Island of Grass tells the story of the Cathy Fromme Prairie Natural Area, a 240-acre preserve surrounded by housing developments in Fort Collins, Colorado. This small grassland is a remnant of the once-vast prairies of the West that early European explorers and settlers described as seas of grass. Agricultural land use and urban expansion during the past two centuries have fragmented and altered these prairies. All that remains today are small islands. These remnants cannot support some of the larger animals that once roamed the prairie, but they continue to support a diverse array of plants and animals and can still teach us much about grassland ecology. Through her examinations of daily changes during walks across the Fromme Prairie over the course of a year, Ellen Wohl explores one of the more neglected ecosystems in North America, describing the geology, soils, climate, ecology, and natural history of the area, as well as providing glimpses into the lives of the plants, animals, and microbes inhabiting this landscape. Although small in size, pieces of preserved shortgrass prairie like the Cathy Fromme Prairie Natural Area are rich, diverse, and accessible natural environments deserving of awareness, appreciation, and protection. Anyone concerned with the ecology and conservation of grasslands in general, the ecology and conservation of open space in urban areas, or the natural history of Colorado will be interested in this book.

North American wildlife is under siege. First came the hunters, who spread across the continent killing animals for food and clothing and because they were dangerous. Then came the developers, who continue to chip away at our wilderness at a rate of over a million acres per year. It wasn't until 1903 that the first North American sanctuary specifically aimed at protecting animals was established. Today, the continent is peppered with thousands of public and private refuges -- green islands of hope for wildlife. These sanctuaries have saved species like whooping cranes and trumpeter swans from extinction and allowed others like American bison and Canada geese to recover in number. Islands of Hope visits ten preserves in four North American countries. At Cape May National Wildlife Refuge, Phillip Manning examines the dependence of one of nature's farthest-traveled animals -- the red knot -- on one of its oldest and slowest -- the horseshoe crab. At El Rosario Monarch Butterfly Preserve, he tells of the impossible migration of a creature that weighs one-fiftieth of an ounce -- and the equally captivating story of the human effort that tracked the eastern monarch to its wintering ground in Mexico. At the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, he describes the effort to bring back not only North America's largest land animal -- the American bison -- but also an entire landscape as it existed hundreds of years ago. At Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge, he tells of the pronghorn antelope and its stalker, the coyote, and the dilemma faced by those humans who would manage -- or not manage -- relations between the two. Behind Manning's fascinating accounts lies the serious purpose of learningwhat makes these ten preserves successful. Islands of Hope investigates the animals and ecosystems that the sanctuaries protect; it talks with people who run the preserves to discover how they use conservation laws and the science of ecology in their work; it examines how refuges are created; and it explores the threats still facing North America's sanctuaries.

The fifty-four paintings in this volume celebrate the natural beauty of the rare tallgrass prairie environments of Illinois and the remarkable legacy of conservation that sustains them. Artist and author Philip Juras's evocative canvases are based on extensive research, travel, and time in the field with prairie conservation experts. As a result, his luminous paintings, and his descriptions of them, are rich in ecological and historical detail. An accompanying essay by acclaimed conservationist Stephen Packard tells the story of how the tallgrass prairie ecosystem was, and is, being saved from extinction in Illinois by a series of remarkable individuals and initiatives-efforts that have inspired conservation practices well beyond the state's borders.Picturing the Prairie invites us to get to know these restored landscapes, both within these pages and in the corresponding 2021 exhibition at the Chicago Botanic Garden. In them we can experience the magnificence of this archetypal American grassland, both in its present nature, and as it was in the past.

Prairie Fairies draws upon a wealth of oral, archival, and cultural histories to recover the experiences of queer urban and rural people in the prairies. Focusing on five major urban centres, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Regina, Edmonton, and Calgary, Prairie Fairies explores the regional experiences and activism of queer men and women by looking at the community centres, newsletters, magazines, and organizations that they created from 1930 to 1985.? Challenging the preconceived narratives of queer history, Valerie J. Korinek argues that the LGBTTQ community has a long history in the prairie west, and that its history, previously marginalized or omitted, deserves attention. Korinek pays tribute to the prairie activists and actors who were responsible for creating spaces for socializing, politicizing, and organizing this community, both in cities and rural areas. Far from the stereotype of the isolated, insular Canadian prairies of small towns and farming communities populated by faithful farm families, Prairie Fairies historicizes the transformation of prairie cities, and ultimately the region itself, into a predominantly urban and diverse place.

From esteemed naturalist Trevor Herriot and acclaimed nature photographer Branimir Gjetvaj, Islands of Grass is a beautiful, well-researched call-to-action and a passionately wrought love letter to the prairie grasslands that are rapidly disappearing in the wake of modernity’s relentless push. Before the arrival of settlers, the Great Northern Plain sprawled across the centre of the continent and rivalled the African savannah for wildlife, with herds of bison and pronghorn antelope numbering in the millions. It was also the home for species of birds and animals that lived nowhere else. Today that range is threatened by human incursion and in some areas there are only pockets of unadulterated prairie grassland left, small islands of a unique environment. In those small plots of grasslands species cling to survival, unable to thrive in any other environment. In presenting the irreplaceable beauty and the complexity of the grasslands, Trevor and Branimir ask the reader to both admire its majesty and consider its value. Full of extraordinary photos supported by the thought-provoking prose of Trevor Herriot, this book will bring the wonder of the grasslands to a wider audience.