Book Description
Intriguing stories of how people have died in Yellowstone warn about the many dangers that exist there and in wild areas in general.
Customer Reviews:
Starts off good.......2007-10-16
Book starts out great with an incredible story about a mishap in a hot spring, unfortunately most of the remaining stories of disaster are no where near as colorful. There are way to many names thrown around in the various stories for me to keep track of.
Not a long read, 200pgs but after about 150 I found myself just wishing I was done with it.
Great for kind of a historical document about deaths in the area, but since no maps of the area were provided it means almost nothing to me (I have never been to the park).
Average book, just not great like i was hoping.
The Park is not Disneyland .......2007-09-13
While we were in Yellowstone, there was a fellow in West Yellowstone who got clamped by a bear, a black bear. This guy will have quite a story to tell for the rest of his life. he got a slight bite from a black bear. He didn't get chomped or gnawed by a grizzly. His bear decided that he wasn't worth more than a taste and then moved on. Lee Whittlesey's message is clear in this book: accidents and foolhardiness do occur in America's first national park. Over 300 people have lost their lives. To use the words of the author: Yellowstone is not Disneyland; the park is raw nature ... and ... it can kill.
In 1981 two buddies from California parked their truck at the Fountain Paint Pot. While the men were looking at the hot springs, the dog belonging to one of them jumped out of the truck and rushed into the Celestine Pool which has a temperature of 202 degrees. The dog began yelping. The two buddies rushed to the edge of the spring. The dog's owner began to go into the pool. A bystander yelled, "Don't go in there!" But in dove the dog's owner. The dog never survived. The owner came out of the pool blinded. "That was a stupid thing that I did, " said the dog's owner. Within a few hours he would succumb to third degree burns over 100% of his body.
In 1975 a "savage" went "hot potting" near the Nez Perce Creek. A "savage" is a park employee. "Hot potting" is taking a dip into one of the park's hot springs. Some of Yellowstone's hot springs have tolerable temperatures. Unfortunately this park employee chose a pool whose temperature was 179 degrees. When his body was found, it had been *cooking* for two days.
Notices around Yellowstone warn against approaching any wildlife. One fellow was attempting to show his buddy how tame the buffalo/bison were. One Saturday morning while feeding his bison, one of them inexplicably became enraged. The bison gored him and tossed him into the air. Then when he came down, it tossed him into the air again. And again.
Do not feed the bears. They don't know when to quit and they get used to picnic baskets and the like. The park has relocated bears who got use to eating picnic baskets and brought in some who don't know the habit. Hikers and campers are encouraged to cover their food so that a bear does not get the scent. By all means, do not put your children on the backs of bears to have their picture taken. One fellow had his wife putting their child on the back of the bear so he could take a picture.
Accidents or bad judgment? Hot springs or animals or water falls or whatever. Yellowstone is a wildland and not just Disneyland
Well Researched and Colorful.......2007-08-23
The author has a long history with Yellowstone National Park, working initially for Yellowstone Park Company as a bus driver and tour guide in the early 1970s. He continues working in the Park today as the Yellowstone National Park historian. He has made the Park his life's work and has a great passion for it. I, too, worked for Yellowstone Park Company as a bus driver and tour guide during the 1970s. Lee describes deaths from many causes during the early days of the Park when it was administered by the United States Army all the way through the present. He gives detailed accounts of deaths that occurred while I worked in the Park although I learned from his book that the circumstances of several of the deaths were a little different from what workers in the Park heard by word of mouth. Everyone wants to hear about the deaths by bears and other large critters, but there have been only a few such instances. Many more people fell to their deaths or made spectacular exits from this life like the French lady who managed to fall over both the Upper and Lower Falls of the Yellowstone during my time in the Park. His accounts of the many drowning deaths in the Park and the tales of the few survivors of such incidents were amazing. So many of the people who went boating and canoeing in Lake Yellowstone obviously had no idea how fast a sudden summer afternoon thunderstorm could turn a placid lake into very turbulent waters. And did they have any conception of how cold the water is even at the height of summer (mid 40 degrees)? It is inconceivable to me that anyone could survive as much as twenty or thirty minutes in these frigid waters and live to tell about it. But some did and Lee tells their stories in a very entertaining way. He also describes some of the frivolous litigation brought by survivors of some very foolhardy accident victims. This is a good summer read and good prepartion for anyone planning a wilderness experience in our first national park.
Must read for Parents Visiting Yellowstone with Kids.......2007-08-14
I bought this book called, DEATH IN YELLOWSTONE that EVERY parent should read before taking their kids to this national Park.
Yellowstone is NOT a theme park, and there have been over 300 deaths there that are documented by a former park ranger that have occurred through negligence of visitors. Do not let go of your childs hand for a second in Yellowstone, especially if they are a toddler...they could be inches from death in many places.
