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Book of the Everglades, The
The World As Home
by
Susan Cerulean
From
Booklist
Diked and ditched, the water of the
Everglades is so siphoned off for
agribusiness and the megalopolis of
southeast Florida that the natural "river of
grass" is in perpetual distress. A
multibillion-dollar restoration program
intends to undo some of the water
"management" constructions, such as the
bizarre channelization of the Kissimmee
River, but most of the ramparts that confine
this unique ecosystem are likely to be
permanent. Contributors to this anthology
include well-known author Carl Hiaasen as
well as other (mostly Florida) writers and
naturalists. Under the headings of five
biogeographical provinces that compose the
Everglades, such as the cypress groves of
the western Everglades or the mangroves of
Florida Bay, the writers express a spectrum
of concerns. Several essayists recount their
visits to developments that have degraded
the Everglades, such as the sugar refinery
(subsidized by taxes) that abuts Lake
Okeechobee. Taken together, the
environmental descriptions, human-interest
stories, and south Florida atmospherics
create a lively volume with something
memorable for readers partial to saw-grass
green. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association.
All rights reserved
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Crackers in the Glade
Life and Times in the
Old Evergaldes
By
Rob Storter, Betty Savidge Briggs
"A
meaningful first hand account of attitudes among a part of American
culture during a time and in a location that have received less
attention than many other geographical regions of the country. All
of it has a simple charm . . . poignant reading."
—J. Whitfield Gibbons, NPR commentator, Living on Earth
"[Storter]
closely described his coastal world (often right on the painting
itself), so that what he has left to us is not merely quaint or
picturesque but a true historical documentation, in word and image,
of a precious world and way of life that was fading very rapidly
even as he recorded it."
—from the foreword by Peter Matthiessen
"A
collection of colorful vignettes . . . [rendered] with haunting
clarity . . . A pleasure to leaf through."
—Cleveland Chronicle-Telegram
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Everglades
An Environmental
History
by David McCally
From the Publisher
This important work for general readers and environmentalists alike
offers the first major discussion of the formation, development, and
history of the Everglades, considered by many to be the most
endangered ecosystem in North America. Comprehensive in scope, it
begins with south Florida's geologic origins--before the Everglades
became wetlands--and continues through the 20th century, when sugar
reigns as king of the Everglades Agricultural Area.
Charting the effects of human intervention upon the region, David
McCally traces its habitation from the Calusas and other native
groups to the modern period dominated by agribusiness. In between,
he discusses the Spanish contact period, the first efforts to farm
the region, the first attempts in the 1880s to drain it, and the era
of the "engineered" Everglades that was largely created by the state
of Florida and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Today, he declares,
the desire to convert the ecosystem to farm use continues to guide
American thinking about the region at a tremendous environmental
cost.
Urging restoration of the Everglades, McCally argues that
agriculture, especially sugar growing, must be abandoned or altered.
To buy time for public debate over the final form of a sustainable
Everglades, he suggests the creation of a park modeled on New York's
Adirondack State Park. Sure to be influential in all discussions of
Florida's future, The
Everglades also will be significant for
environmentalists focused on any area of North America.
David McCally teaches U.S. history at the University of South
Florida, St. Petersburg campus, and environmental history at Eckerd
College in St. Petersburg..
