front cover of 20 Day Trips in and around the Shawnee National Forest
20 Day Trips in and around the Shawnee National Forest
Larry P. and Donna J. Mahan
Southern Illinois University Press, 2013

One of the unique and most scenic treasures in the Midwest, the Shawnee National Forest spans more than 279,000 acres deep in southern Illinois. The natural beauty, stunning vistas, and diverse flora and fauna of this picturesque region invite exploration by all who love nature. This easy-to-use guidebook highlights 20 exciting day or weekend trips within and near the Shawnee National Forest, making it easy to take advantage of the forest’s myriad opportunities for outdoor recreational activity.  

Intended for those without extensive hiking or camping experience, the guide provides all of the information necessary to safely and proficiently explore all the forest has to offer. Entertaining narratives describe each journey in vivid detail, offering advice on needed supplies, pointing out shortcuts, and spotlighting not-to-miss views. Entries also include thorough directions, GPS coordinates, trail difficulty ratings, landform descriptions, exact distances between points, and a list of available facilities at each location. 

From biking and bird watching to hiking, horseback riding, and rock climbing, the Shawnee National Forest is home to an abundance of possibilities for outdoor fun. With this practical guide in hand, adventure seekers and nature lovers alike can make the most of southern Illinois’s own natural treasure.

Best Travel Guide of the Year by Booklist, 2013

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AIA Guide to Chicago
American Institute of Architects Chicago; Edited by Laurie McGovern Petersen
University of Illinois Press, 2022
Chicago’s architecture attracts visitors from around the globe. The fourth edition of the AIA Guide to Chicago is the best portable resource for exploring this most breathtaking and dynamic of cityscapes. The editors offer entries on new destinations like the Riverwalk, the St. Regis Chicago, and The 606 as well as updated descriptions of Willis Tower and other refreshed landmarks. Thirty-four maps and over 500 photos make it easy to find each of the almost 2000 featured sites. A special insert, new to this edition, showcases the variety of Chicago architecture with over 80 full-color images arranged chronologically. A comprehensive index organizes entries by name and architect.

Sumptuously detailed and user friendly, the AIA Guide to Chicago encourages travelers and residents alike to explore the many diverse neighborhoods of one of the world’s great architectural destinations.

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AIA Guide to Chicago
American Institute of Architects Chicago; Edited by Alice Sinkevitch and Laurie McGovern Petersen; Preface by Geoffrey Baer; Introduction by Perry Duis
University of Illinois Press, 2014
An unparalleled architectural powerhouse, Chicago offers visitors and natives alike a panorama of styles and forms. The third edition of the AIA Guide to Chicago brings readers up to date on ten years of dynamic changes with new entries on smaller projects as well as showcases like the Aqua building, Trump Tower, and Millennium Park.
 
Four hundred photos and thirty-four specially commissioned maps make it easy to find each of the one thousand-plus featured buildings, while a comprehensive index organizes buildings by name and architect. This edition also features an introduction providing an indispensable overview of Chicago's architectural history.
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The AIA Guide to Columbus
Jeffrey T. Darbee
Ohio University Press, 2008

Columbus, the largest city in Ohio, has, since its founding in 1812, been home to many impressive architectural landmarks. The AIA Guide to Columbus, produced by the Columbus Architecture Foundation, highlights the significant buildings and neighborhoods in the Columbus metropolitan area. Skillfully blending architectural interest with historic significance, The AIA Guide to Columbus documents approximately 160 buildings and building groups and is organized geographically. Each chapter provides an opportunity to explore a special area of Columbus' built environment.

The Columbus Architecture Foundation has been affiliated with the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Columbus Chapter, for more than thirty years. Its first book project was Architecture Columbus, published in 1976. This new companion volume updates coverage of the buildings and provides a portable, accessible guide to the city's architectural history.

The AIA Guide to Columbus identifies buildings designated as historic and those that have won awards, and includes information on architectural styles, excellent photographs, maps, a glossary, and an index. The focus is on easy touring, whether the reader is walking or driving. Students, visitors, and residents with a penchant for knowing more about their city will enjoy discovering the rich heritage of Columbus' downtown, special districts, and neighborhoods.

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Backpacking in Michigan
Jim DuFresne
University of Michigan Press, 2007

With 65 photographs and 77 detailed maps, this indispensable guide to the state's hiking trails gives beginners to advanced hikers all the information they need to plan their next Michigan overnight or weekend backpacking trip. Featuring 50 trails---27 in the Lower Peninsula---ranging from one-hour to multiple-day treks in both the Upper and Lower Peninsulas, Backpacking in Michigan has something for every hiker.

Information on hike length and difficulty, elevation gain, the amount of time needed to complete the hike, camping facilities, and nearby towns accompanies each of the trail listings. The author also provides extensive reference maps along with a description of scenic highlights. In addition to backcountry explorations of remote trails, Backpacking in Michigan includes classic Michigan adventures such as the Lakeshore Trail in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, the Greenstone Ridge Trail in Isle Royale National Park, North Manitou Island in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, and Jordan River Pathway in the Mackinaw State Forest.

While Backpacking in Michigan focuses primarily on the trails themselves, it also makes planning your Michigan adventure as easy as possible by providing important information on routes to and from the trailhead, as well as park fees and reservation information for shelters, walk-in cabins, rental yurts, and overnight camping.

Jim DuFresne is a Michigan native and author of more than a dozen wilderness, travel, and hiking guidebooks. He is author of Isle Royale National Park: Foot Trails and Water Routes; 50 Hikes in Michigan: The Best Walks, Hikes, and Backpacks in the Lower Peninsula; Best Hikes with Children: Michigan; Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park: A Backcountry Guide for Hikers, Campers, Backpackers, and Skiers; as well as The Complete Guide to Michigan Sand Dunes, copublished by the University of Michigan Press and Petoskey Publishing.

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Bicycling Through Paradise
Historical Rides Around Cincinnati
Kathleen Smythe and Chris Hanlin
University of Cincinnati Press, 2020

Bicycling Through Paradise is a collection of twenty historically themed cycling tours broken into 10-mile segments centered around Cincinnati, Ohio. Written by two longtime cyclists—one a professor of history and one an architect—the book is an affectionate, intimate, and provocative reading of the local landscape and history from the perspectives of cycling and Cincinnati enthusiasts. Tours, navigated by Smythe and Hanlon, take cyclers past Native American sites, early settler homesteads, and locations made know through recent Ohio change-makers as navigated by the authors. With extensive details on routes and sites along the way, tours between 20 and 80 miles in length are designed for all levels of cyclists, and even the armchair explorer.

Riders and readers will visit towns called Edenton, Loveland, Felicity, and Utopia. Along the journey, they’ll encounter an abandoned Shaker village near the Whitewater Forest and a tiny dairy house called “Harmony Hill,” the oldest standing structure in Clermont County, Ohio. They’ll also take in the view from the top of a 2,000-year-old, 75-foot tall, conical Indian mound at Miamisburg. Riders can follow the Little Miami Scenic Trail and take a detour to a castle on the banks of the Little Miami River. Other sights include a full-scale replica of the tomb of Jesus in Northern Kentucky and the small pleasures of public parks, covered bridges, tree-lined streets, riverside travel, and one-room schoolhouses. And if all this isn’t exactly Paradise, well, it’s pretty close.

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Borne of the Wind
Michigan Sand Dunes
Dennis A. Albert
University of Michigan Press, 2006
Sand dunes are among the most rugged and beautiful natural wonders of Michigan's shorelines. These sandy edifices-at once substantial and ephemeral-are the most extensive freshwater dunes in the world, so immense they are visible from outer space. The coastal dunes are also extraordinarily fertile, supporting a multitude of plants and animals.

Borne of the Wind describes the environmental factors necessary for dune creation in an easy-to-understand format, introducing readers to the rich ecology of Michigan's dunes. Each of the distinct types of dunes encountered along the Great Lakes shoreline is explained and illustrated with color photographs and line drawings, while color photographs of the plants and animals found in duneland areas complement the story of these fragile, ever-changing landscapes.

For scholars and enthusiasts alike, Borne of the Wind provides a comprehensive and colorful introduction to one of our finest yet least-understood natural features.
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Bottoms Up
A Toast to Wisconsin's Historic Bars and Breweries
Jim Draeger
Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2017

Bottoms Up celebrates Wisconsin’s taverns and the breweries that fueled them. Beginning with inns and saloons, the book explores the rise of taverns and breweries, the effects of temperance and Prohibition, and attitudes about gender, ethnicity, and morality. It traces the development of the megabreweries, dominance of the giants, and the emergence of microbreweries. Contemporary photographs of unusual and distinctive bars and breweries of all eras, historical photos, postcards, advertisements, and breweriana illustrate the story of how Wisconsin came to dominate brewing—and the place that bars and beer hold in our social and cultural history.
Seventy featured taverns and breweries represent diverse architectural styles, from the open-air Tom’s Burned Down Cafe on Madeline Island to the Art Moderne Casino in La Crosse, and from Club 10, a 1930s roadhouse in Stevens Point, to the well-known Wolski’s Tavern in Milwaukee. There are bars in barns and basements and brewpubs in former ice cream factories and railroad depots. Bottoms Up also includes a heady mix of such beer-related topics as ice harvesting, barrel making, bar games, Old-Fashioneds, bar fixtures, and the queen of the bootleggers. Now in paperback for the first time!