I read this entire book with the kids on the way out there during the lonely drive, and they were fascinated. It is amazing how dumb tourists can be, and if this book saves your childs life, you will be glad you read it. It is VERY interesting...
This should be required reading before rangers allow people into YNP.......2007-07-11
Like some of the others reviewing this book, I too worked and lived there in 1999, and saw people do things just as dumb as listed in this book, and they were lucky to have survived. I watched a co-worker (and I've got photos) go and climb Castle Geyser!
As to why I think this well written, well researched, cautionary tale should be required reading (complete with quizes) is that there shouldn't be a lot of the deaths related in this book. If people would just follow the rules and not pet the bison, go hot-potting, try to get closer to the rim of the canyon. climb over barracades, because they got a dose of the reality that is our country's first national park, there may not be enough incidents to fill several more volumes.
Speaking of several volumes, Mr. Whittlesey, if you read your Amazon reviews, is there any chance of a follow up? Possibly a More Death in Yellowstone?
Book Description
With powerful and rare photographs by Jim Brandenburg, Once a Wolf explores the long, troubled relationship of humans and wolves. The book traces the persecution of the wolf throughout history and also reveals the role scientists have played in wolf preservation.
Customer Reviews:
Balancing The Scales of Nature.......2002-11-20
A study in the perserverance and dedication of a group of people to bring the wolf back to its own enviroment in the wildernesses of Yellowstone Montanna. Full of information this book will elate you as well as sadden you, but the winner here of course is the wolf who once more runs free on his land.
Excellent overview of the wolf's history & current issues.......2002-09-02
Jim Brandenberg always brings the wolf into our homes vividly and with great skill through his photographs, and in this book, these exquisite photos are paired up with the informative writing of Stephen Swinburne. Swinburne covers an excellent range of topics in this short (but highly-informative) book, including the history of the wolf's extermination in this country, early conservationists, wolf behavior and social structure, myth-busting, the Yellowstone project, and the wolf's future prospects.
He brings in quotes and information from Leopold, Mech, Bangs, Askins, and many other notable figures in the wolf conservation movement to give correct facts and information. I wouldn't call this a book for younger children; it's written at perhaps a teenager's level, and younger children might find the statistics and assorted other information boring. However, Swinburne does cover the bittersweet story of wolves Numbers Nine and Ten, which personalizes the struggles wolves today face.
Swinburne manages to succinctly cover most of the important issues in this relatively brief book (about a half hour's read, perhaps 45 minutes,) and it's a great way to educate yourself or someone else on the basics of wolf conservation. Highly-recommended!
What a great book!.......2000-07-29
I just took a look at this book and was so impressed. The subject is fascinating, of course, but I'm especially taken with the clear, cogent writing, the terrific quotes, and the truly remarkable photographs. I definitely recommend this for any kid (or adult, for that matter) with an interest in wildlife.
a thoroughly moving natural history lesson for all ages.......2000-06-07
My 7 year old and I read this book together recently and I think that I learned as much as she did.
I knew about reintroduction of wild wolves into Yellowstone but this book told the whole story. Get ready to be impressed with personal sagas of determination and bravery on the part of people who care about wild things.
In 1973, while on a field trip in Jasper Park, Alberta, I saw two wild wolves (a white and a black) bounding and romping in the snow. I will never forget the wildness of that sight. This book is richly illustrated with photographs of wolves that give you a glimpse of that wildness.
Get this book and read it with a child to share what Rachel Carson called that "sense of wonder" that children have. Be prepared to explain why we systematically exterminated the wolf from its range throughout the United States and why we paid people to kill wolf puppies.
This book is a moving, thoughtful lesson in ecology for children of all ages.
Book Description
Chase asserts that Yellowstone is being destroyed by the very people assigned to protect it: the National Park Service. Named as one of “ten books that mattered” in the 1980s by Outside magazine and a book of continuing crucial relevance. Index; map.
Customer Reviews:
Exposes the hypocrisy and politics of environmentalism.......2007-09-10
"Playing God in Yellowstone" by Alston Chase is a scathing indictment of the National Park Service, detailing its many misguided attempts to preserve wildlife while making Yellowstone National Park a tourist hotspot. The federal agency's conflicted mission resulted in the park service's becoming the largest killer of animal life in the park, routinely exterminating wolves, bears, mountain lions, big horn sheep, and elk.
The book also shows how politics trumped science routinely in deciding park policy. Decisions were made to preserve some animal species while eliminating others, without the benefit of any detailed biological studies of the park's ecosystem, which historically was not necessarily a natural habitat for many species found there at the beginning of the 20th century (farmers and cattlemen had cordoned off many grazing areas that antelope and other species had used for millenia). The park service favored elk, because they were popular with tourists, but the elk herds were enormously destructive in eating their way through all available food sources that other species needed to survive. What did the park service do when the elk herd grew too large? Shipped the animals to other parks, and arranged for mass slaughters to keep the herds in check.
