Working Together for Change

The Natural Resources Defence Council was formed more than forty years ago, with a staff of just two. It has since grown to be one of the largest environmental organizations in the world with more than 1.3 million members, and a staff of 350 lawyers, scientists, and allied professionals. The NRDC has compiled a remarkable roster of victories for clean air & water, environmental justice, endangered species, and wilderness areas.

John and Patricia Adams were there at the NRDC’s lean beginnings, as described in their new book A Force for Nature: The Story of the NRDC and the Fight to Save Our Planet– an inspiring history of an organization that has literally made us a stronger, healthier, and greener society.

John Adams (pictured above) served as the NRDC president from 1970 to 2006, always pushing for strategies based on law and science that would protect the environment as a whole. Rolling Stone magazine once observed, “If the planet has a lawyer, it’s John Adams.”

A Force for Nature joins one of our favorite sections of the Land Library — shelves we return to often for inspiration. Over the years we have built up quite a collection of institutional biographies, the behind-the-scene stories of land trusts, environmental organizations, historic preservation groups, museums, parks & preserves — groups that started with a vision and eventually grew into effective agents for change. They all started with a small number of people who saw a need, remained positive, and never waivered. We love these books! Here’s just a few of our favorites:

Conservancy: The Land Trust Movement in America by Richard Brewer, Nature’s Keepers: The Remarkable Story of How The Nature Conservancy Became the Largest Environmental Group in the World by Bill Birchard, Justice on Earth: Earthjustice and the People it has Served by Tom Turner.

Creating the National Park Service by Horace M. Albright, Return of the Peregrine: A North American Saga of Tenacity and Teamwork (the story of The Peregrine Fund) edited by William Burnham & Tom Cade, Dinosaurs in the Attic: The American Museum of Natural History by Douglas Preston.

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Celebrating the Landscape of Home

As the Rocky Mountain Land Series heads into its ninth year, we’re excited to announce our Fall 2010 lineup of authors, artists, photographers, historians, and naturalists. Each Land Series presenter widens our appreciation of the stories behind our age-old relationship to the land, and for that we are extremely grateful! (You can find the entire Fall schedule listed below).

The new season starts on September 30th, as Craig Childs discusses his new book Finders Keepers: A Tale of Archaeological Plunder and Obsession (pictured above). The Land Series has been lucky enough to host Craig Childs before, and this new book may be his best yet!

It’s hard to think of a more wide-ranging, knowledgeable student of the American West than Dan Flores. Dan will discuss his two most recent books, the Twentieth Anniversary edition of his classic of the southern plains, Caprock Canyonlands, and Visions of the Big Sky: Painting and Photographing the Northern Rocky Mountain West.

This fall’s schedule is a good example of the wide diversity of Land Series topics. Here’s three upcoming authors who, in their own way, tell the twin stories of people and the land: Walter Echo-Hawk’s In the Courts of the Conqueror: The 10 Worst Indian Law Cases Ever Decided (for more on Walter Echo-Hawk, please visit our earlier post), Walter Borneman’s Rival Rails: The Race to Build America’s Greatest Transcontinental Railroad, and Jack Turner’s Landscapes on Glass: Lantern Slides for the Rainbow Bridge–Monument Valley Expedition (there’s more on this little known expedition on our earlier post).

Why should birder’s have all the fun? Robert Michael Pyle embarked on his own Big Year, as many obsessed birders have done. Sighting butterflies was Pyle’s goal, but along the way he has (like Edwin Way Teale before him) written an insightful natural history spanning several regions.

A certain level of learned zaniness may ensue when artist Ray Troll returns to the Land Series with his new book Something Fishy This Way Comes (for proof of zany, check out this video from our earlier post, The Perfect Blend of Pancakes & Paleontology).

Jonathan Waterman returns as well — this time with National Geograpahic photographer Peter McBride, as they discuss The Colorado River: Flowing Through Conflict. Water will forever remain high on our list of Land Series topics!

And speaking of the power of the Colorado River, photographer Christoper Brown will be giving a powerpoint presentation on his new book Path of Beauty: Photographic Adventures in the Grand Canyon, full of wonderful images that elevate geologic layers to high art.

Moral Ground: Ethical Action for a Planet in Peril is a book not to be missed. A panel of editors & contributors will join us in a loose town-hall format as we all come to grips with our obligations to the planet and to the future.

And there’s no more immediate ethical sphere than our relationship to food. Katherine Leiner has written a wonderful new book that highlights inspirational stories from across the country, Growing Food: The New Generation of Sustainable Farmers, Cooks, and Food Activists.

So PLEASE join us this Fall for the chance to meet the following authors!

