Desert Wetlands - by Thomas Lowe Fleischner (Paperback)

About the Book

Over 150 color photos and accompanying text document wetland sites in the American Southwest and Mexico.

Book Synopsis

Water plays different roles in the desert. It appears when we least expect it and hides when we want it most. Rain falls but never reaches the ground, and dry washes abruptly become rivers. One constant holds true: water enables life.

In Desert Wetlands a distinguished photographer and a passionate naturalist document sites in the American Southwest and Mexico that are gauges to the environment. The wetlands included are Cuatro Cienegas Basin in Coahuila, Mexico, the San Pedro River in Arizona, the Escalante River in Utah, the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico, the playas and wetlands in Arizona, the Mohave Desert in California, and the Big Bend National Park in Texas.

"Exploration of desert wetlands--whether on foot, with photographs, or in words--involves vacillating between tremendous, uplifting beauty and great, heartbreaking degradation. We offer the images and words in your hands that you might grasp the beauty more readily, and join the chorus of voices calling for an end to despoiling of these treasurelands."--Thomas Lowe Fleischner in Desert Wetlands

"Mr. Niemeyer's photography . . . is utterly superb."--Southern Living

Review Quotes

""Desert Wetlands" is a jewel."

"["Desert Wetlands"] reveals the beauty and vibrant life of these vital and imperiled lands in the Southwestern United States and Mexico."

"[Fleischner] does a superb job interjecting interesting narratives and useful information on the subject of desert wetlands. . . . [Niemeyer's] work thrills the senses."

"This book exposes the raw natural beauty of desert wetlands and emphasizes their ecological necessity, as well as how human impact affects their existence. . . ["Desert Wetlands"] is filled to the brim with fascinating information."

""Desert Wetlands" is a serious environmental book wrapped in disarmingly beautiful imagery."

""Desert Wetlands" is an appealing photo essay with an extensive accompanying text."

""Desert Wetlands" is as beautiful as it is important."

"Ý"Desert Wetlands"¨ reveals the beauty and vibrant life of these vital and imperiled lands in the Southwestern United States and Mexico."

"ÝFleischner¨ does a superb job interjecting interesting narratives and useful information on the subject of desert wetlands. . . . ÝNiemeyer's¨ work thrills the senses."

"Fleisher provides an elegant and relevant essay that supposrts the visuals and also provides insight into why these are presious, and how they are becoming so few."

"Lucian Niemeyer's photographs capture all the beauty of the Southwest."

"Niemeyer's "Desert Wetlands" is luminous. The visually inclined will feast at this photographic table, as each color plate is more astonishing than the next, and each color plate is worthy of prolonged attention. For the literary, Fleischner's text is both informative and interesting; it is at varying times anecdotal and scientific, a personal tale of exploration and a discourse on the role and history of desert wetlands.