The park service also ignored the fact that Native Americans were not the nature-loving shepherds of the forest so often depicted in media portrayals. They employed forest fires as a means of driving game into areas where they could be hunted, and nearly exterminated many species before the white man arrived. (Although Chase does cite scientific studies that show the benefit of forest fires in helping to renew the environment for a wide variety of plant and animal species.)
Meanwhile, such "watchdog" groups as the National Audobon Society, the Nature Conservancy, the Boone and Crockett Club, the Wilderness Society, and World Wildlife Fund were guided by former park service and Department of Interior officials, and tacitly endorsed policies that destroyed much of the natural environment. They, and the Sierra Club, encouraged people to visit the national parks, while conveniently ignoring the hugely destructive effects that hikers and campers wrought on forest areas.
The endless God-like tinkering demonstrates a litany of unintended consequences. This book should be required reading for anyone who wants to understand the pitfalls of misguided environmental policies.
This is a book that makes you really think....what did we do?.......2005-09-22
This is a wonderful book if you are a wildlife biologist or avid wildlife observer. The author does bash the Park Service quite severely, but in all honesty - look into the overall history of the Park Service - he isn't off by far. I truly enjoyed his personal point of view. If you are looking for just a history type book, this really isn't it. This is more of a personal account, more than it is strictly history based about the park service/yellowstone. Highly recommended for those of you with an open mind and a deep concern for our wildlife and national parks.
The uncomfortable truth.......2002-06-27
I first learned of this book when I was working as a volunteer fire fighter in Northern California back in 1989. The subject came up one evening and the dinner table polarized between the Park Service/Forestry workers and the "environmentalist" crowd. (I was just helping out because my house was at risk from the fire and didn't fit into either camp.) The environmentalists hated the book while the professional forestry managers tried to explain to them that Chase had a lot of good points. I was curious enough to seek out the book to read and learned a lot. Chase's main point is that you can't have it both ways - if you don't want to manage these areas actively you are going to end up with the destruction of habitat and species you were trying to avoid - and proves his case in detail using the Yellowstone disaster as an example. His more recent book, In a Dark Wood, provides more evidence (including a depressing acount of how the unmanged elk herds in Yellowstone are destroying entire ecosystems...
An ideological tract.......2001-02-28
It has been almost 15 years since Chase published this book. Over this time it has become an ideological tract for those who dislike the Park Service. In order to understand this line of argumentation, all serious students of public land politics should read Chase.
Some of his criticisms are valid, but for those seeking a broader and more objective perspective on Yellowstone, more reading needs to be done.
One book that is particularly good, and which comments on the limited number of historical sources Chase used before concluding that early Yellowstone had few large animals, is Paul Schullery's "Searching for Yellowstone." Houghton-Mifflin. 1997.
Here is a footnote written to my review above (Sept. 2003). Almost all the deleterious effects of excessive and unamanged elk in Yellowstone which Chase describes have been eliminated by the reintroduction of the wolf. The size of the elk herds have declined somewhat, but of equal or greater importance, willows and aspen are showing rapid growth rather than decline for the first time in many years.
The wolves keep the elk moving and out of the dangerous zones (for elk) along the creeks where the willows grow. So the vegetation florishes.
God's Playground for Man to Feel in Control.......2000-02-20
Chase presents an interesting history of Yellowstone National Park and its human destroyers/protectors. Chase shows the reader how good intentions sometimes do pave the way to bad experiences and worse results. Who could have imagined a national park having fences put up to keep wild animals in? Who would have thought that park rangers would decide that the beavers' dams were too destructive? From my own travels, there is still evidence of beavers and their dams, yet at one point this was nill. That's just one example. Wolves were destroyed because they were seen as a horrible threat, yet now wolves have been reintroduced with brand new controversy. When will we stop playing God? Did we ever not play God in this/and other parks? This is a great read for someone who has interest in national parks and the salvation of these "natural lands." Read it with questions forming, and then go find other sources to answer your questions. This is just one person's research/view point, but Chase gives us a lot to consider and look into. When is it right for humans to interfere? Or is it ever right?
Book Description
Spectacular color photos of Yellowstone National Park's wild wolves plus eye-witness stories from park scientists and "wolf watchers." An unprecendented portrait of individual wolves and wolf packs and astonishing new information about how wolves are changing the park's very nature. This book sets a new standard for wolf photography and natural history.
Customer Reviews:
Enjoyment to read about the wolves and nature of Yellowstone N.P........2007-08-12
Mr. James C. Halfpenny has done a marvelous job at writing about the wovles and nature in Yellowstone N.P. I honestly could not put this book down. His vivid description of the wolves in the wild makes you feel that you are part of the story. It truly makes you feel that you are involved with the wolves of Yellowstone N.P. Makes you feel that you are there. Great reading for all that love nature and Yellowstone N.P.
