Book Description
All the wild trees, shrubs, and woody vines in the area north to Newfoundland, south to North Carolina and Tennessee, and west to the Dakotas and Kansas are described in detail. Accounts of 646 species include shape and arrangement of leaves, height, color, bark texture, flowering season, and fruit. Clear, accurate drawings illustrate leaves, flowers, buds, tree silhouettes, and other characteristics.
Customer Reviews:
Learn to love trees! Or learn about the trees you love........2007-10-17
This is an wonderful guide to trees and one of the few that also includes shrubs. The format of keys and plates is very clear and an excellent introduction to the use of taxonomic keys.
the one.......2002-08-01
No mere Peterson field guide, this scholarly work is a concise encyclopedia of all the trees native to the northeastern United States, with descriptions that can truly be used to tell them apart (a unique feat). Belongs in the backpack of any hiker who wants to learn trees. Fits in a half-gallon Ziploc. Remember you need a magnifying glass and a sharp knife to use the book properly.
Best for field work.......2002-03-17
As a wetland delineator in PA, this book proves invaluable for field identification of trees, shrubs, and vines. Especially useful is are the keys for identification of these plants in winter when leaves and fruiting bodies are non-existant. I have several other tree books for reference, but they rarely are worth carting along in the field now that I have this book. I highly recommend it.
Worthy of the Name.......2001-08-03
Follows the fine tradition of Peterson Field Guides. Enough said.
Definitive work for identification.......1999-09-22
Petrides' work is the most accurate I have found in tree identification. Color pictures are no substitute for a close-up examination of the stems, leaves and fruit of trees and shrubs. It is considered the definitive source for the John Burroughs Naturalist Award bestowed by the Buckeye Council of the Boy Scouts of America only upon those capable of sight identification of approximately 600 trees, shrubs and wildflowers.
Average customer rating:
- Unique book and the Great Bear continues to be threatened
- Wow. An amazing book about an amazing place.
- A Unique Journey AND A Desperate Plea
- A must of bear lovers, intersting facts, great photos
- Keep sacred places secret while we can
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The Great Bear Rainforest: Canada's Forgotten Coast
Ian McAllister ,
Karen McAllister , and
Cameron Young
Manufacturer: Sierra Club Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Nature & Wildlife
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Photo Essays
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Bears
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General
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Rain Forests
| Nature & Ecology
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Natural History
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Conservation
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General
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Reference
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Tropical
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ASIN: 1578050111 |
Customer Reviews:
Unique book and the Great Bear continues to be threatened.......2006-12-12
This is fantastic book. The threats to the Great Bear Rainforest are increasing in 2007 and support is vitally needed. To see what is happening, go to the Raincoast Conservation Society web page and see what major threats to the Great Bear are coming in 2007.
Wow. An amazing book about an amazing place........2005-07-18
For years, I had always heard snippets here and there about the Great Bear Rainforest of Northwestern British Columbia, supposedly even more beautiful, wild, untamed, and much larger than other gorgeous temperate rainforest locales like Olympic National Park in Washington. But I didn't really know much about it. Where exactly was it? What does it look like? Is any of it protected in province or federal park land? And many more questions.
Then, years later, I stumbled upon this book. WOW. That about sums it up. This is an amazing book about a place of transcendent, almost ethereal beauty. This book is an enchanting mix of imminently readable and interesting text and absolutely stunning photographs. It almost makes you feel like you are there, immersed in this incredible rain drenched emerald cathedral of trees.
The Great Bear Rainforest is located on the British Columbia coast. It starts a few miles north of Lund and extends all the way north in Canada to the BC's northernmost limit, around Port Rupert, and extends only a few miles inland. It is home to the largest remaining contiguous temperate rain forest anywhere in the world. You probably already know this, but a temperate rain forest is much different than a tropical rain forest because of climate. Temperate rain forests are cool and moist, whereas tropical ones are hot and moist. Anyway, enough of the obvious.