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Breweries of Wisconsin
Jerry Apps
University of Wisconsin Press, 2005

The story of the Dairy State’s other major industry—beer!  From the immigrants who started brewing here during territorial days to the modern industrial giants, this is the history, the folklore, the architecture, the advertising, and the characters that made Wisconsin the nation’s brewing leader. Updated with the latest trends on the Wisconsin brewing scene.



 "Apps adeptly combines diligent scholarship with fascinating anecdotes, vividly portraying brewmasters, beer barons, saloonkeepers, and corporate raiders. All this plus color reproductions of popular beer labels and a detailed recipe for home brew."—Wisconsin Magazine of History


"In a highly readable style Apps links together ethnic influence, agriculture, geography, natural resources, meteorology, changing technology, and transportation to explore some of the mystique, romance and folklore associated with beer from antiquity to the present day in Wisconsin."—The Brewers Bulletin

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Cafe Indiana
A Guide to Indiana’s Down-Home Cafes
Joanne Raetz Stuttgen
University of Wisconsin Press, 2007
Cafe Indiana is both a guide to Indiana’s hometown mom-and-pop restaurants and a reclamation and celebration of small-town Midwest culture. The hungry diner looking for adventure and authenticity can use Cafe Indiana simply as a guide to the state’s quintessential eats: the best fiddlers, macaroni and cheese, soup beans, and beef Manhattan. But Stuttgen also captures the spirit of the locals, bringing to life the people whose stories give the book—and the food—its soul.
     Over plates of chicken and noodles, fried bologna sandwiches, and sugar cream pie, folks are crafting community at the Main Street eatery. In Cafe Indiana, Hoosiers and out-of-staters alike are invited to pull out a chair and sit a spell.
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Cafe Indiana Cookbook
Joanne Raetz Stuttgen
University of Wisconsin Press, 2010

Joanne Raetz Stuttgen’s cafe guides showcase popular regional diner traditions. In her companion book Cafe Indiana she introduces travelers to the state’s top mom-and-pop restaurants. Now, Cafe Indiana Cookbook allows you to whip up local cafe classics yourself. Breakfast dishes range from Swiss Mennonite eier datch (egg pancakes) to biscuits and gravy; entree highlights include chicken with noodles (or with dumplings) and the iconic Hoosier breaded pork tenderloin sandwich. For dessert, try such Indiana favorites as apple dapple cake or rhubarb, coconut cream, or sugar cream pie . All 130 recipes have been kitchen-tested by Jolene Ketzenberger, food writer for the Indianapolis Star.
    Cafe Indiana Cookbook reveals the favorite recipes of Indiana’s Main Street eateries, including some rescued for publication before a diner’s sad closure, and documents old-fashioned delicacies now fading from the culinary landscape—like southern Indiana’s fried brain sandwiches.

Finalist, Cookbook, Midwest Book Awards
 

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Cafe Wisconsin
A Guide To Wisconsin's Down-Home Cafes
Joanne Raetz Stuttgen
University of Wisconsin Press, 2004
    Cafe Wisconsin returns in a new, updated version that provides a sure-bet guide to Wisconsin’s best small town, home-cooking cafes. For this second edition, author Joanne Raetz Stuttgen traveled more than 12,000 miles in six months, revisiting old business districts and main streets in search of the ultimate cafe, the perfect slice of homemade pie, and the meaning of life in Wisconsin’s down-home cafes.
    Featuring 133 cafes, with another 101 Next Best Bets alternatives, Cafe Wisconsin is every hungry traveler’s guide to real mashed potatoes, melt-in-your-mouth hot beef, from-scratch baked goods, and colorful coffee klatches. At the counter of aptly named cafes like the Coffee Cup, Main Street, and Chatterbox, you’ll laugh with owners, shake dice with customers, and find the authentic taste and flavor of Wisconsin.
    Come on. Let’s go out to eat!
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Cafe Wisconsin Cookbook
Joanne Raetz Stuttgen and Terese Allen
University of Wisconsin Press, 2007
     Joanne Stuttgen's popular book Cafe Wisconsin guides travelers to Wisconsin's best home-style cafes. Now, continue the journey with the Cafe Wisconsin Cookbook, a compilation of more than one hundred cherished recipes that showcase the distinct culinary and cultural traditions of Wisconsin. From classic pot roasts and country-style pies to long-simmering soups and heritage specialties, the whole soul-satisfying spectrum of Wisconsin cafe fare is here. 
     Stuttgen tracked down Wisconsin's best small town cafes, from Boscobel to Sturgeon Bay, chatted with owners and customers, took notes, and recorded the history, anecdotes, and recipes behind the food. Tested and fine-tuned by Wisconsin food writer and former chef Terese Allen, these favorite recipes will bring an authentic slice of Wisconsin into your home kitchen.
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Chicago
From Vision to Metropolis
Whet Moser
Reaktion Books, 2019
Chicago has been called the “most American of cities” and the “great American city.” Not the biggest or the most powerful, nor the richest, prettiest, or best, but the most American. How did it become that? And what does it even mean? At its heart, Chicago is America’s great hub. And in this book, Chicago magazine editor and longtime Chicagoan Whet Moser draws on Chicago’s social, urban, cultural, and often scandalous history to reveal how the city of stinky onions grew into the great American metropolis it is today.

Chicago began as a trading post, which grew into a market for goods from the west, sprouting the still-largest rail hub in America. As people began to trade virtual representations of those goods—futures—the city became a hub of finance and law. And as academics studied the city’s growth and its economy, it became a hub of intellect, where the University of Chicago’s pioneering sociologists shaped how cities at home and abroad understood themselves. Looking inward, Moser explores how Chicago thinks of itself, too, tracing the development of and current changes in its neighborhoods. From Boystown to Chinatown, Edgewater to Englewood, the Ukrainian Village to Little Village, Chicago is famous for them—and infamous for the segregation between them.

With insight sure to enlighten both residents and anyone lucky enough to visit the City of Big Shoulders, Moser offers an informed local’s perspective on everything from Chicago’s enduring paradoxes to tips on its most interesting sights and best eats. An affectionate, beautifully illustrated urban portrait, his book takes us from the very beginnings of Chicago as an idea—a vision in the minds of the region’s first explorers—to the global city it has become.
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Chicago's Urban Nature
A Guide to the City's Architecture + Landscape
Sally A. Kitt Chappell
University of Chicago Press, 2007
Chicago—whose motto is “City in a Garden”—is currently at the forefront of a global movement to end the division between town and country. In Chicago’s Urban Nature, Sally A. Kitt Chappell provides a beautifully illustrated guide to the city’s stunning blend of nature and architecture.

At the heart of this new urban concept is the idea of connection, bringing buildings and landscapes, culture and nature, commerce and leisure into an energetic harmony. With Chicago’s Urban Nature in hand, you’ll see those connections woven through the fabric of the city. Chappell provides new insights into such historic Chicago sites as Jens Jensen’s Garfield Park Conservatory, Frederick Law Olmsted’s Jackson Park, and Alfred Caldwell’s Lily Pond, then takes us to the innovative contemporary green spaces they influenced, from City Hall’s rooftop garden to the North Lawndale Green Youth Farm to Chicago’s heralded new Millennium Park. These beautiful green spaces, with their unprecedented melding of art, architecture, and ecology, have become far more than places of escape for Chicagoans—they’re now fully integrated into the urban scene, an essential part of the cultural life of the modern city.