Next Best Thing to Being There.......2006-06-17
Dr. Halfpenny delves into difficult and complicated issues revolving around the wolf reintroduction and subsequent survival. He makes the science involved easy to understand and is patient with the reader. Dr. Halfpenny continously makes the reader understand these are wild animals and should be treated and studied that way. But he also allows for the fact that people are interested.
The study involved in this reintroduction has been astonishing. I would love to have seen more on the politics of the reintroduction and hope that Dr. Halfpenny continues to be involved in the wolves of Yellowstone.
Reading this book after a tough day will allow you to experience some of the wilderness and nature that we all need. I was especially moved by the Yellowstone Association class that got to touch the wolves. I would have a similar experience to what those people did if I ever had that opportunity.
Re-introduction Triumph........2004-02-01
When the introduction of Wolves into Yellowstone National Park first occured in 1995/96 many books appeared celebrating and philosophizing the environmental and social effects of that success. Now, eight years later comes this wonderful book that not only looks at the success of the Yellowstone experiment, but also at those pioneering Wolves, the actual animals who braved that unknown scientific test to see if, after 80 years, the Wolf could again be a part of the Yellowstone ecosystem.
Author James C Halfpenny has beautifully, with just the right amount of anthropomorphism, detailed the lives and experiences of the introduced wolves known to us only by numbers. But like all animal/human interactions even a number can create an emotional attachment, as was the case with the fate of Rose Creek number 10M, the 'Big Guy', whose ultimate sacrifice became the strenghth and symbol of the desire for the Yellowstone experiment to be a success despite the echoes of human hatred still being felt throughout the wilderness.
Ultimately, with all popular wolf books, it is the photographs that are the real joy to most readers, and again this publication delivers. Beautiful and fascinating pictures are presented throughout, and with the well advertised phrase 'no captive wolves" ,a unique claim also, it should be noted, found in David L Mech's Arctic Wolf: Living with the pack (1988) and Jim Brandenberg's White Wolf (1988)and Brother Wolf: a Forgotten Promise (1993) , the photographs take on a special importance of being truely wild and free animals in an environment that had been stolen from them for so many decades. Also included in this text are several Appendices, outlining the original packs and pack members, detailing their histories and social status and also the 2002 wolf packs, their members, offspring and pack locations around the park.
For those wolf enthusiasts who enjoyed the Yellowstone wolf experience in the books, Yellowstone Wolves (Ferguson) Return of the Wolf to Yellowstone (McNamee) Yellowstone Wolf Guide & Sourcebook (Scullery) and Wolves of Yellowstone (Philips & Smith),this is an essential addition to that collection of documents about the most successful animal re-introduction program ever undertaken. As Henry David Thoreau once wrote -" In wildness Is the preservation of the World "-
Yellowstone Wolves in the Wild by James C. Halfpenny.......2003-10-16
We received our Yellowstone Wolves Book on Monday.
And We, wanted to say Thank You, So much !
This is the BEST book yet.
It will help to keep us close to the Wolves, even down here in Kansas.
Excellent work, and Praise to the Photographer's too !
Can't wait for more like this one.
Beautifully done, excellently written.......2003-10-14
Dr. James Halfpenny has done a marvelous job of telling the story of the Yellowstone wolves, using photos of the actual animals (no photos of captive wolves, a first for a book of this kind!). He marvelously interweaves biology and research topics with first-hand accounts and stories from the park staff, visitors and volunteers to give a rich account of what the Yellowstone Wolf Project has taught us about this magnificent animal.
The book contains a wealth of information on the wolves, including their reintroduction, the history of the packs, their behavior, and their impact on the entire ecosystem. Plenty of reference material at the end including ID charts and maps round out the factual data. Filled with personal accounts, gorgeous photos and fascinating stories, this book is a must for anyone interested in the most successful endangered species restoration project of the century.
Book Description
A remarkably artistic photographic portrait of Yellowstone's longest season.
Customer Reviews:
Silence and Solitude.......2007-02-18
Very nice photos. Exposition moderately good for this sort of book. Too much "I shot this when....." Makes a nice complement to more serious works, but certainly not part of the core literature.
Great photograhic experience.......2003-11-02
Exactly what I hoped it would be - beautiful photographs. For someone who enjoys both Yellowstone and the winter season beauty, I recommend this book.
Breathtaking and beautiful.......2003-05-12
I've always loved Yellowstone in Winter. Since 20 years I fly from Germany to Montana to spend several freezing months each year in Yellowstone, because I'm under the spell!!! Reading this book and looking at the absolutely beautiful photos from Tom Murphy makes me want to jump into the next plane and fly to the land of fire and ice.
There are a lot of books out there about Yellowstone, but nothing captures more the magic of silence and solitude than this one.
