Earth Day Books

I woke up this morning not thinking about Earth Day, but an article that I found in my inbox from the Cornell Chronicle shifted my attention back to the environment for a second time this week. The article, "Rattlesnakes Sound Warning On Biodiversity," is about research on the impact of roads on wildlife. The conclusion? "Roads-- even small, low-traffic roads-- can fragment wildlife populations genetically."

This isn't the first time I've thought about this issue. I became interested in the impact roads have on wildlife population diversity after reading _People And Predators: From Conflict To Coexistance_, a compilation of research in different areas put together by Defenders of Wildlife biologists. It's defintely on the academic side, but very interesting reading and has a chapter by Bill Ruediger, "Carnivore Conservation and Highways: Understanding the Relationships, Problems and Solutions" that summarizes the subject incredibly well.
Shortly after reading _People and Predators_, I visited Yosemite with my parents and the local newspaper ran an article on speeding killing wildlife in Yosemite ("Speed Can Kill In National Parks") and how they were putting up signs at the most perilous crossings for wildlife to try to mitigate the problem. (Looking up this article on the internet all these years later, I can see that Mutlow won the 2009 Yosemite Fund Award for his innovative prevention programs-- "Red Bear, Dead Bear" and studies on how roads affected wildlife in Yosemite, pretty neat).

Two other books that I highly recommend pertaining to the environment are:
Wisdom For A Livable Planet
and Learning To Listen To The Land

Just in case you're looking for some reading related to Earth Day:)
And I'd be really happy if anyone wanted to leave a comment with more recommendations of environmentally conscious, interesting reading. Thanks!