Packed with maps and recommended tours, and bursting with splendid photos, this is an essential guidebook for day-trippers, lifelong Chicago residents, and professionals in landscape architecture, urbanism, and design.
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The Chippewa
Biography of a Wisconsin Waterway
Richard D. Cornell
Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2017
Inspired by August Derleth’s seminal book The Wisconsin, Richard D. Cornell traveled the Chippewa River from its two sources south of Ashland to where it joins the Mississippi. Over several decades he returned time and again in his red canoe to immerse himself in the stories of the Chippewa River and document its valley, from the Ojibwe and early fur traders and lumbermen to the varied and hopeful communities of today. Cornell shares tales of such historical figures as legendary Ojibwe leader Chief Buffalo, world famous wrestler Charlie Fisher, and supercomputer innovator Seymour Cray, along with the lesser-known stories of local luminaries such as Dr. John "Little Bird" Anderson. Cornell gathered firsthand stories from diners and dives, local museums and landmarks, quaint small-town newspaper offices, and the homes of old-timers and local historians. Through his conversations with ordinary people, he gets at the heart of the Chippewa and shares a history of the river that is both one of a kind and deeply personal.
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Civil War Chicago
Eyewitness to History
Theodore J. Karamanski
Ohio University Press, 2014

The American Civil War was a crucial event in the development of Chicago as the metropolis of the heartland. Not only did Chicagoans play an important role in the politics of the conflict, encouraging emancipation and promoting a “hard war” policy against Southern civilians, but they supported the troops materially through production of military supplies and foodstuffs as well as morally and spiritually through patriotic publications and songs. The Civil War transformed Chicago from a mere commercial center to an industrial power as well as the nation’s railroad hub and busiest port. The war also divided Chicago, however, between Lincoln supporters and Copperheads, whites and blacks, workers and owners, natives and newcomers.

The city played a key role in elevating Abraham Lincoln to the Republican presidential nomination in 1860, yet only four years later a Chicago politician’ s influence was key in declaring the war a failure and promoting a platform of peace with the Confederacy. Using seldom seen or newly uncovered sources, this book tells the story of the Civil War through the eyes of those who lived that history. Photographs throughout the book effectively convey the geography of events in this pivotal period of Chicago’s history, and the editors have provided a useful driving guide to Civil War sites in and around the city.

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Climber’s Guide to Devil’s Lake
Sven Olof Swartling
University of Wisconsin Press, 2008
Devil’s Lake State Park in Wisconsin is the most popular rock-climbing area in the Midwest. It features spectacular cliffs and other rock formations where the Ice Age glacier's terminal moraine meets an ancient landscape of rock.
            This third edition of the popular Climber’s Guide to Devil’s Lake has been thoroughly updated for twenty-first-century climbers and hikers and includes information for use with GPS receivers. It provides information for climbers of all abilities and preferences, offering precise directions to help them navigate and climb within the park.
 
Features include:
•an updated introduction by George J. Pokorny and new photographs by Eric Andre
•a summary of the geologic and natural history of the Baraboo hills by Patricia K. Armstrong
•locations and updated descriptions of nearly 1,800 climbs
•landmark photographs from most major climbing areas
•GPS waypoints, map coordinates, altimeter readings, and approach information
•detailed diagrams locating climbing routes at most major climbing areas
•6 new diagrams, 5 new climbing areas, and 120 new routes
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Crossing the Driftless
A Canoe Trip through a Midwestern Landscape
Lynne Diebel
University of Wisconsin Press, 2015
The Driftless Area is the land the glaciers missed, an ancient landscape of bluffs, ridgetops, and steep valleys that long ago was a seabed. Covering much of southwestern Wisconsin, its contours were deeply carved from bedrock, not by ice but by many rivers.
            Crossing the Driftless is both a traveler’s tale and an exploration of this dramatic environment, following the streams of geologic and human history. Lynne Diebel and her husband, Bob, crossed the Driftless Area by canoe, journeying 359 river miles (and six Mississippi River locks and five portages) from Faribault, Minnesota, where her family has a summer home on Cedar Lake, to their Wisconsin home in Stoughton, one block from the Yahara River. Traveling by river and portage, they paddled downstream on the Cannon and Mississippi rivers and upstream on the Wisconsin River, in the tradition of voyageurs. Lynne tells the story of their trip, but also the stories of the rivers they canoed and the many tributaries whose confluences they passed.

Finalist, Travel, Foreword Reviews IndieFab Book of the Year Awards

Honorable mention, Nonfiction book, Council for Wisconsin Writers

Winner, Recreation/Sports/Travel, Midwest Book Awards

Best books for public & secondary school libraries from university presses, American Library Association
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Dairylandia
Dispatches from a State of Mind
Steve Hannah
University of Wisconsin Press, 2022
Years ago, Steve Hannah’s chance detour through the Midwest cut short a planned cross-country trip. He found himself in Wisconsin, a distinctly different place from the east coast where he was born and raised. Charmingly beautiful and full of welcoming people, America’s dairyland would soon become his home.
Dairylandia recounts Steve Hannah’s burgeoning love for his adopted state through the writings of his long-lived column, “State of Mind.” He profiles the lives of the seemingly ordinary, yet quite (and quietly) extraordinary folks he met and befriended on his travels. From Norwegian farmers to rattlesnake hunters to a woman who kept her favorite dead bird in the freezer, Hannah was charmed and fascinated by practically everyone he met. These captivating vignettes are by turns humorous, tragic, and remarkable—and remind us of our shared humanity.
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Destination Heartland
A Guide to Discovering the Midwest's Remarkable Past
Cynthia Clampitt
University of Illinois Press, 2022
The Midwest's place at the crossroads of the nation makes it a rich travel destination for anyone interested in the history and heritage of the United States. Cynthia Clampitt's guide to heartland historical sites invites readers to live the past, whether it's watching a battlefield reenactment or wandering the grounds of an ancient Native American city. From the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center to the Chinese American Museum, Clampitt uncovers the fascinating stories behind these quintessentially Midwestern places while offering valuable tips for getting the most out of your visit. She also ventures beyond the typical scope of guidebooks to include historic restaurants, small-town museums, and other overlooked gems perfect for turning that quick day trip into a leisurely itinerary.

An informative handbook and introduction to the Midwest's colorful past, Destination Heartland provides travelers with a knowledgeable companion on the highways and backroads of history.

States covered in the book: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

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front cover of A Dog Lover's Guide to Hiking Wisconsin's State Parks
A Dog Lover's Guide to Hiking Wisconsin's State Parks
Danielle St. Louis
University of Wisconsin Press, 2022
Danielle St. Louis and her energetic Labrador-border collie rescue dog, Lucky, have hiked every Wisconsin state park together. While doing so, they enjoyed the state’s rich natural beauty and the challenges that can come from hiking with a canine companion. St. Louis documents it all in this fun and thorough guide.
 
A Dog Lover’s Guide to Hiking Wisconsin’s State Parks divides Wisconsin into five regions and further details specific trails, graded for dog reactivity as well as the fitness level of human and canine alike. St. Louis also helpfully notes the availability of nearby facilities such as bathrooms, water stations, trashcans, designated dog swimming areas, and veterinarians. Truly one of a kind, this book is a must have for any Wisconsin dog lover looking to go out into nature with their pup.
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Door County Outdoors
A Guide to the Best Hiking, Biking, Paddling, Beaches, and Natural Places
Magill Weber
University of Wisconsin Press, 2011

A picturesque peninsula with 298 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, state parks, forests, and cozy inns, Door County is one of the Midwest’s prime tourist attractions. Magill Weber explores the many recreational opportunities available to visitors, including secret spots known only to locals and longtime seasonal residents. Wisconsin native Janet Mrazek contributes 125 detailed and easy-to-follow maps. With suggestions of more than 150 scenic hikes, biking and paddling routes, end-of-the-road beaches, lighthouses, and wildlife-watching sites, and descriptions of the local flora and fauna, Door County Outdoors is the ultimate guide for active travelers and nature enthusiasts.

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Door County's Emerald Treasure
A History of Peninsula State Park
William H. Tishler
University of Wisconsin Press, 2006

With its magnificent forests, bluffs, and shoreline and its breathtaking views of Green Bay and Lake Michigan, Door County’s Peninsula State Park is one of the Midwest’s most popular attractions. Established in 1909, it was Wisconsin’s second state park and a key to pioneering efforts to build a state park system that would be the envy of the nation.

Door County’s Emerald Treasure explores the rich history of the park land, from its importance to Native Americans and early European settlers through the twentieth century. Bill Tishler engagingly relates the role of conservationists and progressives in establishing the state park, its growing popularity for tourism and recreation, and efforts to protect the park’s resources from a variety of threats. Tishler also tells a larger story of Americans’ intimate relationship with the land around them and the challenge to create accessible public spaces that preserve the natural environment. 

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Exploring the Land of Lincoln
The Essential Guide to Illinois Historic Sites
Charles Titus
University of Illinois Press, 2021

Discovering Illinois through twenty of the state's most important places

​A one-of-a-kind travel guide, Exploring the Land of Lincoln invites road-trippers and history buffs to explore the Prairie State's most extraordinary historic sites. Charles Titus blends storytelling with in-depth research to highlight twenty must-see destinations selected for human drama, historical and cultural relevance, and their far-reaching impact on the state and nation. Maps, illustrations, and mileage tables encourage readers to create personal journeys of exploration to, and beyond, places like Cahokia, the Lincoln sites, Nauvoo, and Chicago's South Side Community Art Center.

