Despite all the electronic gadgetry that allows you to consume media, hard-bound and paperback books continue to hold a considerable marketshare. And more than a few of those titles have something to do with national parks. We read as much as we could this year, and came away with the following reviews for your consideration.
Olympic Battleground: Creating and Defending Olympic National Park
A prominent figure of Seattle, Washington, Carsten Lien grounded his career in business and government with a love for Olympic National Park. Alfred Runte recounts how Lien fought to save the park after observing that it had been logged. The result was a history of the park disclosing the controversy of saving old-growth forests from the Park Service itself. The book is again available as Olympic Battleground: Creating and Defending Olympic National Park.
For most, if not all, of us, it's easy to identify the national bird of the United States. But do you know what the national bird of Denmark is, or of Honduras? Ron Toft makes it easy to research such questions in his National Birds of the World.
In 1983 the Glen Canyon Dam was poised to fail, but high waters through the Grand Canyon led three veteran boatmen to attempt a speed-run down the Colorado River under a full moon.
John Muir Trail, The Essential Guide To Hiking America's Most Famous Trail
By now, it's getting a bit late to be hiking the entire John Muir Trail. In fact, you should be nearing the end of your trek. But if you've wondered about taking on that long-distance walk, there's a good book you should read.
The Best of Glacier National Park
Alan Leftridge's guide to Glacier National Park is a well-organized, valuable resource for visitors.
Crown of the Continent, The Wildest Rockies
A new book exams an old subject, in a fashion seldom seen before.
The natural geologic cut of the Appalachian Mountains, and the plentiful moisture and frequency of springs in the region, combine to produce a cascading system of waterworks from Shenandoah National Park down through the Blue Ridge Parkway and into Great Smoky Mountains National Park that provides more than enough incentive to take a hike.
Probably everyone has a book inside themselves, somewhere; some interesting....some not so much. Radford West's is interesting, mainly because he's had an interesting life, with a keen passion for the outdoors. In 1971 West came home from the confusion of Vietnam and sought solace in the high, lonesome. "The mountains gave me a new respect for nature and myself," he says, and his book reflects that.
The Best Of Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park, at 2.2 million acres, is a huge, sprawling expanse of wilderness and wonders. If you're making a once-in-a-lifetime visit there, where do you start?
Photographing Acadia National Park: The Essential Guide To When, Where, And How
Book store clerks could have a difficult time displaying this book. Does it go under "photography" or under "travel"? You'll understand the quandary once you start turning the pages of this book, for you'll learn as much about Acadia National Park in general as you'll learn about how to get the best photos there.
Rocky Mountain National Park: The First 100 Years
Though Rocky Mountain National Park doesn't mark its centennial until next year, there's no reason you can't celebrate now with a book that looks back over those 100 years.
Birding In The National Parks: Sibley Guide To Birds, 2nd Edition
Today is March 11, a date North American birders have been looking forward to for quite some time. This is the publication date for the second edition of the Sibley Guide to Birds by David Allen Sibley. Let the quibbling begin.
Winter is the time for dreaming, and planning, the following summer's vacation, which makes Bill Sherwonit's book on Denali National Park a good resource to turn to.
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