What I really like about this book is that it isn't a condescending piece of fluff, and it gave me *exactly* what I wanted from it. Even though it's no easily readable, it is no fluff piece that waxes prettily poetic but doesn't really tell you anything. It takes you on an incredibly detailed tour of nearly every major rain forest valley in the Great Bear Rainforest. And it doesn't just name-drop valleys that have no meaning to you, it provides you with maps that show exactly where it is that they are talking about. I think this is the greatest feature of the book, I've read too many books about geographical places that tell you the names of certain interesting areas, but you don't quite know where they are. Not so with this book.
Not only that, the book covers a wide range of topics concerning The Great Bear Rainforest. Ecology, economic pressures, animal and plant life, geography, even a lot of interesting history and contemporary issues concerning the First Nation (who we in the U.S. refer to as Native American) tribes who traditionally lived (and still live) in and around the Great Bear Rainforest. I found the parts about the Haida tribe to be particularly edifying. All of these facts and themes are woven into the narrative of the authors' journey through the Great Bear Rainforest (which spans many years) incredibly seamlessly - you might think it's difficult to talk about the flora and fauna of the area while giving a history lesson on the Tlinglit people, but like I said, this point interweaves all points flawlessly. It also does social justice by presenting an unflinching look at the environmental horrors that await the Great Bear Rainforest through resource extraction and recreation at the hands of an apathetic public if current trends remain unchecked.
And then there are the photos. Gorgeous. Vast stands of huge, majestic trees, so much green it's almost blinding; a spirit bear chowing down on salmon in an unbelievable action shot; stunning shots of a coastline where fjord and mountain come together; and of course, the grand British Columbia ocean itself.
This book is a real gem. It's crime more people haven't had a chance to go through it. Read it. Take your time, don't just skim through it and goggle over the pictures. Trust me, the time will be worth it, you'll be glad you did. A must-have for anyone who considers themselves an environmentalist, a nature lover, and especially for people who have stood in awe in a temperate rain forest and said "I need to know more."
A Unique Journey AND A Desperate Plea.......2000-12-27
This book is written as a journal of a sailing voyage. Although the authors had previously visited the remarkable areas they photograph and describe six times before, the seventh visit is chronicled in these pages. Thus there is a great depth of knowledge and experience inherent to this work which transforms a simple if elegant journal into a powerful, somewhat doleful, environmental monograph.
This is a beautifully done book with many fascinating photographs of rainforest topography and the diverse life forms which abide therein. The accompanying text is well-written and consistently informative and interesting. But the overarching theme here is that pristine environments which are critical to the survival of untold species of flora and fauna are in jeopardy. Grave jeopardy. Moreover, the McAllisters take great pains to point out that the small islands of preserved and protected ecosystem created in compromise between commercial interests and environmentalists are insufficent to protect wildlife (bears, for example) that depend upon an interlinked vastness of unspoiled terrain in which to flourish.
So this book is as much an alarm and a plea for action as it is a wondrous presentation of its picturesque subject matter. As such, it is urgent reading for those of us concerned about the ravages unleashed when a society values short-term economic advantage (as when untouched river valleys are clear-cut by logging companies) over the work nature takes eons to complete.
A must of bear lovers, intersting facts, great photos.......2000-05-02
This is a wonderful book for both nature and bear lovers alike. It is packed with beautiful color photos. Many interesting facts about the wildlife & plants of the area are detailed in the captions.
The landscape photos feature vibrant wildflowers, ancient forests, & mountains. There are also many remarkable pictures of several bear types. I loved the close-up shot of a bear eating a fish & another of a sprit bear on a log.
Stunning photos of some other animals include a puffin close-up, a bald eagle mother with baby, & an elephant seal gathering. If you can tear yourself away from the pictures, the text is equally impressive.
The authors tell of their experiences while exploring the rainforest. They also discusses the environmental concerns of the area. Journal entries from the trip are scatted throughout the book.
Keep sacred places secret while we can.......2000-02-01
A powerful book on this special place. But, now she's discovered
Book Description
“A volume for a lifetime†is how The New Yorker described the first of Donald Culross Peattie’s two great classics, referred to elsewhere as “the most eloquent, informative, and entertaining books ever written about the trees of North America.†The result is a picture of life in America from its earliest days to the middle of the last century. The information is always interesting, but it often is heartbreaking as well. While Peattie looks for the better side of man’s nature, he reports sorrowfully on the greed and waste that has doomed so much of America’s virgin forests. No one will read this book without the occasional lump in the throat. More than one hundred of the original, stunning black-and-white illustrations by Paul Landacre make this a visual as well as a literary treat.