Detailed and user-friendly, Exploring the Land of Lincoln is the only handbook you need for the sights and stories behind the names on the map of Illinois.  

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Follow the Blue Blazes
A Guide To Hiking Ohio's Buckeye Trail
Robert J. Pond
Ohio University Press, 2003

Unique among hiking trails is the one that forms a complete loop around the state of Ohio. That 1,200-mile trail is called the Buckeye Trail. Showing the way on tree trunks, rocks, and other natural signposts are the blue painted markings called “the blue blazes.” In Follow the Blue Blazes, the reader embarks on a journey to discover a part of Ohio largely unseen except along this great path.

Beginning with the startling rock formations and graceful waterfalls of Old Man’s Cave in southern Ohio, and leading clockwise around the state to visit expansive forests, lovely parks, ancient mounds, historic canals and battlefields, and scenic river trails, experienced trailsman Robert J. Pond provides a captivating look at each section of the trail.

Each chapter features an overview of a 100-mile section of the trail and three self-guided featured hikes. The overviews, with accompanying maps, may be read consecutively to acquaint the reader with the entire course of the blue blazes. But most readers will best enjoy the Buckeye Trail by taking the guide along on featured hikes. Each hike is supported by a detailed but easy-to-follow map and includes explicit directions to trailheads and approximate hiking times.

In addition to many outlying areas, the extensive Buckeye Trail is accessible in or near Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo, Cleveland, and Akron. Robert Pond has supplemented each description with interesting details about the geology and the diverse habitats of flora and fauna. Readers, too, can enjoy the beauty and wonders of Ohio if they Follow the Blue Blazes.

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Fresh Water
Women Writing on the Great Lakes
Alison Swan
Michigan State University Press, 2006

Fresh Water: Women Writing on the Great Lakes is a collection of nonfiction works by women writers. These works focus on the Midwest: living with the five interconnected freshwater seas that we know as the Great Lakes. Contributing to this collection are renowned poets, essayists, and fiction writers, all of whom write about their own creative streams of consciousness, the fresh waters of the Great Lakes, and the region's many rivers: Loraine Anderson, Judith Arcana, Rachel Azima, Mary Blocksma, Gayle Boss, Sharon Dilworth, Beth Ann Fennelly, Linda Nemec Foster, Gail Griffin, Rasma Haidri, Aleta Karstad, Laura Kasischke, Janet Kauffman, Jacqueline Kolosov, Susan Laidlaw, Lisa Lenzo, Linda Loomis, Anna Mills, Stephanie Mills, Judith Minty, Anne-Marie Oomen, Rachael Perry, Susan Power, Donna Seaman, Heather Sellers, Gail Louise Siegel, Sue William Silverman,Claudia Skutar, Annick Smith, Leslie Stainton, Kathleen Stocking, Judith Strasser, Alison Swan, Elizabeth A.Trembley, Jane Urquhart, Diane Wakoski, and Leigh Allison Wilson.

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Geology of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail
David M. Mickelson
University of Wisconsin Press, 2011

The Ice Age National Scenic Trail meanders across the state of Wisconsin through scenic glacial terrain dotted with lakes, steep hills, and long, narrow ridges. David M. Mickelson, Louis J. Maher Jr., and Susan L. Simpson bring this landscape to life and help readers understand what Ice Age Wisconsin was like. An overview of Wisconsin’s geology and key geological concepts helps readers understand geological processes, materials, and landforms. The authors detail geological features along each segment of the Ice Age Trail and at each of the nine National Ice Age Scientific Reserve sites.
    Readers can experience the Ice Age Trail through more than one hundred full-color photographs, scores of beautiful maps, and helpful diagrams. Science briefs explain glacial features such as eskers, drumlins, and moraines. Geology of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail also includes detailed trail descriptions that are cross referenced with the science briefs to make it easy to find the geological terms used in the trail descriptions. Whatever your level of experience with hiking or knowledge of glaciers, this book will provide lively, informative, and revealing descriptions for a new understanding of the shape of the land beneath our feet.

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Green Travel Guide to Northern Wisconsin
Environmentally and Socially Responsible Travel
Pat Dillon
University of Wisconsin Press, 2011

Green Travel Guide to Northern Wisconsin showcases the best green restaurants, lodgings, shops, and activities in Wisconsin’s Northland. Learn about exploring the cliffs and caves of the Niagara Escarpment while biking the Door Peninsula. Carpool to the Midwest Renewable Energy Fair in Custer where you can stay at a nearby solar-powered inn. Take an all day eco-geo-history tour of the north woods near Hayward, explore the Chequamegon-Nicolet Forest, kayak the Mississippi River backwaters, and much more.

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front cover of Green Travel Guide to Southern Wisconsin
Green Travel Guide to Southern Wisconsin
Environmentally and Socially Responsible Travel
Pat Dillon
University of Wisconsin Press, 2010
Green Travel Guide to Southern Wisconsin surveys the best green restaurants, lodgings, shops, and activities southern Wisconsin has to offer. Dine at independent, locally owned eateries that serve up delicious fare grown and raised by farmers right down the road. Overnight at peaceful inns that sponsor workshops on topics ranging from cheesemaking to sustainability. Scour markets that sell locally foraged mushrooms, berries, and syrups as well as arts and crafts created by local artisans. Bicycle through southern Wisconsin, stopping at small-scale farms where travelers are not only welcome but encouraged to visit.
 
Honorable Mention, Foreword Magazine’s Travel Guidebook of the Year
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Guide to Chicago's Twenty-First-Century Architecture
Chicago Architecture Center and John Hill
University of Illinois Press, 2021
Exploring a new century of architecture in the Windy City

Chicago's wealth of architectural treasures makes it one of the world's majestic cityscapes. Published in collaboration with the Chicago Architecture Center, this easy-to-use guide invites you to discover the new era of twenty-first-century architecture in the Windy City via two hundred architecturally significant buildings and spaces in the city and suburbs. Features include:
  • Entries organized by neighborhood
  • Maps with easy-to-locate landmarks and mass transit options
  • Background on each entry, including the design architect, name and address, description, and other essential information
  • Sidebars on additional sites and projects
  • A detailed supplemental section with a glossary, selected bibliography, and indexes by architect, building name, and building type

Up-to-date and illustrated with almost four hundred color photos, the Guide to Chicago's Twenty-First-Century Architecture takes travelers and locals on a journey into an ever-changing architectural mecca.

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front cover of A Historical Guidebook to Old Columbus
A Historical Guidebook to Old Columbus
Finding the Past in the Present in Ohio’s Capital City
Bob Hunter
Ohio University Press, 2012

Ever look at a modern skyscraper or a vacant lot and wonder what was there before? Or maybe you have passed an old house and been curious about who lived there long ago. This richly illustrated new book celebrates Columbus, Ohio’s, two-hundred-year history and supplies intriguing stories about the city’s buildings and celebrated citizens, stopping at individual addresses, street corners, parks, and riverbanks where history was made. As Columbus celebrates its bicentennial in 2012, a guide to local history is very relevant.

Like Columbus itself, the city’s history is underrated. Some events are of national importance; no one would deny that Abraham Lincoln’s funeral procession down High Street was a historical highlight. But the authors have also included a wealth of social and entertainment history from Columbus’s colorful history as state capital and destination for musicians, artists, and sports teams.

The book is divided into seventeen chapters, each representing a section of the city, including Statehouse Square, German Village, and Franklinton, the city’s original settlement in 1797. Each chapter opens with an entertaining story that precedes the site listings. Sites are clearly numbered on maps in each section to make it easy for readers to visit the places that pique their interest. Many rare and historic photos are reproduced along with stunning contemporary images that offer insight into the ways Columbus has changed over the years.

A Historical Guidebook to Old Columbus invites Columbus’s families to rediscover their city with a treasure trove of stories from its past and suggests to visitors and new residents many interesting places that they might not otherwise find. This new book is certain to amuse and inform for years to come.

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Illinois Wines and Wineries
The Essential Guide
Clara Orban
Southern Illinois University Press, 2014

For more than a century, Illinois has been home to a blossoming wine culture, yet winemaking in the state has not received the attention it deserves. Now, Clara Orban has created the ultimate companion to Illinois wines and wineries. This illustrated volume is a comprehensive yet user-friendly guide for both experienced wine lovers and amateur oenophiles.

Orban, a certified sommelier, begins with the history of Illinois wine production and wineries. She then enlightens readers on such wine basics as the most common grapes grown in Illinois, optimal food and wine pairings, the tenets of wine tasting, and provides an overview of the world of labels, bottles, and corks. The fascinating science of wine also is discussed, including the particulars of Illinois soil and climate and their effect on the industry. Orban then provides a guide to all the wineries listed by the Illinois Grape Growers and Vintners’ Association. For each winery, she offers a succinct history, information regarding the variety of grapes used, hours of operation, location, and contact information.