Yellowstone' great resident photographer strikes gold.......2002-08-05
It has been my pleasure to know Tom Murphy for almost a decade. From the time I first saw his work, I knew I was in the presence of a consummate artist who thoroughly knew his subject. Silence & Solitude will finally allow the rest of the world to see the beauty and power of a Yellowstone winter through his eyes. It is poignant, passionate and highly literate in its narration. Enjoy!
Book Description
"The great Yellowstone to Yukon corridor is a dream worthy of the North American peoples. The superb photographs by Florian Schulz and authoritative essays by leading naturalists that accompany them give substance to that dream and added hope that it can be realized."—Edward O. Wilson, University Professor Emeritus, Harvard University
The dream is a connected eco-system through North America's Wild Heart—see what this means and learn why it is important. ·200 full-color scenes of a landscape and its wild inhabitants by an award-winning photographer ·Original essays by noted writers, biologists, and conservationists including David Suzuki, David Quammen, Rick Bass, Ted Kerasote, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ·Illustrates the principles—and the viability—of the Yellowstone to Yukon (Y2Y) conservation initiative
A grizzly bear emerges, one small detail in an immense vista of field and mountains and sky. A shoreline, still and empty but for the telltale tracks of passing wildlife. Golden peaks that roll to the horizon, starkly beautiful in the morning light. This kind of space, of solitude—of simple wildness—still exists in North America, outside the boundaries of any park. Photographer Florian Schulz documents the landscape, plants, animals, and people of an eco-system that is surprisingly intact up and down the spine of the Rocky Mountains. There is still time to make a difference: to direct the path of encroaching development and establish connections between the national and provincial parks on this course.
Essay contributors tell of their travels through the region and their experience of the land. They explain the need for Y2Y, based on new findings that reveal isolated nature sanctuaries to be a recipe for extinction. They set the Y2Y conservation program in context: a grand vision grounded on science; a practical plan that provides for economic as well as environmental sustainability; a blueprint designating critical wildlife habitat. Environmental conservation does not mean that humans must be excluded from the land, but we must act thoughtfully.
Customer Reviews:
Yellowstone to Yukon.......2007-08-30
I first heard the phrase "wilderness corridor" when I lived in California's Bay Area in the early 1990s. At that time, the concept was used in conjunction with a bike trail linking the entire Bay Area from Antioch to Oakland. One of the benefits of such a trail, , we were told, would be allowing wildlife to roam freely throughout the suburbs.
I don't recall how that particular issue played out, but the idea was--and is--a good one. Animals don't understand or follow man-drawn boundaries. They roam in territory that most likely has been roamed by their ancestors for thousands of years. Animals are guided by instinct, and man's attempts to limit them to national parks and protected areas is doomed to failure.
And so the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, or Y2Y, was born. In her Publisher's Notes, Helen Cherullo explains the concept as a "dream of a small group of biologists and conservationists--to link the existing parks in the United States and Canada with connected corridors into one intact ecosystem," stretching from Yellowstone National Park, along the Rocky Mountains and through the Yukon. It is 460,000 square miles of untouched land--the last undisturbed parcel of land in the two countries, according to Cherullo, extending 1,990 miles from Cokeville, Wyo., to the Arctic Circle.
This area of land, the Y2Y Ecoregion, is the home of grizzlies, 118 fish species, 10,000 golden eagles and hundreds of bald eagles, to mention but a few of its inhabitants. It is the traditional land of 31 indigenous Native or First Nation (in Canada) peoples, who have inhabited the area for more than 10,500 years. Less than 3 million people occupy the land at this time, but that is changing rapidly.
Florian Schulz, a photojournalist who has long championed conservation, tells the reader that the United States and Canada are making the same mistakes his native Europe did--all of that continent's "true wilderness" is gone, cut down for human use and cleared to develop man's idea of civilization. It's a mistake, Schulz says, that should not be repeated.
So he rounded up some of the world's most noted scientists: geneticist David Suzuki, wildlife biologist Douglas H. Chadwick, and biologist Karsten Heuer, as well as authors and journalists, to document the vast resources, the wildlife and the dangers of approaching development. Interspersed with stunning photography and Schulz's observations, this oversize art book is both visually stunning and a good read.
While obviously a conservation treatise, the book is so filled with magnificent anecdotes, facts, scientific studies and theories, as well as marvelous pictures of Nature and her children in all their glory, that one cannot just plop it on the coffee table and forget it, as we do with most "art" books. This one begs to be read, to be perused carefully. The photos call for our attention and admiration, the stories and concerns of the writers compel us to pay attention and take a stand.
The current practice of isolating specific areas as "nature preserves," according to biologists Robert H. MacArthur and Edward O. Wilson, actually contributes to extinction. In a book they published more than 40 years ago, they proved that "islands" of nature--small areas kept separate from other small areas--leads to insularity, which is detrimental to biodiversity and ecological health. Small "islands" harbor fewer species and fewer individuals of those species, and these small populations are more vulnerable to climate change, drought, inbreeding and food supply failure.
