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A naturist and historian for the National Parks Service offers a lively history of the giant sequoias of California and the love of nature they inspired. Former park ranger William C. Tweed takes readers on a tour of some of the world’s largest and oldest trees in a narrative that travels deep into the Sierra Nevada mountains, across the American West, and all the way to New Zealand. Along the way, he explores the American public's evolving relationship with sequoias, also known simply and affectionately as Big Trees. It’s no surprise that the sequoia groves of Yosemite and Calaveras were early tourist destinations. The species was the embodiment of California's superlative appeal. These giant redwoods were so beloved that special protections efforts sprang up to protect them from logging interests—and so began the notion of National Parks. Later, as science evolved to consider landscapes more holistically, sequoias once again played a major role in shaping this new perspective. Featuring a fascinating cast of adventurers, researchers, politicians, and environmentalists, King Sequoia reveals how one tree species transformed Americans' connection to the natural world.
In this provocative walking meditation, writer and former park ranger William Tweed takes us to California’s spectacular High Sierra to discover a new vision for our national parks as they approach their 100th anniversary. Tweed, who worked among the Sierra Nevada’s big peaks and big trees for more than thirty years, has now hiked more than 200 miles along California’s John Muir Trail in a personal search for answers: How do we address the climate change we are seeing even now—in melting glaciers in Glacier National Park, changing rainy seasons on Mt Rainer, and more fire in the West’s iconic parks. Should we intervene where we can to preserve biodiversity? Should the parks merely become ecosystem museums that exhibit famous landscapes and species? Asking how we can make these magnificent parks relevant for the next generation, Tweed, through his journey, ultimately shows why we must do just that.
Beginning in 1872 with the establishment of Yellowstone, national parks were set aside to preserve for future generations the most spectacular and inspirational features of the country. The best representative examples were sought out of major ecosystems, such as Yosemite, geologic forms, such as the Grand Canyon, archaeological sites, such as Mesa Verde, and scenes of human events, such as Gettysburg. But one type of habitat--the desert--was overlooked until travel writers and the Automobile Age began to change Americans' perceptions about desert landscapes. As the National Park Service began to explore the better-known Mojave and Colorado Deserts of southern California during the 1920s for...
Granite Pathways lays out the fascinating history of the trails in the backcountry regions of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks - the twin High Sierra parks at the southern end of California's Sierra Nevada mountain range. The book seeks answers to the questions of who built the trails and why.The story begins with the contributions of the Native American peoples of the region - particularly the Mono and Paiutes - and then shifts its gaze to the stories left behind by the late nineteenth century shepherds, miners, scientists, and recreationists who first explored the range and brought it to the attention of the world - individuals like Theodore Solomons, Bolton Coit Brown, and Joseph N...
Primary source materials are a great way for students to experience firsthand a historic event, to more fully understand a pivotal actor or figure, or to explore legislation or a judicial decision. Students leave these readings better prepared to grapple with secondary sources. In fact, they can often support a different interpretation or more critically engage with analysis. This new volume—with 50 documents that include speeches, court cases, letters, diary entries, excerpts from autobiographies, treaties, legislation, regulations and reports, documentary photographs, ad stills, public opinion polls, transcripts, and press releases—is a great starting point for any parties and elections course. Careful editing, pithy headnotes, and discussion questions all enhance this useful reader.
In this book a team of expert academics trained in mathematics, engineering, philosophy, physical anthropology, physics, astrophysics, biology and more investigate the prospects for intelligent design. Edited by William Dembski.
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Giant sequoias are some of the few things on earth that can literally be described as "awesome." For many, spending time among the largest living things on the planet is a highlight of their lives. The knowledge packed into this slim book will unlock the secrets of these trees and make any visit to Yosemite's three groves even more rewarding.Ancient Sentinels provides bountiful information in a compact format, including: * maps of the Mariposa Grove, Merced Grove, and Tuolumne Grove; * what to do and see in the groves; * description, size, and age of the giant sequoia; * ecology and life history of the giant sequoia; * other places in the park where sequoias can be found; * a comparison with the sequoia's closest relatives, the coast and dawn redwoods; * and the history and future of this amazing species.
Here, in a grand narrative spanning 1,800 years of European history, a distinguished political philosopher firmly rejects Western liberalism’s usual account of itself: its emergence in opposition to religion in the early modern era. Larry Siedentop argues instead that liberal thought is, in its underlying assumptions, the offspring of the Church. “It is a magnificent work of intellectual, psychological, and spiritual history. It is hard to decide which is more remarkable: the breadth of learning displayed on almost every page, the infectious enthusiasm that suffuses the whole book, the riveting originality of the central argument, or the emotional power and force with which it is deploye...