In addition to providing readers with a background of the state’s industry and snapshots of individual wineries, Illinois Wines and Wineries provides a glossary of key wine terms, including those specific to the state of Illinois, as well as color photos and a map to each location visited in the book. This sophisticated yet practical guidebook is an essential resource for connoisseurs and casual enthusiasts alike who are interested in exploring Illinois’s rich winemaking legacy.

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A Lakeside Companion
Ted J. Rulseh
University of Wisconsin Press, 2018
Why do fish jump? Why don't lakes freeze all the way down to the bottom? Which lake plants are invasive? What are those water bugs? Is that lake healthy? Whether you fish, paddle, swim, snowshoe, ski, or just gaze upon your favorite lake, A Lakeside Companion will deepen your appreciation for the forces that shape lakes and the teeming life in and around them.

You'll discover the interconnected worlds of a lake: the water; the sand, gravel, rocks, and muck of the bottom; the surface of the lake; the air above; and the shoreline, a belt of land incredibly rich in flora and fauna. Explained, too, are the physical, biological, and chemical processes that determine how many and what kinds of fish live in the lake, which plants grow there, the color and clarity of the water, how ice forms in winter and melts in spring, and much more. Useful advice will help you look out for your lake and advocate for its protection.
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Long Way Round
Through the Heartland by River
John Hildebrand
University of Wisconsin Press, 2022
Inspired by tales of a mythic Round River, a circular stream where "what goes around comes around," John Hildebrand sets off to rediscover his home state.
Wisconsin is in the midst of an identity crisis, torn by new political divisions and the old gulf between city and countryside. Cobbling rivers together, from the burly Mississippi to the slender wilds of Tyler Forks, Hildebrand navigates the beautiful but complicated territory of home. In once prosperous small towns, he discovers unsung heroes—lockmasters, river rats, hotelkeepers, mechanics, environmentalists, tribal leaders, and perennial mayors—struggling to keep their communities afloat.
While history doesn't flow in a circle, it doesn't always move in a straight line either. Hildebrand charts the improbable ox-bows along its course. Long Way Round shows us the open road as a river with possibility around the next bend.
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Looking for Lincoln in Illinois
A Guide to Lincoln's Eighth Judicial Circuit
Guy C. Fraker
Southern Illinois University Press, 2017
Winner, ISHS Annual Award for a Scholarly Publication, 2018

For twenty-three years Abraham Lincoln practiced law on the Eighth Judicial Circuit in east central Illinois, and his legal career is explored in Looking for Lincoln in Illinois: A Guide to Lincoln’s Eighth Judicial Circuit. Guy C. Fraker directs readers and travelers through the prairies to the towns Lincoln visited regularly. Twice a year, spring and fall, Lincoln’s work took him on a journey covering more than four hundred miles. As his stature as a lawyer grew, east central Illinois grew in population and influence, and the Circuit provided Lincoln with clients, friends, and associates who became part of the network that ultimately elevated him to the presidency.
 
This guidebook to the Circuit features Illinois courthouses, Looking for Lincoln Wayside Exhibits, and other Lincoln points of interest. Fraker guides travelers down the long stretches of quiet country roads that gave Lincoln time to read and think to the locations where Lincoln’s broad range of cases expanded his sense of the economic and social forces changing America.
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Looking for Lincoln in Illinois
Historic Houses of Lincoln’s Illinois
Erika Holst
Southern Illinois University Press, 2018
Winner, ISHS Best of Illinois History Award, 2019

This richly illustrated compendium of twenty-two historic buildings in the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area includes houses, a hotel, and an art center, all of which are open to the public. Each site links today’s visitors with a place Lincoln lived, a home of a Lincoln friend or colleague, or a spot that illuminates Lincoln’s era and legacy in central Illinois. Along with dozens of modern and historical photographs, entries contain explorations of historical connections to Lincoln and detailed information about exceptional features and artifacts. Complete with maps, this showcase of Illinois heritage is a handy guide for day trips, extended tours, or armchair adventures.
 
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Looking for Lincoln in Illinois
Lincoln and Mormon Country
Bryon C. Andreasen
Southern Illinois University Press, 2015
Winner, ISHS Superior Achievement Award, 2016

Although they inhabited different political, social, and cultural arenas, Abraham Lincoln and the pioneer generation of Latter-day Saints, or Mormons, shared the same nineteenth-century world. Bryon C. Andreasen’s Looking for Lincoln in Illinois: Lincoln and Mormon Country relates more than thirty fascinating and surprising stories that show how the lives of Lincoln and the Mormons intersected.

This richly illustrated and carefully researched book expands on some of the storyboards found on the Looking for Lincoln Story Trail, from the Mormon capital of Nauvoo to the state capital of Springfield. Created by the Looking for Lincoln Heritage Coalition, this trail consists of wayside exhibits posted in sites of significance to Lincoln’s life and career across fifty-two communities in Illinois. The book’s keyed maps, historic photos, and descriptions of battles, Mormon expeditions, and events at inns, federal buildings, and even Lincoln’s first Illinois log cabin connect the stories to their physical locations.

Exploring the intriguing question of whether Lincoln and Mormon founder Joseph Smith ever met, the book reveals that they traveled the same routes and likely stayed at the same inns. The book also includes colorful and engaging looks at key figures such as Brigham Young, various Mormon apostles, and more. Anyone inspired by Lincoln, as well as Mormon and Illinois history enthusiasts, will appreciate this look back at a long-past, but not forgotten, landscape. 
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Madison
Brent Nicastro
University of Wisconsin Press, 2011

Brent Nicastro showcases the dynamic power, energy, and sheer beauty of Madison in this book of photography. Since the 1970s, Nicastro has been photographing the splendor of Madison, and his feel for his home is never more evident than in these images of the Dane County Farmers’ Market, the State Capitol building, the University of Wisconsin campus in all seasons, football at Camp Randall Stadium and basketball at the Kohl Center, the Monona Terrace Convention and Community Center designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the Memorial Union Terrace, Picnic Point, and many more landmarks that evoke Madison’s charm.
    Accompanying each image are captions in four languages—English, German, Spanish, and Chinese—making this book a perfect gift volume for all who love Madison. Visitors, students, and lifelong residents will savor this photographic portrait of beautiful Madison, Wisconsin.

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front cover of The Michigan Eco-Traveler
The Michigan Eco-Traveler
A Guide to Sustainable Adventures in the Great Lakes State
Sally Barber
University of Michigan Press, 2014

Michigan offers some of the most wonderfully diverse recreation opportunities in the country. The Michigan Eco-Traveler is for a new and growing breed of leisure traveler and adventurer—the individual seeking to experience the pleasant peninsulas responsibly by minimizing his or her eco-footprint. The book introduces readers to the importance of eco-friendly travel and highlights some of the best eco-conscience venues across the state that offer activities from golfing to skiing to sailing and much more. The book also examines environmental pressures on the state’s recreational resources, revealing the critical need for joining together in conservation practices, and offers travelers helpful tips for evaluating the sustainability of their own favorite recreational spots.

Whether you’re a weekend traveler, extreme adventurer, or family on vacation, The Michigan Eco-Traveler lights the way to a greener getaway. Naturalists, conservationists, and hospitality experts will find the book equally helpful in responding to the ever rising demand for sustainable recreation.

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Michigan One-Room Schoolhouses
Mary Keithan
University of Michigan Press, 2008

Nostalgic reminders of a time now past, one-room schoolhouses are deeply embedded in our heritage. Decades after their original purpose and inhabitants have vanished, they dot the rural landscape in all conditions, from neglected and near collapse to handsomely renovated places repurposed into a new existence as living quarters. Today no matter their state they stand as miniature gems of nineteenth-century American history as well as charming examples of rural architecture---above all, things to be treasured and preserved. Mary Keithan's Michigan One-Room Schoolhouses is a beautifully illustrated chronicle that details nearly a hundred of the state's early schoolhouses. Together with information about each schoolhouse's architecture and history, including interviews with former students and teachers, Keithan's photographs bring these structures back to life and assure their place in history.

Mary Keithan is a professional photographer living in Ray, Michigan. Her previous books include Michigan's Heritage Barns and A Time in Michigan: A Photographic Series. New York Times critic Vicki Goldberg selected Keithan's 1995 image "Desert Storm Barn" for the Light Impression Biennial.

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front cover of The Michigan Roadside Naturalist
The Michigan Roadside Naturalist
J. Alan Holman and Margaret B. Holman
University of Michigan Press, 2003

Did you know . . . ?