David Quammen, noted conservation journalist, points out the problems with bear management in the Lower 48 as an example of insularity leading to extinction.
This concept was one of the precursors to the Y2Y concept.
There's not room in this column to summarize the book--it's something you have to read, more than once, to fully digest. The overall idea of connectedness and attachment to nature is captured eloquently by Suzuki in the Foreword.
"For most of our 10,000-year existence, our species, Homo sapiens, lived in an intimate relationship with the natural world. ... predictable regularities were collected into a worldview, the sum of all observations, insights and speculations, in which everything, including the past, present and future, was part of a seamless whole. ... In such a world of elaborate interconnection, people understood that everything they did had consequences and therefore every deliberate act was laden with responsibility."
The words of all the contributors are as eloquent, as passionate, and as though-provoking.
But it is Schulz's photographs that catch the reader, mesmerizing us with the vision of mountains and lakes and rivers and animals. Schulz captures not only the images hew ants us to see, but imbues them with life: a grizzly eating a root, so close we can smell its breath; logging activities in British Columbia almost cause us to sneezed from the dust thrown up; the purple majesty of Mt. McKinley at dawn causes us to stop breathing for the sheer wonder of the beauty.
We humans are visual animals, so we will remember the images long after we've forgotten the text. But the views of this pristine land and its denizens should stay with us forever, and hopefully, we will embrace the Y2Y concept so we can see the actual places Schulz has immortalized in person, rather than as faded memories in dusty books, years after the original has been destroyed.
Readers interested in learning more about the Y2Y Conservation Initiative can visit www.y2y.net for information. Florian Schulz's images can be seen at www.visionsofthewild.com.
Two hundred full color images showcase that landscape along with the people, animals, and plants that inhabit it.......2005-12-05
Yellowstone To Yukon: Freedom To Roam is a coffee-table photography book that takes the reader along with Florian Schulz on a visual journey of the Northern Rocky Mountain landscape. Two hundred full color images showcase that landscape along with the people, animals, and plants that inhabit it. Enhanced with original thematically appropriate essays by Douglas Chadwick, Karsten Heuer, Ted Kerasote, David Quammen, Rick Bass, and others, Yellowstone To Yukon is a testament to the need for conservation of one of our country's still wild, free, and open places where "bison move across prairies, wolves converge on the hunt, elk bugle across valleys, river otters fish the streams, and grizzlies roam the mountains". Yellowstone To Yukon is a welcome and very highly recommended addition to personal, academic, and community library Environmental Studies and Photography collections.
Book Description
Presents the geologic processes in vivid and comprehensible terms.
Customer Reviews:
Concise geology of Yellowstone.......2007-09-11
This slim book is fantastic for understanding the many geological features and events that have shaped the Yellowstone landscape. I have taken many geology courses,and even took a geology course at Yellowstone, and the straightforward explanations with helpful photos and drawings helped to advance my understanding of such a complex ecosystem. It is very easily understood by anyone with a curiosity about geology, no prior information about geology is needed to appreciate this book.
Book Description
This completely revised popular field guide describes in detail each of the more than three hundred geysers of Yellowstone National Park. With data current to 1994 and twenty-four new photographs, Geysers of Yellowstone is designed as both a reference work and a fine introduction to the nature of geyser activity for the newcomer to geothermal phenomena. A glossary of key terms is provided, and a comprehensive appendix discusses other geyser areas of the world. Detailed maps accompany each geyser basin described, and tables are provided for ready reference.
Customer Reviews:
A nice, comprehensive book, but give us some COLOR!.......2005-09-02
This book provides a thorough and comprehensive description of every darned geyser in Yellowstone National Park by a recognized expert. The descriptions are organized geographically by geyser basin, which is a good framework. Photographs are found throughout the book, but none in color. This is the book's primary drawback. On the other hand, inclusion of color would probably make the cost of the book prohibitive...... Great for reading about the geysers BEFORE going to the Park, but I wouldn't use this for a guidebook while IN the Park. I'd go to Carl Schreier's "Yellowstone's Geysers, Hot Springs & Fumaroles" for that. Together, the two books make an outstanding package.
The definitive guide for Yellowstone geysers, and a lot more.......2003-10-03
If the phenomenon of geysers interests you, this is your book. It should be the yardstick by which all others on the subject are measured.
Superbly well organized, and written, this book readily conveys the author's enthusiasm for the subject. I would have preferred a few more color photographs in addition to the cover, but this is a minor quibble. The black and white photos are chosen carefully, and give a good idea of the feature involved.
The book discusses all known geysers in Yellowstone, which park contains a substantial majority of these features on the planet. Maps are supplied, and are easily deciphered. Data is given concerning the eruptive pattern of each geyser, where known, and this proved most helpful during a recent trip to this magnificent area.
