of local initiatives both for finding common ground on divisive issues and for advancing the common interest.The first chapter of this enlightening book diagnoses contemporary problems of governance in natural resources policy and in the United States generally, then introduces community-based initiatives as responses to those problems. The next chapters examine the range of successes and failures of initiatives in water management in the Upper Clark Fork River in Montana; wolf recovery in the northern Rockies; bison management in greater Yellowstone; and forest policy in northern California. The concluding chapter considers how to harvest experience from these and other cases, offering practical suggestions for diverse participants in community-based initiatives and their supporters, agencies and interest groups, and researchers and educators ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Good cases and an overview of what we need to learn
This is a nice discussion of community based initiatives (stakeholder groups) for solving intractable environmental problems.The case of the Quincy Library Group is particularly fascinating, but I haven't read all four cases yet. The intro and closing chapters by Ron Brunner present a theoratical discussion of what we can and need to learn from community-based efforts to come to grips with environmental problems in the western United States, where environmental politics is often polarized.

These groups seem to have been successful at bringing together opposing interests in communities throughout the west; and movign away fromadesire to exploit or protect everything to a discussion of sustainable management strategies.Yet they have also been criticized by environmentalists for their susceptibility to parochial interests of communities in affected areas; and to influence by resource extractors.The environmental NGO's, for their part, seem too often willing to oppsoe everything without ever really addressing management questions (shall we simply export all our environmentally destrcutive industries?).Corporations, on the other hand, are too often willing to come to the table and act reasonably when they see no other choice.Can local stakeholder groups bridge the gap? Science aids understanding, but is both uncertain and unable to answer questions of what we value.Worth reading. ... Read more

Book Description

Protecting land in parks is often seen as coming at the expense of rural economic development. Yet recent events such as the contentious debate over the development of Canyon Forest Village on the south rim of the Grand Canyon suggest just the opposite: healthy natural systems can be enormously valuable to rural economies.

National Parks and Rural Development offers a thorough examination of the interdependent roles of national parks and the economies of rural communities in the United States. Bringing together the thinking and views of economists, historians, sociologists, recreation researchers, and park managers, the book considers how those roles can be most effectively managed, as it offers:

• a wide-ranging review of history and important concepts in rural development and parks management
• five case studies of rural development near national parks that identify lessons learned, principles applied, mistakes committed, and advances made
• personal essays from leaders in the parks management field

For each section, the editors offer introductory discussions that provide context and highlight key points. The editors also provide a detailed conclusion which summarizes policy implications and presents specific recommendations for improving rural development and park management policies.

Case studies include: Cape Cod National Seashore, Alaskan parks and wilderness areas, Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Canyon, and three parks in the Pacific Northwest (Mt. Rainier, Olympic, and North Cascades).

National Parks and Rural Development is a unique synthesis and guide to solving conflicts between the needs of human communities and nature near federal lands. It will be an important work for agency personnel, nongovernmental organizations, and students and scholars of rural economic development, public policy, environmental economics, and related fields. ... Read more

Book Description

At the current rate of increase, the world's population is likely to reach ten billion by the middle of the twenty-first century. What will be the challenges posed by feeding this population and how can they be addressed?Written to mark the 200th anniversary of the publication of Malthus' seminal Essay on the Principle of Population, this fascinating book looks at the intimate links between population growth and agricultural innovation over the past 10,000 years, illustrating how the evolution of agriculture has both shaped and been shaped by the course of world population growth. This historical context serves to illuminate our present position and to aid understanding of possible future paths to food security for the planet. This volume is a unique and accessible account that will be of interest to a wide audience concerned with global population, food supply, agricultural development, environmental degradation and resource depletion. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

An excellent history of population and agriculture.
This work is an efficient survey of agriculture and its relation to population growth through history. The chapters are designed to focus on population growth through time. For example chapter 2 is: Reaching for 5 million ( to 8000BC); chapter 3 is: Towards 50 million ( 8000-2000BC); chapter 4 is: The first half-billion ( 2000BC-1500AD); chapter 5 is: Towards the first billion (1500-1825) etc. Under each heading is a discussion of the critical agricultural developments during that time period. The last chapter focuses on the problems of feeding 10 billion people in the future.The research is detailed and knowledgable. The sources are modern and uptodate. The writing is precise. It is an excellent book that covers a lot of ground in a small compass. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Book Description

