Fishing the Great Lakes is a sweeping history of the destruction of the once-abundant fisheries of the great "inland seas" that lie between the United States and Canada. Though lake trout, whitefish, freshwater herring, and sturgeon were still teeming as late as 1850, Margaret Bogue documents here how overfishing, pollution, political squabbling, poor public policies, and commercial exploitation combined to damage the fish populations even before the voracious sea lamprey invaded the lakes and decimated the lake trout population in the 1940s.
    From the earliest records of fishing by native peoples, through the era of European exploration and settlement, to the growth and collapse of the commercial fishing industry, Fishing the Great Lakes traces the changing relationships between the fish resources and the people of the Great Lakes region. Bogue focuses in particular on the period from 1783, when Great Britain and the United States first politically severed the geographic unity of the Great Lakes, through 1933, when the commercial fishing industry had passed from its heyday in the late nineteenth century into very serious decline. She shows how fishermen, entrepreneurial fish dealers, the monopolistic A. Booth and Company (which distributed and marketed much of the Great Lakes catch), and policy makers at all levels of government played their parts in the debacle. So, too, did underfunded scientists and early conservationists unable to spark the interest of an indifferent public. Concern with the quality of lake habitat and the abundance of fish increasingly took a backseat to the interests of agriculture, lumbering, mining, commerce, manufacturing, and urban development in the Great Lakes region. Offering more than a regional history, Bogue also places the problems of Great Lakes fishing in the context of past and current worldwide fishery concerns.

How many times have you heard the television or radio alert, “We are now under a flash flood watch”? While the destructive force of flash flooding is a regular occurrence in the state and has caused a tremendous amount of damage and heartache over the years, no one until now has recorded in a single book the history of flash floods in Texas. After combing libraries and archives, grilling county historians, trekking to flood sites, and collecting scores of graphic photographs, Jonathan Burnett chose twenty-eight floods from around the state to create this narrative of a century of disastrous events. Beginning with the famous Austin dam break of 1900 and ending with the historic 2002 flooding in the Hill Country, Burnett chronicles the causes and courses of these catastrophic floods as well as their costs in material damage and human lives. Dramatic photographs of each event enhance the harrowing accounts of danger spawned by nature on a rampage. Together, the stories and the pictures give readers a vivid and lasting image of the power and unpredictability of flash floods in Texas.

The Wind River Experimental Forest has been called the cradle of forestry in the Pacific Northwest, a place of groundbreaking discoveries in forest genetics and ecology. Forest of Time follows 100 years of forest science at Wind River, as social and scientific changes transformed the 20th century and the Pacific Northwest forest itself. It is a story of discovery and blindness, of opportunities taken and missed, in a forest dedicated to long-term research.

The Forest Service began research at Wind River in 1908 to learn the secrets of the giant Douglas fir. During the course of the century, generations of scientists studied the forest, and their conclusions changed through time. Initially, Wind River scientists saw the region in need of protection from fire and careless logging. They saw scorched, cutover land that required replanting. Later they saw the forest in need of improvement, needing to be freed from pests and unprofitable species and replaced with thrifty, fast-growing plantations.

Wind River soon became a laboratory where foresters from around the world came to learn how to grow the best possible lumber in the shortest amount of time. As plantations replaced natural stands, scientists came to Wind River to explore the complexity of old-growth forest ecosystems. And today, Wind River is the center of a 21st century exploration of forest canopies and the global connection between forests and atmosphere.

In Forest of Time, Margaret Herring and Sarah Greene show readers how science grows and changes in unexpected ways, much like a forest through time.

With strong personal and professional ties to the Gulf of Mexico, marine geologist John B. Anderson has spent two decades studying the Texas coastline and continental shelf. In this book, he sets out to answer fundamental questions that are frequently asked about the coast—how it evolved; how it operates; how natural processes affect it and why it is ever changing; and, finally, how human development can be managed to help preserve it.   The book provides an amply illustrated look at ocean waves and currents, beach formation and erosion, barrier island evolution, hurricanes, and sea level changes. With an abundance of visual material—including aerial photos, historical maps, simple figures, and satellite images—the author presents a lively, interesting lesson in coastal geography that readers will remember and appreciate the next time they are at the beach and want to know:               What happens to the sand that erodes from our beaches?             Can beach erosion be stopped—and should we try?             How much sand will be needed to stabilize our beaches?             Does a hurricane have any positive impacts?             How much development can the coast withstand?   This entertaining and instructive book provides authoritative answers to these and other questions that are essential to our understanding of coastal change.  

Containing habitat information, physical descriptions, photographs, and range maps for more than 150 species of freshwater fishes that can be found in Texas, this field guide is an indispensable reference and research tool for ichthyologists, professional fisheries biologists, amateur naturalists, and anglers alike.   The introductory section offers an illustrated guide to the common counts and measurements used for fish identification; a brief explanation of fish phylogeny; and a scientific key to help identify the fish families in Texas.   The book includes species accounts of native and introduced fishes found in the freshwaters of Texas. Each account covers the physical characteristics, habitat, and distribution of the fish, with additional comments of interest or importance to its life history and conservation status. With the largest collection to date of color photographs, including various color phases (breeding and non-breeding colors), the book also includes range maps within the species accounts. The closing pages of the book feature a glossary and reference section.   In a time when the state’s water resources are beset by issues growing in both number and complexity, this book provides information for professionals and policy makers. It also contributes to the natural history education of the public.