Hood's travel memoir is a lyrical journey to places of great natural beauty and biological importance. Her stories reveal the vulnerability of natural places and the consequences of unsustainable exploitation. This inspiring work will be valuable for those interested in nature or travel memoirs, ethnographic writing, and for all who are concerned with the survival of our broader sense of place in the global environment.

Part 1 Preface Part 2 Acknowledgments Part 3 Part I The Beginnings of an Ecological Ethics Chapter 4 1 Louisiana: The Barge Part 5 Part II Some Last Great Places Part 6 South America: Introduction Chapter 7 2 A Wilderness: Patagonia Chapter 8 3 Highlands: Patagonia Revisited Chapter 9 4 Drylands: The Atacama Desert Part 10 Central America and Mexico: Introduction Chapter 11 5 Tropical Places: Costa Rica, the Yucatan, and Panama Part 12 Part III Nature as Connection Chapter 13 6 Kinship with the Natural World: Mitchellsville Gorge Trail, New York Chapter 14 7 Social Connections: Osprey Nature Trail, Iowa Chapter 15 8 Belonging to Place: Life Birds, Vermont Part 16 Part IV Sanctuaries Chapter 17 9 Private Lands: Vicksburg, Mississippi Chapter 18 10 National Refuges: A Festival of Cranes, New Mexico Chapter 19 11 Preserves: Prairies of Iowa and Louisiana Part 20 Part V Eco-Myths Chapter 21 12 South Sea Island Paradise: Bali and Lombok, Indonesia Chapter 22 13 Survival of the Fittest: Survival Camp in New Jersey Chapter 23 14 Africa as Wilderness: Kenya and Tanzania Part 24 Part VI The Legacy of Corporatization Chapter 25 15 Sprawl: Ft McDowell in Arizona Chapter 26 16 Impoverishment: Hudson Bay, Canada Chapter 27 17 Extinction: In Praise of Trees, Washington Chapter 28 18 More Extinction: A Pygmy Owl in Texas Part 29 Part VII Bioregionalism: The Ethics of "It all Begins and Ends at Home" Chapter 30 19 Home as Region: A Southern Fringe, the Gulf Coast Chapter 31 20 Home as Personal: The Home Place, Florida Part 32 References Part 33 Index Part 34 About the Author

Mary A. Hood is professor emerita of biology at University of West Florida.