Customer Reviews:
Beautifully written.......2007-07-19
This is a lovely book written in the best spirit of natural history. It contains brief (1-5 page) entries on most of the common trees of eastern North America. It is filled with fascinating information about their biology, ecology, and social impact. The best thing about the book however, is Peattie's writing style. You can tell how much he loves these trees simply by the way he writes about them.
Book Description
One of two genuine classics of American nature writing now in paperback; the other is A Natural History of Western Trees.
Customer Reviews:
Roots: A Biography of Trees.......2006-06-19
What an extraordinary book. You might not think it possible, but this book about trees reads like fine literature. It is full of stories, legends, and facts about these giants in the earth, not to mention the author's interesting ruminations. Here's a sample of Peattie's writing on the bur oak, after the pages devoted to its Latin name, range, characteristics, and the like: "[W]hen we are gone the rippling fox squirrels and the jeering crows will not remember us; the big dull yellow leaves of the Bur Oaks will cover the paths of our autumns. But these same trees will see our children and our children's children, and look to them the mansions that they are."
Wonderful stuff. In addition to all this the book is chockablock with anecdotes of specific trees and their histories, and how our forefathers and the American Indian viewed the various types of trees. Tree lover or not, you'll enjoy this book.
Clearly the best overall book on trees..........2002-07-03
This book and its companion volume, "A Natural History of Western Trees," are by far the most detailed accounts of the trees of North America. It's truly too bad the author didn't have the chance to complete the third book in this series: "Southern Trees." Never have I read a richer, more lovingly or enthusiastically written description of trees. Aside from being packed with facts, the books offer a glimpse of man's interaction with trees and teaches one how to interact with them and respect them. The author's enthusiasm is contagious!
A great book for tree lovers.......2002-02-12
This is a great book for tree lovers.Though not very good for identification(one of the field guides would be better for that),this is an excellent book for the reader who has already learned to identify the various trees and now wants to learn something about them.The short,non-technical articles cover a host of topics,from botany and historical reports to the author's personal acquaintance with the various trees discussed.
Fantastic!!Fantastic!!Fantastic!!.......2001-09-19
A Natural History of Trees is a compilation of a rich resource of material on native U.S. Trees. While you'll do better with a Peterson's Field Guide for identification, I don't think you'll find more fun.
Grouped by Family(beginning with Pines and ending with the Ashes) the stories are king here. Just pick your favorite tree and sit back and enjoy. The history of the White Pine, for example, seems almost mythic in its sheer height and size back in colonial days. It very well helped build near most of colonial America, too!
From White Pine to White Oak to Redbud to Sycamore, this is a fascinating and informative read. There is an index of both scientific and common names, plus a glossary and a section called Keys to Species and Genera (which is much easier to decode with a Peterson's Guide at hand).
Also recommended, Petrerson's Field Guide to Eastern Trees(ISBN: 0395904552) and National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees(ISBN: 0394507606) for IDing and Trees in my Forest(ISBN: 0060929421) and the Man Who Planted Trees(ISBN: 1570625387) for more great stories.
The essential reference.......2000-06-17
This is the essential book for anyone who cares for the trees and forests of the USA. The writer has a talent, unmatched as far as I know, to spin a tale on trees, bringing to life not only the trees of North America but also the people who walked among them.
It also is an essential book for anyone interested in the history of the USA. Fittingly the book starts off with a description of white pine and the birth of what is now the USA. In short anyone who claims to care for trees or to be interested in how the USA came to be and who is not familiar with the contents of this book is in serious danger of appearing to be a charlatan.
[Quality of the reprint could be better; actually this book deserves to be in hardcover. However, the quality of the reprint could also be a lot worse, or -horrible thought!- the book might go out of print altogether]
Book Description
Best one-volume guide to 140 native trees and important escapes. Full descriptions, woodlore, range, other information. Over 600 illustrations. Handy pocket size. "One of the best books we have ever seen about trees." — Woodmen of the World Magazine.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Reference Material!.......2002-02-08
The information is sound and proven. It is a very easy to reference guide and is easily organized. It's also a relatively pocket-sized book which makes it excellent for carrying in the field (where it can be best put to use anyway).