  • Michigan is seventeenth in oil production in the United States.
  • The Great Lakes are said to be the only glacially produced structures that can be seen from the moon.
  • Michigan was once part of a coral reef.
  • The wood frog is one of the commonest true frogs of moist woodland floors in Michigan today and is able to freeze solid during the winter without harmful effects.

These and many more amazing facts await the curious traveler in The Michigan Roadside Naturalist, J. Alan and Margaret B. Holman's captivating guide to the natural treasures of Michigan. A perfect accompaniment to the classic Michigan Trees and The Forests of Michigan, this user-friendly guide offers a Who's Who of the geology, biology, and archaeology of the Great Lakes State, as well as highway adventures along the state's major routes.

The book begins with an educational yet accessible tour of important points in Michigan's natural and archaeological history, followed by seven road trips based on commonly traveled state routes, moving from south to north in the Lower Peninsula and east to west in the Upper Peninsula. Readers can proceed directly to the road trips or familiarize themselves with the state's treasure trove of fascinating features before embarking. Either way, an informative and fun odyssey awaits the passionate naturalist, amateur or otherwise.

J. Alan Holman is Curator Emeritus of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Michigan State University Museum and Emeritus Professor of Geology and Zoology at Michigan State University. Margaret B. Holman is Research Associate at Michigan State University Museum and Department of Anthropology, Michigan State University.

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front cover of Michigan's Town and Country Inns, 5th Edition
Michigan's Town and Country Inns, 5th Edition
Susan Newhof
University of Michigan Press, 2013

The fifth edition of Michigan’s Town & Country Inns is a guide to more than 50 inns, bed-and-breakfast homes, and historic lodgings in the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan.

Choose from lighthouses anchored to the rugged shores of Lake Superior, Victorian mansions built by lumber and mining barons, rustic log lodges, and romantic small town hideaways. Meet the innkeepers themselves, who range from retired military officers and corporate heads to artists and poets. You’ll find detailed descriptions of the accommodations along with information about rates, suitability for children, and policies on smoking and pets. Get a sense of the flavor and mood of each and learn about fun things to do in the surrounding areas. Numerous photos enhance the descriptions and provide a visitor’s-eye view of some of the most unusual and delightful places to stay in Michigan.

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Minnesota’s Best Breweries and Brewpubs
Searching for the Perfect Pint
Robin Shepard
University of Wisconsin Press, 2011

Based on four years of travel and research, Minnesota’s Best Breweries and Brewpubs is a welcome addition to Robin Shepard’s series of guides to the best of the Midwest’s beer industries. From large-scale breweries such as Cold Spring, to chains like Granite City, to individual brewpubs like Fitger’s Brewhouse, Shepard provides commentary for more than thirty beer makers and three-hundred Minnesota beers. Accessible enough for people at all stages in their journeys to discover great-tasting beer, the information-packed guidebook also features a list of helpful books and websites, as well as information on Minnesota’s beer tastings and festivals.
    For each brewery and brewpub site you’ll find:
    • a description and brief history, plus many “don’t miss” features
    • a description of beers on tap and a list of seasonal and specialty beers
    • a space for the brewmaster’s autograph
    • notes on the pub food, with recommendations
    • suggestions of nearby sights and activities
    • general directions to the location
    • Shepard’s personal ratings of the experience, plus room to add your own.

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Never a City So Real
A Walk in Chicago
Alex Kotlowitz
University of Chicago Press, 2019
“Chicago is a tale of two cities,” headlines declare. This narrative has been gaining steam alongside reports of growing economic divisions and diverging outlooks on the future of the city. Yet to keen observers of the Second City, this is nothing new. Those who truly know Chicago know that for decades—even centuries—the city has been defined by duality, possibly since the Great Fire scorched a visible line between the rubble and the saved. For writers like Alex Kotlowitz, the contradictions are what make Chicago. And it is these contradictions that form the heart of Never a City So Real.

The book is a tour of the people of Chicago, those who have been Kotlowitz’s guide into this city’s – and by inference, this country’s – heart.  Chicago, after all, is America’s city. Kotlowitz introduces us to the owner of a West Side soul food restaurant who believes in second chances,  a steelworker turned history teacher, the “Diego Rivera of the projects,” and the lawyers and defendants who populate Chicago’s Criminal Courts Building.  These empathic, intimate stories chronicle the city’s soul, its lifeblood.

This new edition features a new afterword from the author, which examines the state of the city today as seen from the double-paned windows of a pawnshop. Ultimately, Never a City So Real is a love letter to Chicago, a place that Kotlowitz describes as “a place that can tie me up in knots but a place that has been my muse, my friend, my joy.”
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The New Chicago
A Social and Cultural Analysis
edited by John P. Koval, Larry Bennett, Michael I. J. Bennett, Fassil Demissie, Roberta Garner and Kiljoong Kim
Temple University Press, 2006
For generations, visitors, journalists, and social scientists alike have asserted that Chicago is the quintessentially American city. Indeed, the introduction to The New Chicago reminds us that "to know America, you must know Chicago." The contributors boldly announce the demise of the city of broad shoulders and the transformation of its physical, social, cultural, and economic institutions into a new Chicago. In this wide-ranging book, twenty scholars, journalists, and activists, relying on data from the 2000 census and many years of direct experience with the city, identify five converging forces in American urbanization which are reshaping this storied metropolis. The twenty-six essays included here analyze Chicago by way of globalization and its impact on the contemporary city; economic restructuring; the evolution of machine-style politics into managerial politics; physical transformations of the central city and its suburbs; and race relations in a multicultural era. In elaborating on the effects of these broad forces, contributors detail the role of eight significant racial, ethnic, and immigrant communities in shaping the character of the new Chicago and present ten case studies of innovative governmental, grassroots, and civic action. Multifaceted and authoritative, The New Chicago offers an important and unique portrait of an emergent and new "Windy City."
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front cover of The Norske Nook Book of Pies and Other Recipes
The Norske Nook Book of Pies and Other Recipes
Jerry Bechard and Cindee Borton-Parker
University of Wisconsin Press, 2015
The Norske Nook, founded as a small-town café in 1973, is now a foursome of revered pie shrines in Osseo, Rice Lake, Eau Claire, and Hayward, Wisconsin. The Nook’s international fame grew from a tradition of Midwest home baking, informed by Scandinavian roots and enriched by the luscious ripe fruit and sumptuous sour creams and cream cheeses of America’s dairyland.
            This cookbook features the restaurants’ award-winning baking: Scandinavian specialties, cheesecakes, tortes, cookies, muffins, and more than seventy recipes (and variations) for pie. More than fifty new pie recipes have been created by the Nook bakers since 1990, when Jerry Bechard purchased the Osseo café from founder Helen Myhre. The Norske Nook has won thirty-six blue ribbons at the National Pie Championships in Florida—including three in 2014, for Lemon Cream Cheese, Peaches and Cream, and Jamberry.

Gold Medal Winner, Cookbook, Foreword Reviews IndieFab Book of the Year Awards 

Runner-up, Cookbooks/Crafts/Hobbies, Midwest Book Awards

“Outstanding” books for public & secondary school libraries from university presses, American Library Association

“Best of the Best” books for public libraries from university presses, American Library Association
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The North Country Trail
The Best Walks, Hikes, and Backpacking Trips on America’s Longest National Scenic Trail
Ron Strickland with the North Country Trail Association
University of Michigan Press, 2013

The North Country Trail is the longest of America’s eleven congressionally designated National Scenic Trails. Winding through seven states—New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North Dakota—the NCT’s 4,600 miles attract more than one million visitors annually. These hikers are treated to a smorgasbord of Upper Midwest hiking featuring everything from urban strolls to backcountry adventure through mountains, rivers, prairies, and shoreline. This book is the definitive guide for NCT hikers—whether first-timers, seasoned backpackers, or any level in between—who wish to maximize their experience on this splendid trail.

In addition to a full overview of the trail’s tread in each state, the guide describes in detail forty of the NCT’s premier segments, with helpful information including easy-to-read trail descriptions, physical and navigation difficulties, trail highlights, hiking tips, and precise maps incorporating the latest GPS technology.

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Place Names of Wisconsin
Edward Callary
University of Wisconsin Press, 2016
The colorful history and culture of Wisconsin are reflected in its place names, from those created by Native Americans, French explorers, and diverse European settlers to more recent appellations commemorating political figures, postmasters, and landowners. Organized alphabetically for easy reference, Edward Callary’s concise entries reveal the stories behind such intriguing names as Fussville, Misha Mokwa, Couderay, and Thiry Daems. Fun to read and packed with information, Place Names of Wisconsin is a must-have for anyone interested in Wisconsin and Midwest history, language, geography, and culture—or anyone who simply wonders “why did they name it that?”
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Return to Wake Robin
One Cabin in the Heyday of Northwoods Resorts
Marnie O. Mamminga
Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2013

Five generations of Marnie O. Mamminga’s family have been rejuvenated by times together in Wisconsin’s Northwoods. In a series of evocative remembrances accompanied by a treasure trove of vintage family photos, Mamminga takes us to Wake Robin, the cabin her grandparents built in 1929 on Big Spider Lake near Hayward, on land adjacent to Moody’s Camp. Along the way she preserves the spirit and cultural heritage of a vanishing era, conveying the heart of a place and the community that gathered there.

