California Desert Miracle

The sotry of how underpaid, underfunded volunteers fought to protect the last large area of wild land left in California, culminating in the enactment of the California Desert Protection Act of 1994.

WINNER OF THE SIGURD F. OLSON NATURE WRITING AWARD “Blending family memoir and environmental history, Kendra Atleework conveys a fundamental truth: the places in which we live, live on—sometimes painfully—in us. This is a powerful, beautiful, and urgently important book.” —Julie Schumacher, author of Dear Committee Members and The Shakespeare Requirement Kendra Atleework grew up in Swall Meadows, in the Owens Valley of the Eastern Sierra Nevada, where annual rainfall averages five inches and in drought years measures closer to zero. Her parents taught their children to thrive in this beautiful if harsh landscape prone to wildfires, blizzards, and gale-force winds. Above all, the Atleework children were raised on unconditional love and delight in the natural world. But when Kendra’s mother died when Kendra was just sixteen, her once-beloved desert world came to feel empty and hostile, as climate change, drought, and wildfires intensified. The Atleework family fell apart, even as her father tried to keep them together. Kendra escaped to Los Angeles, and then Minneapolis, land of tall trees, full lakes, water everywhere you look. But after years of avoiding her troubled hometown, she felt pulled back. Miracle Country is a moving and unforgettable memoir of flight and return, emptiness and bounty, the realities of a harsh and changing climate, and the true meaning of home. For readers of Cheryl Strayed, Terry Tempest Williams, and Rebecca Solnit, this is a breathtaking debut by a remarkable writer.

This highly readable, spectacularly illustrated compendium is an ecological journey into a wondrous land of extremes. The California Deserts explores the remarkable diversity of life in this harsh yet fragile quarter of the Golden State. In a rich narrative, it illuminates how that diversity, created by drought and heat, has evolved with climate change since the Ice Ages. Along the way, we find there is much to learn from each desert species-- whether it is a cactus, pupfish, tortoise, or bighorn sheep--about adaptation to a warming, arid world. The book tells of human adaptation as well, and is underscored by a deep appreciation for the intimate knowledge acquired by native people during their 12,000-year desert experience. In this sense, the book is a journey of rediscovery, as it reflects on the ways that knowledge has been reclaimed and amplified by new discoveries. The book also takes the measure of the ecological condition of these deserts today, presenting issues of conservation, management, and restoration. With its many sidebars, photographs, and featured topics, The California Deserts provides a unique introduction to places of remarkable and often unexpected beauty.

A look at Californias varied desert landscapes Z99 well-chosen words and beautiful pictures

Evoking the mystery and magic of southern California's desert, this collection of tales weaves fact and fancy into a tapestry of lost mines, Indian myths, historic vignettes, and legendary characters.

"To see the natural world through Bruce Pavlik's eyes is always a delight, for he is among the finest ecologists and nature writers in the West. But to explore with Bruce the range of California's deserts--their deep history and diversity--is a special treat, for we see them not as 'big empty' wastelands, but as elegant landscapes rich with relationships. Both human and other-than-human beings contribute to these relationships, and no one has told their stories as well as Pavlik has done."--Gary Nabhan, author of Arab/American: Landscape, Culture, and Cuisine in Two Great Deserts "A bewildering amount of biological and environmental lore has accumulated about our deserts. Bruce Pavlik's highly readable, beautifully illustrated book is a salutary antidote to confusion. It brings together the best current knowledge in a comprehensive form that makes a compelling story as well as a handy reference. Nobody who cares about California's deserts should be without it."--David Rains Wallace, author of Neptune's Ark, Beasts of Eden, and The Klamath Knot "I've been waiting for a book like this, one that captures the very essence of the desert rather than simply cataloging and describing it. Bruce Pavlik is a consummate integrator and storyteller. He makes this 'rediscovery' of the desert as exciting as its initial discovery, proving that you can discover something only once, but you can rediscover it again and again."--Jeff Lovich, Deputy Director, U.S. Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center

“Wallace weaves science and mythology into a clear and entertaining story about the origin of California's deserts that invites the reader into a world of ancient mystery and modern revelation. This book will appeal to anyone who cherishes arid lands and their natural history.”-Bruce M. Pavlik, author of The California Deserts: An Ecological Rediscovery “David Rains Wallace explores the origins of the California desert with the endless curiosity of a naturalist, with the wit and wordplay of a fine essayist, and with the attention to detail of a lifelong scholar. He burrows toward the solution of the desert’s riddle by following two centuries of science; in doing so, Wallace writes a unique account of both the ecology of the Desert Southwest and the biologists who have devoted their lives to untangling its evolutionary history.”-Stephen Trimble, author of The Sagebrush Ocean: A Natural History of the Great Basin “David Rains Wallace never fails to truly enter the world of which he writes. Here he tackles fiery heat, ancient lava flows, spiny plants, and scuttling reptiles, all in the service of asking some difficult “how’s” and “why’s.” I learned a lot about places and critters I thought I knew well from this marvelous book.”-Harry Greene, Cornell professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, author of Snakes: the Evolution of Mystery in Nature