Lee Johnson was a man with simple dreams. All he wanted was a steady job and a nice home for his wife and children, something better than the hard life he knew growing up. He never imagined that he would become the face of a David-and-Goliath showdo…
In order to understand and improve cities today, personal observation remains as important as ever. While big data, digital mapping, and simulated cityscapes are valuable tools for understanding urban space, "using them without on-the-ground, human…
Updated to reflect ongoing changes in environmental fields, this text is a resource for anyone seeking information about environmental career opportunities and how to get started in one. Highlights include trends in employment opportunities and addi…
Steering a New Course offers a comprehensive survey and analysis of America's transportation system -- how it contributes to our environmental problems and how we could make it safer, more efficient, and less costly.
For nearly 50 years, the National Wildlife Federation Conservation Directory has served as the preeminent guide to the conservation community for a broad range of audiences. Island Press is proud to be a partner with the National Wildlife Federation…
"Large-Scale Ecosystem Restoration" presents case studies of five of the most noteworthy large-scale restoration projects in the United States: Chesapeake Bay, the Everglades, California Bay Delta, the Platte River Basin, and the Upper Mississippi R…
Communities are changing fast: ethnic minority populations are growing; home ownership is falling; the number of people per household is going up; and salaries are going down. According to Marc Brenman and Thomas W. Sanchez, the planning field is la…
"Wildlife-Habitat Relationships" goes beyond introductory wildlife biology texts to provide wildlife professionals and students with an understanding of the importance of habitat relationships in studying and managing wildlife. The book offers a uni…
The magnificent stands of old-growth trees that characterize the forests of western North America depend on periodic fires for their creation or survival. Deprived of that essential disturbance process eventually they die, leaving an overcrowded gro…
Ask children where food comes from, and they'll probably answer: "the supermarket." Ask most adults, and their replies may not be much different. Where our foods are raised and what happens to them between farm and supermarket shelf have become myst…
Is it time to embrace the so-called "Anthropocene"--the age of human dominion--and to abandon tried-and-true conservation tools such as parks and wilderness areas? Is the future of Earth to be fully domesticated, an engineered global garden managed…
Practical Ecology for Planners, Developers, and Citizens introduces and key ecological concepts for planners, landscape architects, developers, and others involved in planning and building human habitats. The book is tailored to meet the needs of bu…
Practical Ecology for Planners, Developers, and Citizens introduces key ecological concepts for planners, landscape architects, developers, and others involved in planning and building human habitats. The book is tailored to meet the needs of busy l…
A significant number of the world's ocean fisheries are depleted, and some have collapsed, from overfishing. Although many of the same fishermen who are causing these declines stand to suffer the most from them, they continue to overfish. Why is thi…
As part of a global effort to identify those areas where conservation measures are needed most urgently, World Wildlife Fund has assembled teams of scientists to conduct ecological assessments of all seven continents. Freshwater Ecoregions of Africa…
"Planetizen's Contemporary Debates in Urban Planning" is a fascinating review of major topics and issues discussed in the field of urban planning, assembled by editors at Planetizen, the leading source of news and information for the planning and de…
Thom McEvoy offers a primer of practical information on the management of forest lands with the goal of creating positive impacts on forest ecosystems.
The International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science, and Technology for Development (IAASTD) looks realistically at how we could effectively use agriculture/AKST to help us meet development and sustainability goals. An unprecedented thre…
"Shifting Baselines" explores the real-world implications of a groundbreaking idea: we must understand the oceans of the past to protect the oceans of the future. In 1995, acclaimed marine biologist Daniel Pauly coined the term 'shifting baselines'…
Potential insights and inexpensive tools for converting small, vacant lots to community green space. Vacant lots, so often seen as neighborhood blight, have the potential to be a key element of community revitalization. Sandra Albro offers practical…
"Making Nature Whole" is a seminal volume that presents an in-depth history of the field of ecological restoration as it has developed over the last three decades. The authors draw from both published and unpublished sources, including archival mate…
This title presents a disciplinary approach to conducting large-scale watershed and ecosystem management projects. It focuses on the semi-arid Great Basin area of the US, which is highly sensitive to both climate change processes and natural and hum…
Changes in seasonal movements and population dynamics of migratory birds in response to ongoing changes resulting from global climate changes are a topic of great interest to conservation scientists and birdwatchers around the world. Because of thei…
Born during the cut and run days of early twentieth century America, Weyerhaeuser defied conventional industry logic by holding onto timberlands after they were cut rather than walking away. By the late 1930s, the company was faced with a decision:…
When commercial overfishing sent striped bass populations into free fall in the 1980s, Dick Russell emerged as a key spokesman in a long-shot crusade by dedicated fishermen to save them. "Striper Wars" is Russell's vibrant account of their thrilling…