ROCKY MOUNTAIN LAND SERIES Fall 2010

Thursday, September 30th, 7:30pm:

Craig Childs, author of
Finders Keepers: A Tale of Archaeological Plunder and Obsession

Friday, October 15th, 7:30pm:

Ray Troll, author of
Something Fishy This Way Comes: The Artwork of Ray Troll

Sunday, October 17th, 3:00pm:

Dan Flores, author of
Caprock Canyonlands and Visions of the Big Sky: Painting and Photographing the Northern Rocky Mountain West

Thursday, October 21st, 7:30pm:

Walter Borneman, author of
Rival Rails: The Race to Build America’s Greatest Transcontinental Railroad

Saturday, October 23rd, 2:00pm:

Katherine Leiner, author of
Growing Roots: The New Generation of Sustainable Farmers, Cooks, and Food Activists

Saturday, October 30th, 2:00pm:

Robert Michael Pyle, author of
Mariposa Road: The First Butterfly Big Year

Saturday, November 13th, 2:00pm:

The editors & contributors from
Moral Ground: Ethical Action for a Planet in Peril

Saturday, November 20th, 2:00pm:

Jack Turner, author of
Landscapes on Glass: Lantern Slides for the Rainbow Bridge–Monument Valley Expedition

Monday, November 29th, 7:30pm:

Christopher Brown, author of
Path of Beauty: Photographic Adventures in the Grand Canyon

Saturday, December 4th, 2:00pm:

Walter Echo-Hawk, author of
In the Courts of the Conqueror: The 10 Worst Indian Law Cases Ever Decided

Date & Time TBA:

Peter McBride & Jonathan Waterman, authors of
The Colorado River: Flowing Through Conflict

All Land Series events will take place at the Tattered Cover’s Historic LoDo Book Store (16th & Wynkoop in lower downtown Denver). For more information visit the Tattered Cover’s event page. Each program is FREE of charge — truly a wonderful opportunity for lifelong learners of all ages!

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Ancient Paths & Modern Lives

From a sheep ranch in western Wyoming, Cat Urbigkit has quietly produced some of the Land Library’s favorite picture books at our Waterton Canyon Kids Nature Library. We’ve just received her latest: Path of the Pronghorn, a wonderful collaboration with photographer Mark Gocke. This book celebrates the fastest land mammal in North America (pronghorn have been clocked at up to sixty miles per hour). Among the world’s land mammals, only cheetahs are faster.

Path of the Pronghorn follows a Wyoming herd as they travel the same ancient migration route pronghorn have taken since the last Ice Age — from the sagebrush steppe in spring, to the high mountain grasslands of summer.

For more books on pronghorn be sure to visit our earlier post, With Sagebrush in Their Blood.

And here’s a few more Cat Urbigkit books from our Waterton Canyon Kids Nature Library — all wonderful glimpses of the working landscapes of the American West:

Three by Cat Urbigkit: Brave Dogs, Gentle Dogs: How They Guard Sheep, Cattle Kids: A Year on the Western Range, The Shepherd’s Trail.

Any day now, we should be unpacking Cat’s first book for adults, Yellowstone Wolves: A Chronicle of the Animal, the People, and the Politics, as it joins the Land Library’s always growing shelves devoted to wolves & carnivores across the West and the world:

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Quickly Becoming a Fan of Fens

Recently we posted a piece on a fun field trip to South Park — High Creek Fen: Both A Glacial Remnant & Biologic Hot Spot. On our return to Denver, we were anxious to learn more about South Park’s high mountain wetlands.

We’re still looking and learning, and hopefully we’ll be able to expand our wetland shelves soon. Meanwhile, we just stumbled across this fun poem from our Kids Nature Library in Waterton Canyon:

Fens

I’m a fan of fens
of bogs, marshes and bayous –
those in-between places of the earth
not quite water, not quite land
those untrustworthy places
that make you watch where you stand
those horror movie places
damp and thick with fog
full of jaws and flashing claws
scales and thrashing tails
You can’t be bored in a bayou
a fen, a marsh, a bog –
those misunderstood places
where logs can have teeth
reeds can have wings
where the air so still, so quiet
always growls, buzzes, sings

– Marilyn Singer

Footprints on the Roof: Poems about the Earth by Marilyn Singer & illustrated by Meilo So, and another fun book of wetland poetry: Song of the Water Boatman and other Pond Poems by Joyce Sidman, with illustrations by Beckie Prange.
Both books can be found at our Waterton Canyon Kids Nature Library.

Thanks to Joe Rocchio for the High Creek Fen photo above — from his wonderful aapa mire site!

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