Winner, Independent Press Award - Conservation/Green, 2021 The only hope for successful conservation of America’s threatened, endangered, and at-risk wildlife is through voluntary, cooperative partnerships that focus on private land, where over 75% of at-risk species can be found. Private landowners form the bedrock of these partnerships, and they have a long history of rising to meet the challenge of conservation. But they can’t do it alone. This book is a guide for private landowners who want to conserve wildlife. Whether engaged in farming, ranching, forestry, mining, energy development, or another business, private working lands all have value as wildlife habitat, with the proper management and financial support. This book provides landowners and their partners with a roadmap to achieve conservation compatible with their financial and personal goals. This book introduces the art and language of land management planning as well as regulatory compliance with laws such as the Endangered Species Act of 1973. It categorizes and explains the tools used by wildlife professionals to implement conservation on private lands. Moreover it documents the multitude of federal, state, local, and private opportunities for landowners to find financial and technical assistance in managing wildlife, from working with a local NGO to accessing the $6 billion per year available through the federal Farm Bill.

“The cheetah is a magical and graceful animal and no one is more qualified to share its journey with you than Dr. Laurie Marker. Through the use of Suzi Eszterhas’ beautiful photographs and Laurie’s narration and nearly 40 years of experience you’ll gain a unique insight into what makes the cheetah so special and what can be done to save it from extinction.” — Charles Knowles, Executive Director and Co-Founder, Wildlife Conservation Network A Future for Cheetahs is a simple and elegant large-format book of incredible photography that provides insight on the past, present, and future of cheetahs in the wild. It features commentary by Dr. Laurie Marker, world renowned authority on cheetahs, and imagery captured by renowned wildlife photographer, Suzi Eszterhas. Through the eyes of the cheetah, this picture book story will bring you, the reader, face to face with some of the rarest and most beautiful images taken of wild cheetah. Equally as powerful, compelling stories and photos will weave a story of the conservation initiatives that are the key to their very survival. “Ever since I first met Dr. Laurie Marker, I have been a fan of her work and share her fascination with the cheetah as an icon of speed and grace. Laurie has devoted her life to learning about the cheetah and using her knowledge to assure the cheetah as a species survives to future generations. Readers of A Future for Cheetahs are not only getting a treasure trove of remarkable images of the cheetah, but also the extraordinary story of what a boots-on-the-ground conservationist is doing to save it from extinction, in her own words.” —Jeff Corwin, Television personality and conservationist “A Future for Cheetahs is a gorgeous and significant book. Amazing and elegant photographs by world-class photographer Suzi Eszterhas are mixed with a haunting narrative of the cheetah’s march for survival penned by guardian angel of the cheetah, Laurie Marker. Any curious world citizen or committed conservationist needs to ingest this book. All will enjoy the wonder and majesty of evolution’s most enriching and skillful creation, the African cheetah, through the lens and words of incomparable witnesses in the plight of a fragile beautiful species.” —Stephen J O’Brien, Author Tears of the Cheetah and Other Tales from the Genetic Frontier

Now a feature-length documentary on the Discovery channel narrated by Tom Brokaw. “Lush, gorgeously written…A profoundly hopeful book.” —Tina Rosenberg, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award A Kirkus Best Book of 2016 Many of the men and women doing today’s most consequential environmental work—restoring America’s grasslands, wildlife, soil, rivers, wetlands, and oceans—would not call themselves environmentalists; they would be too uneasy with the connotations of that word. What drives them is their deep love of the land: the iconic terrain where explorers and cowboys, pioneers and riverboat captains forged the American identity. They feel a moral responsibility to preserve this heritage and natural wealth, to ensure that their families and communities will continue to thrive. Unfolding as a journey down the Mississippi River, Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman tells the stories of five representatives of this stewardship movement: a Montana rancher, a Kansas farmer, a Mississippi riverman, a Louisiana shrimper, and a Gulf fisherman. In exploring their work and family histories and the essential geographies they protect, Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman challenges pervasive and powerful myths about American and environmental values.

Helen Tiegs didn't take to driving a tractor when she became a farmer's wife, but after fifty years she considers herself the hub of the family operation. Lila Hill taught piano, then ultimately took a job off the farm to augment the family income during a period of rising costs. From Montana's cattle pastures to New Mexico's sagebrush mesas, women on today's ranches and farms have played a crucial role in a way of life that is slowly disappearing from the western landscape. Recalling her own family-farm ties, Sandra Schackel set out to learn how these women's lives have changed over the second half of the twentieth century. In Working the Land, she collects oral histories from more than forty women—in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Oregon, and Texas—recalling their experiences as ranchers and farmers in a modernizing West. Through this diverse group of women—white and Hispanic, rich and poor, ranging in age from 24 to 83—we gain a new perspective on their ties to the land. Although western ranch and farm women have often been portrayed as secondary figures who devoted themselves to housekeeping in support of their husbands' labors, Schackel's interviews reveal that these women have had a much more active role in defining what we know as the modern American West. As Schackel listened to their stories, she found several currents running through their recollections, such as the satisfaction found in living the rural lifestyle and the flexibility of gender roles. She also learned how resourceful women developed new ways to make their farms work—by including tourism, summer camps, and bed-and-breakfast operations—and how many have become activists for land-based issues. And while some like Lila made the difficult decision to work off the farm, such sacrifices have enabled families to hold onto their beloved land. Rich with memory and insight into what makes America's family farms and ranches tick, Working the Land provides a deeper understanding of the West's development over the last fifty years along with new perspectives on shifting attitudes toward women in the workforce. It is both a long-overdue documentation of the lives of hard-working farm women and a celebration of their contributions to a truly American way of life.