The only downsides are that the book's content is about 60 years old so all of the pictures are in black and white. That and the pages are done in regular paper instead of something glossy. Consequently, if you take it in the field with you a lot, the pages will get dirty fast. If they'd simply do a full-color revision on some glossy paper stock it'd get the full five stars.
it is a great easy to use, precise way to identify trees........1999-09-14
I used it in my Biology class and i decided to get a copy for myself, it is a great easy to use tree identifier. It is much nicer than the Audobon series.
Simply the best there is!!!!!.......1998-10-06
I have used this book for over 25 years and still come back to it every time, that someone has a question about trees. It gives clear concise descriptions of not only the leaves, but bark and twigs. It has many trees in it that other books omit, and I find that is many times a fairly common tree that is overlooked.
My daughter used the book for High School Biology, now my 14 yo son is using it and younger son is using it in his life science course.
Simply the best tree guide available for starters or experts.......1998-03-01
This guide uses a simple key to identify most common (and a few uncommon)trees in the Eastern US and Canada. At the end of the search are some of the most interesting facts and details I've found. At this price, this book should be in everybody's hip pocket every time you enter the woods!
Average customer rating:
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Whistle Punks and Widow-Makers: Tales of the Bc Woods
Robert E. Swanson
Manufacturer: Harbour Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| United States
| Americas
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General
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Forests & Forestry
| Natural Resources
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General
| Trees
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Forestry
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| Deforestation
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| Wood Science
ASIN: 1550171771 |
Book Description
These tales from the golden age of logging in BC star all the legends of the woods. Not the founders of corporate dynasties, but the hookers, fallers, bull cooks, whistle punks and locie engineers who became real-life Paul Bunyans of the West Coast. "From sheer force of personality," writes Ken Drushka in his introduction, "these men rose above their workaday callings and became the subject of interminable bunkhouse bull sessions and barroom storytelling."
Whistle Punks and Widow-Makers features twenty-six unforgettable stories about these near-mythical characters. They had names like Bull Sling Bill, Eight-Day Wilson, Daddy Lamb and Broomhandle Charlie, and their stories are told by Robert Swanson, who was an inveterate collector of bunkhouse ballads for more than half a century. With over 120 photos from the glory days of logging, many of them published here for the first time.
Robert Swanson (1905-1994) worked for years as a logger, then as a forestry safety inspector for the government. A special horn Swanson invented for trains was adapted for use all over the world, and he also pioneered the development of air brakes on logging trucks. His expertise on steam trains and their whistles was central to the restoration of BC's popular Royal Hudson excursion train, and visitors to Vancouver will recognize his handiwork in Gastown's steam clock.
However, to his legions of fans Swanson will always be known as the "Bard of the Woods." During his forestry career he went to every logging camp and mill operation on the coast and spent long evenings bull slinging with the legends of logging. He started writing down their stories and ballads in the 1930s, and in the process he became one of BC's bestselling poets. A new edition of his collected bunkhouse ballads, Rhymes of a Western Logger, was published in 1992.
Book Description
Two genuine classics of natural history, "A Natural History of Western Trees" and its eastern counterpart, "A Natural History of Trees of Eastern and Central North America", are the most eloquent, informative, and entertaining books ever written about trees of North America. Each volume covers all of the native American trees of its region. After a succinct, nontechnical description of each species--its leaves, flowers, fruit, bark, wood, geographic range--Donald Culross Peattie focuses, in a essay of one hundred to several thousand words, on the relations between tree and people over the course of American history. These essays, unique in style and viewpoint, contain an incomparable richness of natural history.