The feature I enjoyed the most was the detailed appendix, setting forth all known geyser fields anywhere on Earth. I guarantee some of the locations and features will surprise you. The author also discuuses which of these fields are most endangered by unwise development of geothermal power.
Very, very highly recommended. Indeed, I should say it is indispensible for anyone planning a trip to Yellowstone National Park. Enjoy.
Miscategorized.......1999-12-03
This is a fine book, but WHY is it cross-listed under "Natural Disasters"? Geysers are no more "disasters" than trees or rivers are. I don't get it.
Indispensable geyser guide.......1999-05-21
Now in its third edition and completely revised, this geyser Bible remains the definitive guide to Yellowstone's erupting thermal features. Detailed maps of each of Yellowstone's geyser basins and colorful descriptions of every known geyser make the book both easy to read and easy to use when stalking eruptions of even the most elusive geysers. A fascinating list of all the world's other known geyser regions, many of which have suffered from geothermal development, makes the reader realize all the more what a special place Yellowstone really is.
The Best Geyser Reference Book.......1999-04-23
The Geysers of Yellowstone is best guide to Yellowstones thermal features I know of, but I wish it would include some of the non-eruptive hot spring and mud pots. Never the less, the book is packed with in-depth information on everything the ever erupted in Yellowstone at time. I am a Yellowstone visitor for 8 years running, and more than half this book, I still don't know! A MUST for any geyser lover.
Product Description
The geologic story of the Yellowstone Country begins with rocks 2.7 billion years old that are mashed remnants of even older rocks, and continues with processes that shape the land surface today. Striking evidence lies along the park roads and highways leading to the north, south, east, and west entrances to Yellowstone Park.
Customer Reviews:
Great Book, Great Professor.......2001-10-15
This was the text for part of our Field Camp. I was fortunate enough to have the Dr. Fritz as my personal guide to Yellowstone National Park. I still use the book as a reference in my personal studies of U.S. Geology. It is must for anyone traveling to Yellowstone with even the most remote interest in Geology.
Yellowstone on a simplified Geological Feature a day.......2001-09-11
The title sums it all up. The book is indeed useful, you can find all sorts of neat features by using it, but it really is a bit simplified. Perhaps it's just me, but it was GREAT for my kids (8 and 11) who are both, well, they read. Anything. As long as they can catch it.
I got it at the park cuz I was really bored.......2000-06-16
I'm a nerd. I was left with nothing to read in the cold nights. I was also having trouble sleeping. I thought this book would help.
Yes it put me to sleep because reading about rock and millenia of dirt moving is tiresome.
But what I absorbed made me look at yellowstone in a new way. The book was quite clear-and I could see and easily understand how Americas greatest monument to beauty was madeof millions of years.
It's like seeing the Louvre after taking an art class. The paint on canvass comes alive with history and meaning.
So too if you read this.
Book Description
BOOK SENSE NOTABLE BOOK
"By piquing our imaginations, by sparking in us a sense of wonder, Yellowstone's wolves have done much to invigorate our sense of place, even our sense of generosity, rekindling relationships that allow us to again feel at home in the world."
-- Douglas Smith, Wolf Project Leader
For millions of people around the world, the image of wolves running free through Yellowstone National Park has become the ultimate symbol of the American wilderness. The release of thirty-one Canadian gray wolves in 1995 and 1996-arguably the most controversial feat of conservation in our nation's history-sparked a new-found passion for these remarkable animals and the unbound lands that sustain them.
Few were prepared for the outpouring of emotion sparked by the reintroduction of these wolves, and for the changes that came, both in the land and in the minds of men, with that experiment. For the first time, Douglas Smith and Gary Ferguson recount the first ten years of this historic endeavor. The journey of the wolves themselves and the people who faithfully followed them through the wilds of Yellowstone make for unforgettable reading.
Here are intimate details about the lives of these animals, including wonderful stories about survival and family dynamics. Smith and award-winning nature writer Gary Ferguson weave together never-before-published scientific discoveries with spell-binding tales of the wolves' behaviors. The wolves have not only survived, but completely changed the ecosystem, spilling a fresh measure of wild across the world's first national park. . DECADE OF THE WOLF serves to mark the end of the opening act of this inspired, often tumultuous tale of preservation.
DOUGLAS SMITH, PHD, Wolf Project leader, has studied wolves for twenty-four years and has worked on the reintroduction in Yellowstone since its inception. He lives in Gardiner, Montana.
GARY FERGUSON is an award-winning nature writer whose books include The Great 0 Divide: The Rocky Mountains in the American Mind, Hawks Rest: A Season in the Remote Heart of Yellowstone, and The Yellowstone Wolves. He has written for numerous publications including Vanity Fair, Outside, the Los Angeles Times, and Men's Journal. He lives in Red Lodge, Montana.