Bookended by the close of the logging era and the 1970s shift to modern lake homes, condos, and Jet Skis, the 1920s to 1960s period covered in these essays represents the golden age of Northwoods camps and cabins—a time when retreats such as Wake Robin were the essence of simplicity. In Return to Wake Robin, Mamminga describes the familiar cadre of fishing guides casting their charm, the camaraderie and friendships among resort workers and vacationers, the call of the weekly square dance, the splash announcing a perfectly executed cannonball, the lodge as gathering place. By tracing the history of one resort and cabin, she recalls a time and experience that will resonate with anyone who spent their summers Up North—or wishes they had.

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Return to Wake Robin
One Cabin in the Heyday of Northwoods Resorts
Marnie O. Mamminga
Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2012

Five generations of Marnie O. Mamminga’s family have been rejuvenated by times together in Wisconsin’s Northwoods. In a series of evocative remembrances accompanied by a treasure trove of vintage family photos, Mamminga takes us to Wake Robin, the cabin her grandparents built in 1929 on Big Spider Lake near Hayward, on land adjacent to Moody’s Camp. Along the way she preserves the spirit and cultural heritage of a vanishing era, conveying the heart of a place and the community that gathered there.

Bookended by the close of the logging era and the 1970s shift to modern lake homes, condos, and Jet Skis, the 1920s to 1960s period covered in these essays represents the golden age of Northwoods camps and cabins—a time when retreats such as Wake Robin were the essence of simplicity. In Return to Wake Robin, Mamminga describes the familiar cadre of fishing guides casting their charm, the camaraderie and friendships among resort workers and vacationers, the call of the weekly square dance, the splash announcing a perfectly executed cannonball, the lodge as gathering place. By tracing the history of one resort and cabin, she recalls a time and experience that will resonate with anyone who spent their summers Up North—or wishes they had.

[more]

front cover of Ripple Effects
Ripple Effects
How We're Loving Our Lakes to Death
Ted J. Rulseh
University of Wisconsin Press, 2022
Lakes are among the Upper Midwest’s greatest treasures and most valuable natural resources. The Great Lakes define the region, and thousands of smaller lakes offer peace, joy, and recreation to millions. And yet, in large part because of the numbers of people who enjoy the local waterways, the lakes of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota face numerous challenges. Invasive species, pollution, defective septic systems, inadequate shoreland zoning laws, and climate change are present and increasingly existential threats. We are, quite possibly, loving our lakes to death.

In his engaging and conversational style, Ted Rulseh details each of these challenges and proposes achievable solutions. He draws on personal experience, interviews, academic research, and government reports to describe the state of the lakes, the stresses they are under, and avenues to successful lakeside living for a sustainable future. Ripple Effects will be a go-to source for all who love lakes and who advocate for their protection; its driving question is summed up by one of Rulseh’s interviewees: “We love this lake. What can we do to keep it healthy?”
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Road Trip
A Pocket History of Indiana
Andrea Neal
Indiana Historical Society Press, 2016
The bicentennial of Indiana's statehood in 2016 is the perfect time for Hoosiers of all stripes to hit the road and visit sites that speak to the nineteenth state's character. In her book, Andrea Neal has selected the top 100 events/historical figures in Indiana history, some well known like George Rogers Clark, and others obscured by time or memory such as the visit of Marquis de Lafayette to southern Indiana. These highly readable essays and the photographs that accompany them feature a tourist site or landmark that in some way brings the subject to life. This will enable interested Hoosiers to travel the entire state to experience history firsthand. Related activities and sites include nature hikes, museums, markers, monuments, and memorials. The sites appear in chronological order, beginning with the impact of the Ice Age on Indiana and ending with the legacy of the bicentennial itself.
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front cover of The Romance of Wisconsin Place Names
The Romance of Wisconsin Place Names
Robert E. Gard
Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2015
“The names of places lie upon the land and tell us where we are or where we have been or where we want to go. And so much more.”—From the introduction
 
Fifty years ago, educator and writer Robert E. Gard traveled across Wisconsin, learning the trivial, controversial, and landmark stories behind how cities, counties, and local places got their names. This volume records the fruits of Gard’s labors in an alphabetical listing of places from every corner of Wisconsin, and the stories behind their often-unusual names. Gard’s work provides an important snapshot of how Wisconsin residents of a bygone era came to understand the names of their towns and home places, many of which can no
longer be found on any map.
 
Celebrated rural historian Jerry Apps introduces this reprint of Gard’s work,
saying that in “some ways The Romance of Wisconsin Place Names is a reference book, a place where you can go to learn a little more about your home town. But in many ways it is much more than that, for it includes the stories of places throughout the state, submitted by the people who knew them. It is a book where story, people, and place all come together.”
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front cover of Sunday Rides on Two Wheels
Sunday Rides on Two Wheels
Motorcycling in Southern Wisconsin
Barbara Barber
University of Wisconsin Press, 2009
Eighteen unforgettable routes along riverways and ridges, down rustic roads and coulees, and over 1,800 miles of southern Wisconsin’s best rides
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This Superior Place
Stories of Bayfield and the Apostle Islands
Dennis McCann
Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2013

Picturesque little Bayfield on Lake Superior is Wisconsin’s smallest city by population but one of its most popular visitor destinations. This book captures those unique qualities that keep tourists coming back year after year and offers a historically reliable look at the community as it is today and how it came to be. Abundantly illustrated with both historical and contemporary images, This Superior Place showcases, as author Dennis McCann writes, “a community where the past was layered with good times and down times, where natural beauty was the one resource that could not be exhausted by the hand of man, and where history is ever present.”

Because Bayfield serves as “the gateway to the Apostle Islands,” the book also includes chapters on the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Madeline Island, and the nearby Red Cliff Ojibwe community. It also covers the significant eras in the city’s history: lumbering, quarrying, commercial fishing, and the advent of the orchards visitors see today. It is not a guidebook as such but more of a visual and written tour of the city and the major elements that came together to make it what it is. Colorful stories from the past, written in Dennis McCann’s casual, humorous style, give a sense of the unique characters and events that have shaped this charming city on the lake.

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front cover of Travel Wild Wisconsin
Travel Wild Wisconsin
A Seasonal Guide to Wildlife Encounters in Natural Places
Candice Gaukel Andrews
University of Wisconsin Press, 2013
Have you ever heard a wolf howl in Wisconsin's Northwoods, watched thousands of ancient sturgeon roil the waters of one of the largest inland lakes in the United States, or tagged a monarch butterfly before it begins one of the world's great migrations to its winter habitat in Mexico? Travel Wild Wisconsin is your seasonal guide to genuine wildlife encounters with an amazing array of birds, mammals, fish, and insects in Wisconsin's most beautiful natural settings: state wildlife areas, rivers, lakes, flowages, and preserves as well as national wildlife refuges and forests.
            Wisconsin native Candice Gaukel Andrews shares natural history and lore, accounts of her own experiences with Wisconsin wildlife, and insights from biologists, environmental educators, and citizen scientists, so that you can seek a wildlife encounter of your own.
            So come spy on the spring courtship dance of the greater prairie chicken, search for elusive and elegant white-tailed deer in summer, touch a tiny saw-whet owl on one special day in autumn, and thrill to the sound of thousands of tundra swans as they migrate through the Mississippi Flyway just before the first snow falls. Make this the year you Travel Wild Wisconsin.
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Walking the Steps Of Cincinnati
A Guide to the Queen City’s Scenic and Historic Secrets
Mary Anna DuSablon
Ohio University Press, 2014

Walking the Steps of Cincinnati: A Guide to the Queen City’s Scenic and Historic Secrets is a revised and updated version of Mary Anna DuSablon’s original guidebook, first published in 1998. This new edition describes and maps thirty-four walks of varying lengths and levels of difficulty around the neighborhoods of Cincinnati, following scenic or historic routes and taking in many of the city’s more than four hundred sets of steps. Some of these walks follow the same routes laid out by DuSablon in the first edition of the guide; others have been revised to reflect changes in the city and its neighborhoods, the physical condition of the steps, and the scenic views of Cincinnati that they afford; and still others are altogether new.