While rising seas are now inevitable, we are far from helpless. By making hard choices - including uprooting communities, changing where and how we build, and developing a coordinated response - we can save property, and ultimately lives. With unass…
This is the authoritative book on sea level rise and its coastal consequences. On Shismaref Island in Alaska, homes are being washed into the sea. In the South Pacific, small island nations face annihilation by encroaching waters. In coastal Louisia…
"Energy Development and Wildlife Conservation in Western North America" offers a road map for securing future energy supply while safeguarding wildlife. Contributors show how science can help craft solutions to conflicts between wildlife and energy…
Food waste, hunger, inhumane livestock conditions, disappearing fish stocks - these are exactly the kind of issues we expect food regulations to combat. Yet, today in the United States, law sexist at all levels of government that actually make these…
Originally published in 2007, "Ecological Restoration" has become one of the seminal books in this quickly developing field. This completely revised and reorganised edition presents up-to-date developments and current trends in the field by two of i…
The NACTO Urban Street Design Guide shows how streets of every size can be reimagined and reoriented to prioritise safe driving and transit, cycling, walking, and public activity. Unlike older, more conservative engineering manuals, this design guid…
Engineering the Farm offers a wide-ranging examination of the social and ethical issues surrounding the production and consumption of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), with leading thinkers and activists taking a broad theoretical approach to t…
This title presents a new framework for conservation based on public engagement and natural sciences. Management policies have tended to promote a one-size-fits-all mentality for large, complex landscapes. Landscape ecologist Charles Curtin argues t…
"The Hype About Hydrogen" offers a hype-free explanation of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, takes a hard look at the practical difficulties of transitioning to a hydrogen economy, and reveals why, given increasingly strong evidence of the gravi…
Nearly all large American cities rely on zoning to regulate land use. According to Donald L. Elliott, however, zoning often discourages the very development that bigger cities need and want. In fact, Elliott thinks that zoning has become so complex…
"Foundations of Restoration Ecology" advances the science behind the practice of restoring ecosystems, while exploring ways in which restoration ecology can inform basic ecological questions. It provides the first comprehensive overview of the theor…
How can we design places that fulfill urgent needs of the community, achieve environmental justice, and inspire long-term stewardship? By bringing community members to the table, we open up the possibility of exchanging ideas meaningfully and transf…
"Cost-benefit analysis" is a term that is used so frequently we rarely stop to think about it. But relying on it can lead to some dubious conclusions, as Frank Ackerman points out in this eye-opening book. For example, some economists have argued th…
What does it mean to be a resilient city in the age of a changing climate and growing inequity? As urban populations grow, how do we create efficient transportation systems, access to healthy green space, and lower-carbon buildings for all citizens?…
Amid the policy gridlock that characterises most environmental debates, a new conservation movement has emerged. Known as "collaborative conservation," it emphasises local participation, sustainability, and inclusion of the disempowered, and focuses…
Global Marine Biological Diversity presents the most up-to-date information and view on the challenge of conserving the living sea and how that challenge can be met.
This book introduces community planning as practiced in the United States, focusing on the comprehensive plan. Sometimes known by other names - especially master plan or general plan - the type of plan described here is the predominant form of gener…
We sit at the doorstep of multiple revolutions in robotic, genetic, information, and communication technologies, whose powerful interactions promise social and environmental transformations we are only beginning to understand. How can we anticipate…
In Lost Landscapes and Failed Economies, economist Thomas Michael Power argues that the quality of the natural landscape is an essential part of a community's permanent economic base and should not be sacrificed in short-term efforts to maintain emp…
Property rights are a tool humans use in regulating their use of natural resources. Understanding how rights to resources are assigned and how they are controlled is critical to designing and implementing effective strategies for environmental manag…
This work explores the kind of politics that can help enable us to achieve a sustainable world of our choice, rather than one imposed by external forces. It offers an in-depth examination of the elements of a re-energized political system which dire…
George Schaller has spent much of his life traversing wild and isolated places in his quest to understand and conserve threatened species - from mountain gorillas in the Virunga to snow leopards in the Himalaya. Throughout his career, Schaller has s…
This work explains how to undertake field studies to guide conservation work. It is aimed at anyone working in conservation regardless of their professional or scientific background. The methods and procedures of scientific inquiry are explained in…
Most scientists and researchers aren't prepared to talk to the press or to policymakers - or to deal with backlash. And many researchers have the horror stories to prove it. As Nancy Baron points out, scientists who decide they want to inform those…
