1. Desert Solitaire, Edward Abbey
     "[Abbey's] perception of the desert is determinedly frameless and 
     unconventional, as is his commentary on civilization. A work steadily gaining
     status as a classic."

  2. Walden; Or Life in the Woods, Henry David Thoreau
     "A world-famous text on simple living as the means and the expression of
     enlightenment, and one of the purest appreciations of place and the
     natural that we have."

  3. A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold
     "One of the modern classics, setting forth in elegantly economical prose the
     author's own journey toward ecological understanding, the necessity of
     wilderness to civilization, and (perhaps most revolutionary of his ideas) the
     need for a 'land ethic.'"

  4. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Annie Dillard
     "Observation of nature here opens up profound questions about life and
     death, meaning, and identity. To the author, Tinker Creek in Virginia
     represents the universe in all its spiritual complexity."

  5. Silent Spring, Rachel Carson
     "A major text that is still valuable, still urgent.  Carson assembled the
     evidence painstakingly, showing by careful reasoning and ecological insight
     just what a chemicalized environment would mean. History and further
     investigation have borne out her analysis."

  6. Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place, Terry Tempest Williams
     "...as the Great Salt Lake rose to historically unprecedented levels,
     drowning bird-productive lakeside marshes in salt water, the author's
     mother sank toward death from cancer. Williams weaves these two
     dimensions together masterfully and movingly."

  7. New and Selected Poems, Mary Oliver
     Winner of the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize, Mary Oliver is
     best known for her poetry that speaks eloquently and clearly about the
     natural world.

  8. Arctic Dreams: Imagination and Desire in a Northern Landscape, Barry Lopez
     "The author travels over great stretches of the Arctic, meditating upon the
     great choice that is behind our eyes."

  9. The Solace of Open Spaces, Gretel Ehrlich
     "An appreciation of the vastness and rigor of Wyoming's High Plains
     country, and of the people whose lives have been shaped by its elemental
     forces."

 10. The Outermost House: A Year of Life on the Great Beach of Cape Cod, Henry Beston
     "A year on the Great Beach of Cape Cod: one of our literature's classic
     evocations of just what a year might naturally mean."