In writing their descriptions of the walks, authors Connie J. Harrell and John Cicmanec have retraced each path and taken all new photographs of the steps as well as architectural and natural landmarks along the way. Cartographer Brian Balsley has drawn a fresh set of maps, and Roxanne Qualls, vice-mayor of Cincinnati, has graciously written a new foreword.

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front cover of Walking Trails of Eastern and Central Wisconsin
Walking Trails of Eastern and Central Wisconsin
Bob Crawford
University of Wisconsin Press, 1997
    The sheer physical beauty and varied landscapes of eastern and central Wisconsin are best experienced on its walking trails. Walking Trails of Eastern and Central Wisconsin is a handy guide to trails that wind through the streets of old Milwaukee and the forests of the Kettle Moraine, across the Niagara Escarpment, along the shores of picturesque Door County, or up the sandstone mound at Lone Rock for a panoramic view of flatlands that once were the bed of glacial Lake Wisconsin.
     A companion to the popular Walking Trails of Southern Wisconsin, this book describes more than 200 trails in 72 locations throughout five of the state's major regions. Bob Crawford provides maps and detailed instructions to make the trails easy to locate.

 With each trail description you'll find:
* details about the route and terrain, as well as geographical, biological, or historical features of interest;
* regulations including open days and hours, and rules regarding dogs, trail bikes, cross-country skiing, and other activities;
* information about available restrooms, drinking water, nature centers, and other facilities at the site;
* a description assessing degree of difficulty—slope, width, maintenance, and other such factors—and a helpful rating of "walkability" on a scale from 1 to 5.

    The only comprehensive guide to hiking locations in the eastern part of the state, this book also provides lists of trail locations that include playground equipment for kids and picnic facilities for those who want to make a day trip of their hiking outing. Appendices spotlight trails that boast historical significance, ice age features, picnic areas, and cross-country skiing opportunities.
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front cover of Walking Trails of Southern Wisconsin
Walking Trails of Southern Wisconsin
Bob Crawford
University of Wisconsin Press, 2000

Take a walk on the wild side with the completely updated version of this popular guide.
This edition now includes coverage of Lafayette and Vernon counties, plus new information on more trails, including ones at Avoca Prairie Savanna State Natural Area, Wildcat Mountain State Park, and Blackhawk Lake Recreational Area. Author Bob Crawford has also revised eleven trail maps in nine counties and updated material throughout the book, which now describes more than 150 trails at more than sixty locations.
 These trails wind across southern Wisconsin—into forests and along shores, over glacial formations and around Native American earthworks—and showcase some of the most beautiful and interesting walking trails in the nation. Walking Trails of Southern Wisconsin retains its handy, pocket-sized format plus all the other features that made the first edition so successful:

• details about routes and terrain plus geographical, biological, or historical features of interest
• regulations including open days and hours, and rules regarding dogs, trail bikes, cross-country skiing, and other activities
• information about available restrooms, drinking water, nature centers, and other facilities at the site
• a description assessing degree of difficulty—slope, width, maintenance, and other such factors—and a helpful rating of “walkability” on a scale from 1 to 5

Crawford also provides information about nearby parks, preserves, glacial formations, historical sites, tourist attractions, and other points of interest for those who want to turn a hike into a day trip or weekend outing. Staying fit was never so easy nor so much fun.

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front cover of Washtenaw County Bike Rides
Washtenaw County Bike Rides
A Guide to Road Rides in and around Ann Arbor
Joel D. Howell
University of Michigan Press, 2009

Washtenaw County Bike Rides is ideal for people who are new to the county, are new to bike riding, or simply want to expand their repertoire of rides. All routes described in the book start or end in Washtenaw County and have been selected with a preference for rides outside of the city. All the routes are paved. Joel Howell details the roads, the areas that require caution, the difficulty of the rides, and routes that can be extended for longer rides.

Includes routes and maps for Dixboro, Dexter-Chelsea, Gallup Park, Hell, Huron River Drive, Manchester, Waterloo, East Lansing, and more, as well as an overview map and ride log.

Joel D. Howell is a physician, medical historian, and avid biker who has personally ridden all of the trails featured in the book. He lives in Ann Arbor.

"Two of the strongest predictors of an active lifestyle are convenient access to exercise opportunities, and pleasant and beautiful exercise environments. Joel Howell's book has solved both of these factors with a collection of some of the most beautiful and accessible biking (and running!) routes in the upper Midwest."
---Thomas L. Schwenk, M.D., Chair of Family Medicine, University of Michigan

"This book includes all the main biking routes making it a 'must have' for any cyclist new to the Ann Arbor area. There are also great tidbits of local lore and super photographs that make it a welcome addition to the libraries of cyclists who have ridden these roads countless times."
---Mark Lovejoy, President, Ann Arbor Velo Club

"Howell has performed a genuine service for county residents and visitors. Get moving, Washtenaw!"
---Kenneth Warner, Dean, University of Michigan School of Public Health

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front cover of Wisconsin Lighthouses
Wisconsin Lighthouses
A Photographic and Historical Guide, Revised Edition
Ken Wardius
Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2013

“Lighthouses are a reflection of the human spirit and a mirror to our past.”—from the Introduction

No symbol is more synonymous with Wisconsin’s rich maritime traditions than the lighthouse. These historic beacons conjure myriad notions of a bygone era: romance, loneliness, and dependability; dedicated keepers manning the lights; eerie tales of haunted structures and ghosts of past keepers; mariners of yesteryear anxiously hoping to make safe haven around rocky shorelines. If these sentinels could talk, imagine the tales they would tell of ferocious Great Lakes storms taking their toll on vessels and people alike.
In this fully updated edition of Wisconsin Lighthouses, Ken and Barb Wardius tell those tales, taking readers on an intimate tour of lighthouses on Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, and Lake Winnebago. Both delightful storytellers and accomplished photographers, the couple complement their engaging text with more than 100 stunning color photographs, along with dozens of archival photos, maps, documents, and artifacts. Detailed “how to get there” directions, up-to-the-minute status reports on each light, and sidebars on everything from lighthouse vocabulary to the often lonely lives of lightkeepers make this the definitive book on Wisconsin’s lighthouses.

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front cover of Wisconsin's Best Breweries and Brewpubs
Wisconsin's Best Breweries and Brewpubs
Searching for the Perfect Pint
Robin Shepard
University of Wisconsin Press, 2001

    This information-packed guidebook introduces you to more than sixty breweries and brewpubs—from the Shipwrecked Brew Pub in Egg Harbor, to smaller craft breweries like Capital Brewery west of Madison, to the world-famous Miller Brewing Company of Milwaukee. Robin Shepard includes descriptions and his personal ratings of some 600 local beers, plus a taster’s chart you can use to record your own preferences.

For each brewpub and brewery site you’ll find:
    •  a description and brief history, plus any "Don’t miss" features
    •  names, comments, and ratings for all their specialty beers
    •  notes on the pub food, with recommendations
    •  suggestions of other sites to see and activities in the local area
    •  information about bottling and distribution
    •  availability of tours, tastings, gift shops, mug clubs, and "growlers"
    •  address and contact data, including Web sites and GPS coordinates!

Shepard also introduces novices to the brewing process and a wide variety of beer styles. And, you’ll find a list of helpful books and Web sites, as well as information on Wisconsin beer tastings and festivals. As we say in Wisconsin, "So, have a couple a two, three beers, hey?"

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front cover of Wisconsin's Natural Communities
Wisconsin's Natural Communities
How to Recognize Them, Where to Find Them
Randy Hoffman
University of Wisconsin Press, 2002

    Cattails grow in a marsh, pitcher plants grow in a bog, jewelweed grows in a swamp, right? Do sandhill cranes live among sandy hills? Frogs live near lakes and ponds, but can they live on prairies, too? What is a pine barrens, an oak opening, a calcareous fen?
    Wisconsin’s Natural Communities is an invitation to discover, explore, and understand Wisconsin’s richly varied natural environment, from your backyard or neighborhood park to stunning public preserves.Part 1 of the book explains thirty-three distinct types of natural communities in Wisconsin—their characteristic trees, beetles, fish, lichens, butterflies, reptiles, mammals, wildflowers—and the effects of geology, climate, and historical events on these habitats. Part 2 describes and maps fifty natural areas on public lands that are outstanding examples of these many different natural communities: Crex Meadows, Horicon Marsh, Black River Forest, Maribel Caves, Whitefish Dunes, the Blue Hills, Avoca Prairie, the Moquah Barrens and Chequamegon Bay, the Ridges Sanctuary, Cadiz Springs, Devil’s Lake, and many others.
    Intended for anyone who has a love for the natural world, this book is also an excellent introduction for students. And, it provides landowners, public officials, and other stewards of our environment with the knowledge to recognize natural communities and manage them for future generations.

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