This book examines issues of decision-making, communication and power in the planning process. The author explores the politics and power-plays which planning practitioners face and engage in, using real examples from planning practice. The book explores planning but in the context of practice, i.e. how it is actually encountered in the worlds of planning officers and elected representatives.It will shed light on the subtleties of power so that student and practitioners will better understand the circumstances in which they will find themselves and will able to act more effectively in what is in reality a messy, highly-politicized, planning decision-making process. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

An astounding tome--(make it a searchable CD pease!)
This book is an astoundingly in-depth index of mineral occurances in Colorado. It has more than a few eye-opening revelations. Looking up the radioactive minerals is especially provacative. By bringing together so much information, the stupefying magnitude of efforts to find and identify minerals in Colorado can start to be appreciated.

The books organization should be explained: Individual mineral "chapters" are arranged aphabetically. Within each mineral chapter, occurances are listed aphabetically by county. This format makes looking for particular minerals fairly straightforward--it tells you which counties have the mineral and basically where to find them. As could be expected, publicly accessible occurances are described in more detail than private sites (mines are usually only named).

On the other hand, if you want to find out what minerals are found in particular county, only a short mineral highlights section at the beginning of the book is helpful. County information is parceled out to the individual mineral chapters. Regrouping the information by county would require another book--or a searchable CD.

This book begs to be in database-on-CD form. ... Read more

Book Description

Describing applications and uses for parcel information in an ArcGIS geodatabase, this book covers the data model developed as a framework for land record information in an ArcGIS environment. Demonstrated is how the model supports real GIS work, including the update and maintenance of data content by tax assessors, planners, recorders, environmental managers, public works officials, safety officials, and others. Land records personnel learn how parcel information can be designed in a geodatabase so work can begin on system design and implementation. The advantages of putting parcel information into a geodatabase are described, and instruction on moving existing applications into the geodatabase is provided. Datasets are included that show how the parcel data model has been easily customized to satisfy different requirements. ... Read more

Book Description

Before European settlers arrived in North America in the seventeenth century, 950 million acres of virgin forest blanketed the eastern United States. But as the colonists established their communities, they cleared vast tracts of forest for farms and cut trees for lumber, tanbark, charcoal, and paper. In just 200 years, the original forests were gone.

Or so it seemed.

In The Sierra Club Guide to the Ancient Forests of the Northeast, two of the nation's foremost experts on eastern old-growth forests reveal that an estimated 2 million acres of ancient forests still thrive throughout the eastern United States, with approximately 400,000 of those acres in the Northeast.

This is the first guide to these northeastern treasures. The 134 sites featured in the book showcase the most magnificent and inspiring forests across nine states: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Taking travelers into the heart of each state, authors Bruce S. Kershner and Robert T. Leverett offer practical details on where to go, how to get there, and what to see--including recommendations for little-known trails that lead to some of the Northeast's oldest, tallest, and biggest trees.

This unique guide is guaranteed to inspire residents and visitors alike to protect the Northeast's primeval forests for generations to come. ... Read more

Book Description

You drink it, wash in it, cook with it, bathe in it, swim in it, float on it, make your morning coffee with it. The Earth is 70 percent water, and so is the human body.

For many of us, water is so ubiquitous that it is easy to waste or take for granted. But we do so at our own peril. Humanity is putting greater demands on this precious, limited resource than ever before.

Around the world, one billion people lack access to clean water. Droughts, floods, and waterborne diseases kill tens, perhaps hundreds, of millions of people (mostly children) every year. And huge multinational corporations see a profit opportunity unparalleled even by oil or gold. From Bolivia to Britain, water supplies are being privatized and sold for profit, cutting millions off from the single most crucial human need.

Meanwhile, consumers in industrialized countries such as Italy, Britain, Australia, and the United States eagerly drink millions of liters of bottled water every day--some of which is less pure than the stuff flowing from their taps at home--at a cost of about one thousand times what tap water costs. In America, beef-flavored bottled water for dogs is sold; in Nigeria, you can buy a bottle of water guaranteed to make men more virile.

Why are the politics of water so skewed, and what’s being done about it? This book explores the problems and the solutions, and provides resources for ordinary readers to get involved. ... Read more