This book is about the status and future of the sagebrush ecosystem and its dependent species. The ecosystem is not healthy and is diminishing due to the many and various human land uses. Maintaining the ecosystem will require monumental changes in management and those changes must address all land uses in an integrated, holistic manner to be effective. The two major obstacles are a lack of needed resources, both funds and land use direction, and the attempt to stop the loss and degradation of sagebrush habitats while lacking essential research information on which to base effective strategies.

The Native American inhabitants of North America’s Great Basin have a long, eventful history and rich cultures. Great Basin Indians: An Encyclopedic History covers all aspects of their world. The book is organized in an encyclopedic format to allow full discussion of many diverse topics, including geography, religion, significant individuals, the impact of Euro-American settlement, wars, tribes and intertribal relations, reservations, federal policies regarding Native Americans, scholarly theories regarding their prehistory, and others. Author Michael Hittman employs a vast range of archival and secondary sources as well as interviews, and he addresses the fruits of such recent methodologies as DNA analysis and gender studies that offer new insights into the lives and history of these enduring inhabitants of one of North America’s most challenging environments. Great Basin Indians is an essential resource for any reader interested in the Native peoples of the American West and in western history in general.