Published in Partnership with Zion Natural History Association. 

Zion National Park is one of the country’s most-visited and best-loved national parks. For the first time, lovers of the park have in one volume the best that has been written about the canyon. A Zion Canyon Reader is a collection of historical and literary accounts that presents diverse perspectives on Zion Canyon—and the surrounding southern Utah region—through the eyes of native inhabitants, pioneer settlers, boosters, explorers, artists, park rangers, developers, and spiritual seekers. Through the pages of this book, both the newest visitors to Zion and those who return to the park again and again will come to understand what this place has meant to different people over the centuries.
 
Among the works included are well-known historical accounts of exploration by John Wesley Powell, Clarence Dutton, and Everett Ruess. Writings by Edward Abbey, Wallace Stegner, Juanita Brooks, and others enlighten and excite in numerous memorable chapters. Here and there the book bears witness to conflicting viewpoints on controversies associated with the national park, especially development vs. preservation and locals vs. outsiders.
 
Lyman Hafen, author and executive director of the Zion Natural History Association, calls the book “the most comprehensive, insightful, and inspiring compilation of Zion writing ever assembled.” As readers learn about the plants, animals, geology, history, and people of Zion Canyon, they will discover unfamiliar corners of the park and see favorite hikes in a new light. 

Many modern ecological problems such as rain forest destruction, decreasing marine harvests, and fire suppression are directly or indirectly anthropogenic. Zooarchaeology and Conservation Biology presents an argument that conservation biology and wildlife management cannot afford to ignore zooarchaeological research—the identification and analysis of faunal remains recovered from archaeological deposits. The editors contend that we can learn important lessons by studying long-term human and nonhuman influences on biota and ecosystems. From this perspective we can begin to understand biogeographic dynamics and behavioral patterns that are invisible to researchers who study living organisms over just a small span of years.

The focus of this volume is on the North American faunal record. Contributors identify a specific management or conservation issue, describe and analyze relevant zooarchaeological data, and offer recommendations or at least establish a baseline for possible resolution. The volume brings together both case studies and research about past ecosystems, and examines how such knowledge can be of current utility and relevance.

This photographic atlas, developed over twenty years of teaching in the field, expedites the work of the zooarchaeologist by integrating both osteology and wildlife ecology into a single volume. Zooarchaeology, the study of animal remains found at archaeological sites, is interdisciplinary in nature, requiring students and researchers to not only master the technical skills of identifying fragmentary bones and teeth but also to develop a deep understanding of the taxonomy, natural history, behavior, and ecology of the species identified. Until now, these topics have always been treated separately. This book is the only field guide and laboratory manual to combine animal ecology and natural history with the detailed osteology of all the vertebrate classes (fishes, amphibians, birds, and mammals) and all the primary orders native to western North America. Skeletal images are shown at a variety of magnifications and views and are accompanied by photographs of the animals in their characteristic habitats.