Customer Reviews:
Worthy companion to "Eastern Trees".......2000-06-17
In the same grand style as in his "A Natural History of Trees of Eastern and Central North America" the writer continues with unsurpassed stories on trees, in this case the trees of Western North America, where the greatest living trees on the world can be found. What can I add to this? [see also my review on "Eastern Trees"]
It is a great pity Donald Culross Peattie was unable to follow through on his plan for a volume on Southern Trees. [For a few brief notes on the life and the untimely death of the writer see the afterword by his son Noel in the 1991 Indiana University Press reprint of "Flowering Earth"]
Customer Reviews:
An excellent reference for your nature walks through unfamiliar territory.......2007-04-20
This book is an excellent reference book for the nature lover who isn't up to speed regarding the particulars. For each tree, there is a blowup photo of the leaves, a smaller one of the bark and a black and white sketch of the general appearance of the tree from a distance. There is also the English and scientific names and some textual explanation of the tree. This explanation is a paragraph description of the appearance, a paragraph on how to identify it and one sentence descriptions of the habitat and geographical range where it is found.
A great introduction for kids.......2006-11-11
Ok, this isn't the full blown Audubon Tree book(s), but at this price, what do you expect?
This and all the Pocket Guides are great stocking stuffers for kids, especially for those blessed with parents who think getting the latest Gameboy or Hero Clix is more important (hint hint, you know who you are).
As they get older, their interests will become more defined and you'll know what (more expensive/extensive) particular field guide(s) to buy them.
Yeah, it's cliche, but a child's mind *is* a terrible thing to waste.
I've bought all the Audubon Pocket guides more than once (kept a few for myself, yes they're that good) and I've only been disappointed with one (most of the photos were blurry). No, I won't say which one, as it may not matter to someone else (but I'm picky about that kind of stuff).
Hand them out to your nieces and nephews, and any other kid that can't tell an oak from a pine tree or quartz from slate or Pleiades from Orion or ... well, you get the picture.
They've thanked me later on(and actually meant it, lol) and they'll thank you too.
Small enough to use while backpacking.......2006-08-30
I like these small Audubon books because they are light and easy to use. The pictures are clear and the information is easy to read and use. They aren't as detailed as the bigger Audubon books, but then the larger ones are heavier and in a back pack, being light weight is everything.
Disappointed.......2001-07-11
Bought this book to take on walks/hikes. The first time out I could not find anything on two out of the first four trees of which I was not familiar!! Very limited coverage of any trees other than those we all know from everyday experience---rather a disappointment!!
A Handy Informative Guide for Trees.......2000-03-29
I bought this book because I was tired of only being able to identify a handful of the most distinctive trees. This small, colorful and easy-to-use guide was a godsend. It it paperback and can easily fit into a breast pocket, yet the full-page color photos of leaf shapes and sizes are adequate - even for a novice like me - to identify trees. It shows tree silhouettes, bark types and leaves and explains about various tree families to help us all be able to distinguish the trees from the proverbial forest! The information, organization and size of this book make it a "strong-buy" for anyone with an interest in "knowing" trees better!
Average customer rating:
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Places of Last Resort: The Expansion of the Farm Frontier into the Boreal Forest in Canada, C. 1910-1940
J. David Wood
Manufacturer: McGill-Queen's University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
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19th Century
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ASIN: 0773530398 |
Book Description
Tens of thousands of Canadian settlers faced the challenge of starting a farm in the near North in the 1910s, twenties, and thirties. In Places of Last Resort David Wood documents this last significant expansion of farm settlement in Canada and the often painful process of discovering that there was a limit to how far traditional farming could go. Northerly locations were desperately sought out after more accessible land further south was taken up. Wood identifies the demographic characteristics of the surging population of land-seekers, showing how some aspects echoed those of earlier settlers. The northern settlers of the interwar years grappled with demanding conditions, which required new adaptations. They were supported in their efforts by politicians, bureaucrats, and religious leaders who had less than innocent reasons for endorsing what were questionable settlement experiments in unopened or abandoned areas. The book includes a series of gripping case studies to illustrate both the face of failure and what appear to have been the ingredients for success in marginal areas.
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- Animal Underworld: Inside America's Black Market for Rare & Exotic Species
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- Arctic Wings: Birds of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
- Arts of Vietnam (Temporis Collection)
- Better Basics for the Home: Simple Solutions for Less Toxic Living
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- Better Trout Habitat: A Guide To Stream Restoration And Management
Books Index
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A Field Guide to Wildflowers : Northeastern and North-Central North America (Peterson Field Guides)
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