Bought this book and actually used it in California hitting 10 spots in 3 days. One spring was a large pond which we felt was unsafe, even though the author points out the dangers, hot water creeping in from various holes in the ground can be very dangerous. I would have left this one out of the book as it did not warrant a visit.

Others were right on the money. The book provides enough instructions to get you there but leaves in the exploration factor of actually having to find it. Otherwise some of these areas might be overrun by "casual" users unwilling to do some searching.

The roads were as described, passable yet "requires the skill of a country boy" like myself who knows how to drive a 2 wheel drive car where they should not go. Slow and patient, we managed to get the luxury rental car to all the springs without getting stuck and no damage. When the author says the road is impossible after a rain storm, I'd believe it without a doubt. Everchanging conditions such as public access are impossible to keep current, yet the book does "point you in the right direction". If you love the hot pools this is a good resource.

book was perfect for drive across California and Nevada. It opened a new world of adventure. Unfortunately, though, one (of the two) hotsprings we drove to (outside of Unionville) appears to have been bulldozed over. We found this out after an hour or so of driving and another hour walking around looking for the hotspring. But we wouldn't have missed this adventure anyway.

This book is useful for people who wish to identify ants in the southwestern united states, since most of the genera that the Wheelers discuss are not restricted to Nevada. It has many useful keys, most of which have small line drawings that illustrate what the node of the key is trying to ask the reader. This feature alone makes the book very valuable to me. I often get lost in keys...

The taxonomy does not always agree with that of Bolton, Wilson and/or Taber. I suspect this is due to recent taxonomic revisions.

The genus and most of the species deescriptions have small discussions of natural history. These are not always as detailed as one might like. There are range maps for Nevada in the back of the book, and textual descriptions of the world-wide range in the species descriptions.

The book has quite a few photographs. Many of the photographs are of ant nests, which I must confess all look the same to me. The majority of the photos are black and white, except for some color habitat photos. Most of the ant photos are too small to be of much use.

The overall feeling I get when reading this book is that it is a larger format, expanded, Nevada version of 'The Ants of Deep Canyon' - another book by the Wheelers which I like alot.

This is a good guide for those that are experienced at backcountry winter travel.He shows several routes and peak descents,and rates them according to difficulty.There is some basic information on winter travel, including snow camping and avalanche safety, but you would be wise to study these topics further before attempting any of these routes.

In the summer of 1998 I used this book as a guide when I traveled along I-80 in Nevada. I found the maps and directions excellent, and had a very nice trip as a result. Since then the Mustang Ranch has been closed by the IRS, and at least one place has changed its name. The guide deserves to be updated every year, and I would be happy to buy a new edition each year. The 1998 edition differs from the 1997 only in the date, as far an I could tell.

Desert Birds

Birds of the Lahontan Valley: A Guide to Nevada's Wetland Oasis.

Graham Chisholm and Larry A. Neel
(University of Nevada Press, 2002).

reviewed by Joe Eaton

If Faultline is about California, why are we reviewing a book on Nevada birds? Well, as the bioregionalists have been saying for years, political boundaries don't always reflect the way the world really works. The straight line stateline between California and Nevada is a case in point. Tahoe aside, the high desert ecosystem is pretty much the same on both sides of the border. The wetlands Chisholm and Neel describe are fed by the Carson River, rising in the Sierra Nevada; and the migratory shorebirds that stop there to refuel are travelers on the Pacific Flyway, like the ones that visit San Francisco Bay.

However you draw the lines, this is a handsome and useful book, a model for regional bird studies. Both authors - Chisholm is now with the Nature Conservancy, Neel with the Nevada Division of Wildlife - know their area well. The species accounts for each of the Lahontan Valley's resident and migrant birds cover seasonal movements and conservation status. Birding sites around Carson Lake and Stillwater Marsh are described, with excellent maps. An appendix contains 15 years of Christmas Bird Count data. The book is profusely illustrated with line drawings by Mimi Hoppe Wolfe, and Bolinas artist-naturalist Keith Hansen contributed the cover art.

The Lahontan Valley wetlands have a fascinating history. Along with Pyramid Lake, they're remnants of Pleistocene Lake Lahontan. Flocks of flamingos fed along the shores of the periglacial lake, and teratorns - giant raptors with 17-foot wingspans - wheeled overhead. As the lake waters receded, the ancestors of the Toidikadi Northern Paiutes settled its fringes, harvesting marsh plants, fishing, and hunting waterfowl. Altered by irrigation and hydropower projects, the wetlands were never completely destroyed, and restoration efforts are underway.

Today the Lahontan wetlands host 30 percent of the world's population of long-billed dowitchers, a snipelike member of the sandpiper family, on their northward and southward journeys. Because of this, the marshes have been designated as part of the Western Hemispheric Shorebird Reserve Network and proposed for international recognition under the Ramsar Convention. They're also important for nesting birds, with one of the Great Basin's largest white-faced ibis colonies and a handful of western yellow-billed cuckoos, an endangered subspecies. Winter brings bald eagles, northern shrikes, and other predators. The Lahontan Valley sounds like a great place to bird, and the authors of this book have done a commendable job of documenting its avian riches.

(Re)evaluating Nature especially in the new millenium is a new trend in thinking about the landscape. Misrach initiates this conversation with this early book about the changing face of the American West that has been transformed into a bombed-out wasteland. Somewhat beautiful? Yes, I thin kso. He approaches the subject sarcastically serious with a proposal to turn this highly violent landscape into America's newest national park, one which I would be the first visitor. His photographs instigate new questions in landscape photography and the new definition of "beauty" in all visual studies. A must for any artist/architect/planner. There is a new landscape. Misrach has found it.

This collection of Norman Clyde short topics from the 1920's and 1930's captures, in Clyde's refreshingly unassuming style, the very essence of life in the Siera Nevada- through the eyes of the man who spent more of his life there, made more first ascents, and knew the high country better than any man before or since. While modestly illustrated by modern standards, the work covers many aspects of the region which can not be found elsewhere. A must-have for all who have felt the almost spiritual draw of this rugged and beautiful mountain range.

Dear Dave, Loved the book! My main comment is "I know you have more to tell". Give me something. There's only a finite amount of time to fish, live, and then die - not in that order. I hope you can write something with a little more soul. Speak to the flyfisherman with more than "this is where to go, and how to do it". I've gotten to the point in fishing - as I'm sure you have - where the circumstances, and feeling of the environment mean as much to the fish story as the end resulting "big one caught". Go for it! Tell me about the iced guides, the hellish 4wd road to get in, the unusual presentation. In short tell me a story. This book was a great start, but I - because I can only speak for myself - would like to feel what it's like. Due to the perameters of a book of this type I didn't expect more than what was offered, but encourage you to go the next step. Die-hards don't know any better. Thank you.

In the 2nd installment of the Evan Horne mysteries, Bill Moody sets his hero in the neon snakepit of Las Vegas, where an old friend sends Evan on a mission to solve a 37-year-old murder. But doing so peels back layers of Las Vegas history, opening old wounds that someone is willing to kill to keep covered... As in Solo Hand, Bill Moody assembles a vivid cast of characters and plays out a twisted story-line like a jazz virtuoso with murderous chops that include the fate of tenor saxophonist Wardell Gray and the real history of the Moulin Rouge, as well as a handful of subplots that Moody deftly ties together in a coolly musical climax. For all its brooding authenticity, regarding both jazz and Las Vegas, Death of a Tenor Man is a fast-paced and well-wrought mystery.