Customer Reviews:
A terrific book about wolves & wildlife biology.......2007-10-01
I have read over 40 books about wolves over 35 years and this one stands out as one of the very best.
The book has two main themes -- the life histories of individual wolves brought to Yellowstone and their packs, and what wildlife biologists actually do to accomplish a successful introduction and gather the histories of these wolves. Both these themes are covered very well in exceptionally graceful writing.
Missing intentionally is a blow by blow history of the political controversy surrounding the introduction, and I am glad for that -- the focus remains on the wolves and how they deal with the challenges they face. The political history has been covered in other books and is a fairly depressing story of people shouting at each other.
The authors ability to describe in remarkable detail on the histories of individual wolves and their packs was aided enormously by the radio collars the placed on select individuals and the high visibility of the wolves in Yellowstone. The picture that emerges is of an enormously rich, complex, dynamic and tough world. Surviving is a constant challenge for a wolf, even in this prey-rich environment, and few wolves make it past 4-5 years old, much younger than the lives of wolves in captivity.
Their is so much information about their behavior that the wolves emerge as distinct individuals with dramatically different personalities and styles. Packs develop unique cultures (e.g. hunting bison). The static alpha male - alpha female hierarchy so often described in other books turns out to be far more variable with much greater roles in some packs for the alpha female and non-alpha wolves.
The authors note how frequently the wolves' behavior continues to them, particularly social behavior. There are far more ways to organize and "run" a wolf pack then previously thought, and the complexity of the dynamics described resembles human social interactions to a remarkable degree.
There is a lot that can be learned even by well-read wolf enthusiasts from reading this book. Yet, for those who are just beginning to read about wolves, this book is a superb introduction to these animals that get more fascinating the more we know about them.
Those who enjoyed the insight into the life of a wildlife biologist in this book would no doubt also enjoy Craig Packer's Into Africa, an account of his work with the social histories of African lion prides.
Great Book about the wolves of Yellowstone N.P........2007-08-12
This has to be the best book I have read in years about the Yellowstone National Park's reintroduction of the wolves. Entertaining and very educational. I highly advise anyone that would like to further there education on the history of the Yellowstone Wolves to read this book. It was pure enjoyment.
A good wolf book.......2007-08-06
This book was a great read and, despite the rip-off for the CDN dollar by the publisher, I was very happy to recieve this in the mail. It made a good, informative and sweet read for those who love wildlife and wolves. The narrative isn`t borring or scientific which makes it easy to read. Of course there are a few things that bothered me while reading this.
Firstly, the people didn`t realy explore alternatives to wolves eating livestock, they just kind of shot them and didn`t take the responsibility to practice other non-lethal methods of controling wolves such as the use of guard dgs or deterrents. I was also looking forward to a lot more pictures of wolves, and while the ones in the book were beautiful, they were small and there were few. I really wish that the authors could have elaborated more about the indivdual wolves` that were the founders of Yellowstone`s packs. it seemed that just one peice of each wolf wasn`t enough to capture their intimate lives (and not enough pictures of the wolves themselves). If they ever re-do this book, hopefully more can be placed on pictures and what has happened to the wolves and their packs in yellowstone.
Good for biology of Yellowstone wolves but a disappointment for the larger story.......2007-06-06
This book looks back at the ten years since wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park. The reintroduction has been a great success, with wolf packs filling up the park and dispersing outside its boundaries.
The authors are well-placed to tell this story. Douglas Smith is a biologist who has been closely involved with the wolf program, and Gary Ferguson is an award-winning journalist who has written on many outdoor topics connected to the American West.
Though it's certainly a good read, the book was nonetheless a bit of a disappointment to me. The reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone saw two big pieces of action: the political firestorm before reintroduction, and the animals' success afterwards. The biggest story was probably the former debate, but the book hardly discusses that.
Instead, Smith and Ferguson focus on the wolves since reintroduction. They alternate types of chapters - - a substantive chapter about some aspect of wolves, and then a chapter telling the story about some individual wolf. Intensive radio collaring of wolves in the park makes these histories possible, and it is interesting to see the lives of wolves in this way.
If you want to know how scientific research on Yellowstone's wolves has been carried out, the book is invaluable. If you're interested in the larger human story, especially the political battles, then you should try Martin Nie's _Beyond Wolves_ instead.
Great report for a great project........2006-02-25
I enjoyed "Decade of the Wolf" both for the information given on the reintroduction of gray wolves to Yellowstone as for the manner in which it is written. The first-person delivery of the tale is quite engaging and readable. However I would have liked to see more hard data, especially on the dramatic changes brought to Yellowstone ecosystems as a result of the reintroduction of the wolf.
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General
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Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon
Off the Wall: Death in Yosemite
Death, Daring, & Disaster - Search and Rescue in the National Parks (Revised Edition)
Lonely Planet Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks
Ranger's Guide to Yellowstone Day Hikes, A
