NATURE

A Guide to Common Plants of Lake Mead National Recreation Area is the definitive book for weekend explorers and botanists alike who venture into LMNRA ready to discover the many wonders of...

Beneath the surface of the world’s rivers and lakes swim mysterious giants, the real-life Loch Ness monsters and Bigfoots of the aquatic world. They are a diverse assemblage of poorly understood creatures, from gargantuan gars to sumo-sized stingrays. These ancient fish—some who have been around for hundreds of millions of years—play critical roles in their freshwater ecologies. Threatened by overfishing, habitat loss, dams, pollution and climate change, the majority of the world’s freshwater megafish are today at risk of extinction. As an aquatic ecologist and host of the National Geographic Channel’s Monster Fish series, Zeb Hogan has spent more than a decade searching for and studying these increasingly endangered river titans. In this book, he teams up with award-winning journalist Stefan Lovgren to tell for the first time the remarkable and troubling stories of the world’s megafish and chronicles the race against the clock to find and protect these ancient...

Going It Alone is the story of the conflict between joy and loneliness Tim Hauserman discovered on a series of backpack trips in the wilderness: a tale of self-induced misadventures and overwhelming sadness but also many moments of sublime rapture. It is a humorous, humble take on the experience of spending time alone in the wilderness—part exquisite nature journal, part Bill Bryson in the woods—with a unique voice and take on the world.

Tributary Voices takes a fresh look at the Colorado River through an interdisciplinary approach to the role stories play in cultivating a sustainable water ethic. Through literary, rhetorical, and historical analyses of some of the river’s lesser-known stakeholders, this study considers how our present moment on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Colorado River Compact demands a more comprehensive approach to river management.

In 1978, a geologist working for the Homestake Mining Company discovered gold in a remote corner of California’s Napa County. This discovery led to the establishment of California’s most productive...

Known as a place of stark beauty, dramatic geographic dimension, and challenging desert terrain, Big Bend National Park is located in West Texas on the north bank of the Rio Grande, adjacent to the...

Saints, Sinners, and Sovereign Citizens tells the fascinating history of the battle over Nevada’s lucrative public lands through the lens of the April 2014 armed standoff between Bunkerville rancher Cliven Bundy and armed militia allies against federal officers attempting to provide security for a court-ordered cattle impoundment.