“The Pests that Girdle the Home of Tucker the Turtle” is a new book that makes the concept of non-native invasive species accessible to children. The star of the book is Tucker, an Eastern box turtle who was born and raised in Pendleton County, WV. Through the telling of his story, Tucker shares the changes that he has seen as non-native invasive species have spread across his home. Spring wildflowers are disappearing, trees like native hemlocks are dying, and many strange, new critters have taken up residence. Tucker shares his experiences with fifteen different invasive species including insects, plants, and even a fish!Non-native invasive species are one of the greatest threats to the biodiversity and natural resource-based economies of West Virginia. And, their numbers are increasing! Each year, more than $138 billion is spent in the United States fighting invasive species. And the list of invasive species “knocking at our door” continues to grow—snakehead fish are moving towards West Virginia from Maryland and Virginia, many pests are threatening our forests including the Asian longhorned beetle that is already in Ohio."We were inspired to write this book because we love the mountains of West Virginia and the natural wonders that they contain," said one of the authors, Cynthia Sandeno. "By sharing Tucker's story, we hope to encourage children to see the beauty that surrounds them and to become protectors of our natural places."While the book focuses on the impacts of invasive species, it also weaves in information about what can be done to slow their spread including the important messages of removing invasives from your yard, cleaning gear, and buying firewood locally. Two destructive species, the Emerald Ash Borer and the Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALHB) are featured in the book. The ALHB speaks to Tucker and says, “We've traveled around the country, hidden in a load of firewood. We shouldn't have been transported, but now we're here for good.”The book was written by the Potomac Highlands Cooperative Weed and Pest Management Area to show the reader the complex and vulnerable world that can be found right outside their doors in their yard or a nearby park or forest. The story also aims to engage you in protecting its future. Will your favorite place remain a healthy home for fish and wildlife or will it be changed forever? The illustrator, Molly Swailes, created 16 original watercolors to accompany the story. Through her creativity, Molly has allowed all of us to enter the world of Tucker the Turtle and to join forces to help make a difference in the forests, rivers, ponds, and wetlands that we love to enjoy. Molly hopes that “as kids grow up they will remember and empathize with Tucker the Turtle and take action to help the environment.”

Mother and Fawn spend a day in the woods before returning at night to the tasty lilac bush in someone's backyard.

"In this magnificent book, Oliver Schuchard provides more than sixty-five exquisite black-and-white photographs spanning his thirty-eight years of photography. In addition, he explains the aesthetic rationale and techniques he used in order to produce these photographs, emphasizing the profound differences between, yet necessary interdependence of, craft and content. Although Schuchard believes that craft is important, he maintains that the idea behind the photograph and the emotional content of the image are equally vital and are, in fact, functions of one another. The author also shares components of his life experience that he believes helped shape his development as an artist and a teacher. He chose the splendid photographs included in this book from among nearly 5,000 negatives that had been exposed all over the world, from Missouri to Maine, California, Alaska, Colorado, France, Newfoundland, and Hawaii, among many other locations. Approximately 250 negatives survived the initial review, and each of those was printed before a final decision was made on which photographs were to be featured in the book. The final choices are representative of Schuchard's work and serve to substantiate his belief that craft, concept, and self must be fully understood and carefully melded for a good photograph to occur. This amazing work by award-winning photographer Oliver Schuchard will be treasured by professional and amateur photographers alike, as well as by anyone who simply enjoys superb photography."--Publishers website.

Includes papers and abstracts dealing with eradication of invasive species in Alaska, Australia, Baker Island, California, Christmas Island, Enderby and Rose Islands, Galapagos Islands, Hawaii, Howland Island, Japan, Jarvis Island, Laysan Island, Lord Howe Island, Mauritius, Mexico, Nauru, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Northern Mariana Islands, Saint-Paul Island, Seychelles, West Indies.

This innovative study re-examines the dynamics of race relations in the post–Civil War South from an altogether fresh perspective: field sports. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, wealthy white men from Southern cities and the industrial North traveled to the hunting and fishing lodges of the old Confederacy—escaping from the office to socialize among like-minded peers. These sportsmen depended on local black guides who knew the land and fishing holes and could ensure a successful outing. For whites, the ability to hunt and fish freely and employ black laborers became a conspicuous display of their wealth and social standing. But hunting and fishing had been a way of life for all Southerners—blacks included—since colonial times. After the war, African Americans used their mastery of these sports to enter into market activities normally denied people of color, thereby becoming more economically independent from their white employers. Whites came to view black participation in hunting and fishing as a serious threat to the South’s labor system. Scott E. Giltner shows how African-American freedom developed in this racially tense environment—how blacks' sense of competence and authority flourished in a Jim Crow setting. Giltner’s thorough research using slave narratives, sportsmen’s recollections, records of fish and game clubs, and sporting periodicals offers a unique perspective on the African-American struggle for independence from the end of the Civil War to the 1920s.