h
Florida at St. Petersburg Lib. Copyright 2003 Reed Business
Information
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The Everglades Handbook
Understanding the Ecosystem
by Thomas E. Lodge
From the Publisher
In
introducing the 1994 edition, a 99-year-old activist cautioned that
efforts to protect Everglades National Park must not be taken for
granted. The writer of this edition's introduction lauds other
Everglades' advocates. Lodge, a freelance ecologist, provides
information on the flora and fauna of this unique ecosystem and
human impacts on it. He includes new chapters on The Big Cypress
Swamp and Lake Okeechobee, b&w and color illustrations, and 670
references. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
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An Everglades Providence
Marjory Stoneman Douglas
and the American Environmental Century
by Jack E. Davis (Author)
Review
"Exceptional. More than just a biography, the book provides an
excellent history of the modern environmental movement. I am certain
that all who read it will be inspired by the dynamic, pivotal, and
courageous life and work of Marjory Stoneman Douglas and will be
reminded of how terribly essential the efforts to protect the
Florida Everglades and the environment remain." --Senator Bob Graham
"Jack Davis does for Marjory Stoneman Douglas what Linda Lear did
for Rachel Carson and Farley Mowat did for Dian Fossey. He gives us
the textures of a principled woman, sometimes troubled, sometimes
ambitious, always dedicated to an unselfish goal. Davis does justice
to both Douglas's life and the incipient days of America's
environmental awakening." --Ted Levin, author of Liquid Land: A
Journey through the Florida Everglades
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The Everglades River of
Grass
By Marjory Stoneman
Douglas
Originally published in 1947, The Everglades was one of those
rare books, like Uncle Tom's Cabin and Silent Spring,
to have an immediate political effect: it helped draw public
attention to a vast and little-known area that South Florida
developers had deemed a worthless swamp and were busily draining,
damming, and remaking, and it mustered needed public support for
President Harry Truman's controversial order, later that year, to
protect more than 2 million acres as Everglades National Park. |

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Everglades Wildflowers
A Field Guide to
Wildflowers of the Historic Everglades,
Including Big Cypress, Corkscrew, and Fakahatchee Swamps
by Roger L. Hammer
From the Publisher
Everglades Wildflowers is the ultimate field guide to
wildflowers of the ecoregion that stretches from Lake Okeechobee
south to the Gulf of Mexico, Florida Bay, and Biscayne Bay,
encompassing all of the southern Florida mainland. Packed with vivid
color photos and informative text, this valuable reference will help
you identify and appreciate the varied flora of this vast watershed.
Everglades Wildflowers is perfect for the novice and expert
wildflower enthusiast alike. Whether you are lucky enough to view
the endangered Wormvine Orchid or the stunning Firebush, this guide
will enhance your next journey into the remarkable Everglades.
Synopsis
This guide features stunning color photographs of 300
common wildflowers from Everglades National Park and the Corkscrew,
Big Cypress, and Fakahatchee Swamps. Detailed descriptions and line
art aid the reader in identifying plants in the field
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Forest Plants Of The Southeast And Their Wildlife Uses
by James H. Miller
(Author), Karl V. Miller (Author), Ted Bodner (Photographer)
Progressive Farmer's Sportman's
Gear May/June 2001
"This has become one of my most-used resource books on plants and
wildlife."
The Forum Spring 2001
"It is a must-have reference work for vegetation managers in the
southeastern United States."
Forest Science May 2000
"[P]rovides information critical to the management and conservation
of forest vegetation and wildlife . . . practical in field,
classroom, and boardroom applications."
Southeastern Naturalist May 1, 2006
"Packed with 650 glossy color photos, this field guide will be
useful to students, landowners, and anyone interested in plant
identification."
Alabama Wildlife Federation Magazine Spring 2001
"In this ...field guide the authors help readers to understand the
intricate and often unexpected interrelationships between flora and
fauna."
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Florida's
Unsung
Wilderness
The Swamps
by
Connie Bransilver (Author)
Larry W. Richardson (Author) Jane Goodall (Foreword)
The swamplands of southwest Florida are a hauntingly beautiful,
complex, and delicate environment. Yet, like much of our country's
wilderness at the beginning of the 21st century, it is threatened by
a burgeoning population and uncontrolled growth. With color
photographs, quotations, poetry, scientific information, and the
authors' personal experiences, Florida's Unsung Wilderness: The
Swamps highlights the diversity and beauty of this unique ecosystem
and works to inspire readers to become involved in its preservation. |
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Frogs and Toads of the Southeast
by Mike Dorcas and Whit Gibbons (Author)
Review
[An] exquisite book...on the herpetofauna of the southeastern United
States.... [H]igh-quality, clearly written, with an attractive
layout.... [H]as solid introductory information, detailed species
descriptions, excellent range maps and color photographs, line
drawings showing defining features, and a strong conservation
message. There is an explanation as to how to use the species
accounts which will be of value to the lay reader. --Herpetological
Review, Fall 2008 |

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Liquid Land
A Journey through the Florida Everglades
by Ted Levin
From the Publisher
In
Liquid Land, Ted Levin guides us past the dire headlines and into
the magnificent swamp itself, where we come face-to-face with the
plants, animals, and landscapes that remain and that will survive
only if we protect them.
