Mountains and Marshes
Exploring the Bay Area's Natural History
-
- €13.99
-
- €13.99
Publisher Description
Described as "a writer in the tradition of Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, and other self–educated seers" by the San Francisco Chronicle, David Rains Wallace turns his attention to one of the most distinctive corners of California: the San Francisco Bay Area. Weaving a complex and engaging story of the Bay Area from personal, historical, and environmental threads, Wallace's exploration of the natural world takes readers on a fascinating tour through the region: from Point Reyes National Park, where an abandoned campfire and an invasion of Douglas fir trees combusted into a dangerous wildfire, to Oakland's Lake Merritt, a surprising site amid skyscrapers for some of the best local bird–watching; from the majestic Diablo Range near San Jose, where conservationists fight against land developers to preserve species like mountain lions and golden eagles, to the Golden Gate itself, the iconic bridge that—geologically speaking—leads not to gold but to serpentine. Each essay explores a different place throughout the four corners of the Bay Area, uncovering the flora and fauna that make each so extraordinary.
With a naturalist's eye, a penchant for local history, and an obvious passion for the subject, Wallace's new collection is among the first nature writing dedicated entirely to the Bay Area. Informative, engrossing, and exquisitely described, Mountains and Marshes affords unexpected yet familiar views of a beloved region that, even amidst centuries of growth and change, is as dynamic as it is timeless.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this wide-ranging volume, Wallace (Articulate Earth), a conservationist and natural historian, celebrates the beauty of the San Francisco Bay and calls attention to its unique natural features. Written over the course of five decades, the essays here are largely and loosely grouped geographically. A section on what Wallace calls "the Bay West" includes a piece on harbor seals as well as one on the Farallones, "the 221-acre island cluster 27 miles off the Golden Gate." His unit on the North Bay features an article about a big raven roost at Point Reyes National Seashore. Wallace doesn't ignore urban terrain, and city dwellers will appreciate pieces on Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif. He notes that though it might seem "raggedly artificial, a run-down vestige of genteel Victorian landscaping," the lake remains "a working part of San Francisco Bay's ecosystem." It was established by the state in 1870 as a sanctuary for wintering waterbirds and is now the oldest migratory bird refuge in the U.S. In highlighting such phenomena in urban environments, Wallace reminds readers that they don't always have to venture to the mountains or deep into the woods to commune with nature; sometimes they can simply walk a few blocks from home.
