Singing stone : a natural history of the Escalante Canyons / Thomas Lowe Fleischner.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fleischner, Thomas Lowe, 1954-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Natural history--Utah--Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

Natural history.

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (Utah).

Utah--Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

Genre:

Conference papers and proceedings.

Physical Description:

xix, 212 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), maps ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Salt Lake City : University of Utah Press, [1999]

Summary:

Like a bright blue seam incised deep in solid rock, the Escalante River binds the fir forests of Utah's High Plateau with the barren deserts of the canyonlands region in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. To this wild landscape, naturalist Thomas Fleischner brings both emotional engagement and a wealth of knowledge. With unabashed passion and patient and learned observations Fleischner presents what he calls a "guide to understanding" this relatively unknown landscape.

Integrating personal narrative and natural history, Singing Stone is ideal for curious visitors to the national monument as well as students of environmental studies. Illustrative photographs accompany an invaluable textual survey of the unique geology, flora and fauna, and human history of the region. The recent impacts of grazing and wilderness recreation and the resultant shifts in cultural values and public policy are also explored, offering a lens through which these changes, now the topic of examination and controversy throughout the New West, can be clearly seen and, it is hoped, re-evaluated.

Contents:

Prologue: From the Oxbow xiii

1. The Terrain of Delight 3

Tales of Deep Time 12

The Soul of Stone 19

Upwarping and Downcutting 25

The Work of a River 35

2. The Texture of Life 39

The Grace of Animals 44

The Green Gift 54

Mapping Life 63

How Snakes Kiss 69

3. Walking Upright 73

Chipping Stone 78

With Blade of Chert 79

Here Comes Europe 85

In the Promised Land 90

"More Beauty Than I Can Bear" 97

4. Home on the Range? 101

A Reluctant Path Toward Policy 107

Resisting Change 118

Meanwhile, Back at the Fence 121

5. Hungry for Fun 131

The Concrete Curtain 134

Forever Wild? 140

The Governor in the Gym 148

The Fun Boom 153

Epilogue: The Evening Light Can Be Touched 165.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 187-202) and index.

ISBN:

087480616X

0874806194

OCLC:

41606342