Library Journal
Unimaginable numbers of birds, over a million alligators, 400
American crocodiles, and fewer than 100 Florida panthers roam the
Florida Everglades. In this fragile landscape, survival depends on a
precise balance of nutrients, salinity, and water levels that is now
imperiled by Florida's politically powerful real estate and
agribusiness interests. Levin, a naturalist and journalist, profiles
the natural history, geology, and climate of this unique ecosystem
and the passionate scientists who don their snake boots and fight to
preserve it. His writing style is lyrical and engaging, but the text
is grounded in extensive research that is detailed in a useful
bibliography. Like Marjory Stoneman Douglas, author of the classic
The Everglades: River of Grass, Levin is an experienced journalist
with a knack for making science accessible to a popular audience.
Highly recommended in public and academic libraries where ecology is
of interest.-Kathy Arsenault, Univ. of South Florida at St.
Petersburg Lib. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information
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Mirage
Florida and the Vanishing Water of the Eastern U.S.
by Cynthia Barnett (Author)
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. In recent decades, severe droughts in New England
and the Mid-Atlantic states, along with shrinking aquifers, dried-up
lakes and sluggish rivers in the Southeast have induced bitter East
Coast fights over what was once an exclusively Western concern:
water scarcity. What happened? Barnett, the long-time environmental
reporter for Florida Trend magazine, answers that question in a
rigorous look at the relentless pressure of development and
burgeoning human populations on natural water supplies, particularly
in the wetlands of Florida. Chapter by chapter, Barnett documents
the enlarging sinkholes, loss of ancient lakes, pollution of water
tables and river systems, aquifer mining and negligent politics that
have led to Florida's perpetual water crisis-including a disastrous
shift in weather patterns. Considering such crises elsewhere in the
U.S., Barnett finds that successful allocation agreements are rare,
lessons learned are quickly forgotten and an ever-growing population
spells more trouble to come. Though it may lack popular appeal, this
comprehensive and well-referenced volume does feature appearances
from well-known figures like Walt Disney, Jeb Bush and Hurricane
Katrina, and should become vital reading for citizens and
policymakers as global concerns over water scarcity grow.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier
Inc. All rights reserved.
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Stolen Water
Saving the
Everglades from its Friends, Foes and Florida
By
W. Hodding Carter
From the Publisher
In December 2000, President Clinton signed into law a $7.8 billion
restoration plan for the Everglades that garnered national attention
and has since become America's touchstone for environmental issues.
Enter W. Hodding Carter, a man already bemused by the state of
Florida and determined to see what, if any, progress has been made
with the Everglades. For reasons unclear even to him, this amazing,
remote, mosquito-infested, hard-to-love region has captured Carter's
imagination and won't let go. So, for the past few years, Carter has
examined the Everglades from all angles -- social, political,
cultural, environmental -- culminating in an ungodly canoe trip
through the heart of the Everglades. Always humane, often
controversial, and highly readable, Hodding Carter has brought to
life this murky, alluring place through his powerful eyewitness
account and swampy mishaps. Stolen Water is narrative nonfiction at
its best, from one of our most talented and funny writers. |
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The Swamp
The Everglades, Florida and the Politics of Paradise
By Michael Grunwald
From
Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Washington Post reporter Grunwald
brings the zeal of his profession—and the skill that won him a
Society of Environmental Journalists Award in 2003—to this
enthralling story of "the river of grass" that starry-eyed social
engineers and greedy developers have diverted, drained and exploited
for more than a century. In 1838, fewer than 50 white people lived
in south Florida, and the Everglades was seen as a vast and useless
bog. By the turn of this century, more than seven million people
lived there (and 40 million tourists visited annually). Escalating
demands of new residents after WWII were sapping the Everglades of
its water and decimating the shrinking swamp's wildlife. But in a
remarkable political and environmental turnaround, chronicled here
with a Washington insider's savvy, Republicans and Democrats came
together in 2000 to launch the largest ecosystem restoration project
in America's history. This detailed account doesn't shortchange the
environmental story—including an account of the senseless fowl hunts
that provoked abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1877 broadside
"Protect the Birds." But Grunwald's emphasis on the role politics
played in first despoiling and now reclaiming the Everglades gives
this important book remarkable heft. 18 pages of b&w photos; 7 maps. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved |
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