Winter/Spring 2001

Hot Off the Press
with David Watts and Mary Dayle McCormick

The Hunter's Journal
by Paul T. Brown and Mark Culver
Reviewed by David Watts

This small, black book was created by Mark Culver and Paul T. Brown so hunters could record detailed notes and remembrances of their times afield. The bulk of the book is made up of two-page spreads, with the left page providing a place for such things as location, quarry, trophy statistics, companions and more. The right page provides seven lines to record the story of the hunt with space below for a photograph. In the back of the book, additional pages are set aside for notes, favorite recipes and more photographs. One page contains a potpourri of animal tracks.

The hardback journal is available for $19.95 from True Exposures Publishing, Inc. by calling 1-800-323-3398.

Wildlife Stewardship and Recreation on Private Lands
by Delwin E. Benson, Ross "Skip" Shelton and Don W. Steinbach
Reviewed by David Watts

Common law in the United States says citizens own the wildlife. Although government manages wildlife on behalf of the people, a strong legal tradition dictates that property owners have the right to control the resources on and access to their lands. Wildlife Stewardship and Recreation on Private Lands says franchising systems allow governments and landowners to effectively conserve and manage wildlife to everyone's benefit. Some 85 percent of U.S. wildlife is found on private lands, and two-thirds of all land in America is privately owned. Wildlife Stewardship and Recreation on Private Lands' authors Delwin E. Benson, Ross Shelton and Don W. Steinbach explain that because wildlife and recreational users may threaten the daily activities of farming and ranching, property owners deserve support and encouragement to grant management of their land resources.

"Red-winged blackbirds and red-bellied quelea destroy crops.... Coyotes, wolves, lions, leopards and bears kill domestic livestock," the authors write. "And most farmers and ranchers are adept at making their operations compatible with wildlife. However, if they are asked to become more intensive managers and to actively improve and increase wildlife populations and grant the public access to them, then society must be willing to help them in that role."

Wildlife Stewardship and Recreation on Private Lands considers ways governments and landowners can conserve the public's wildlife using recreation, tax advantages and cost shares as incentives. It examines the conflicting rights of the public and private sectors, provides information on how landowners can protect wildlife by offering their land to campers, delves into lease agreements and hunting systems and analyzes American and African models of enfranchisement. Additionally, Wildlife Stewardship and Recreation on Private Lands contains tables surveying various states' efforts to manage wildlife.

The authors also consider the management of non-game and endangered species. Melinda Taylor, director of the Environmental Defense Fund's Landowner Conservation Assistance Program, recruits property owners to save endangered species. She said this work is full of creative ideas for encouraging them to be good stewards of the land. "This book will advance the cause of conservation by giving landowners practical tools that can be easily implemented," she said.

Jack Ward Thomas, chief emeritus of the USDA Forest Service, said that as time passes, it becomes more and more obvious how important private lands are to the maintenance of wildlife habitats. "It is on these private lands that much of the future of wildlife and human/wildlife interactions will occur," he said. "This book does a most excellent job of delving into the complexities, frustrations, rewards and mechanism of management applicable to dealing with publicly owned wildlife on private lands!" Wildlife Stewardship and Recreation on Private Lands is available for $29.95 from local booksellers or from Texas A & M University Press at 1-800-826-8911.

Westward Whoa: In the Wake of Lewis and Clark
by W. Hodding Carter
Reviewed by Mary Dayle McCormick

Some kids read about explorers and adventurers like Lewis and Clark or Leif Eriksson. Then those kids grow up to become teachers, lawyers, nurses, accountants, or retailers. Not W. Hodding Carter. Here's one Mississippi kid who grew up to paddle the Mississippi River and sail the Labrador Sea. Neither journey was child's play, especially his dangerous million dollar enterprise in an authentic Viking ship replica.

Globe trotting Carter is the author of acclaimed features in numerous national publications and a first book, Westward Whoa: In the Wake of Lewis and Clark. Last spring Ballantine Books published his A Viking Voyage: In Which an Unlikely Crew of Adventurers Attempts an Epic Journey to the New World. Both books offer vivid accounts of Carter's fantasies-come-true, combining generous amounts of self-deprecating humor with true drama and moments of powerful emotion. Viking Voyage is especially potent because of the bodily as well as financial risks Carter and his sponsor, Lands' End, took.

Viking Voyage provides skillfully crafted sensory description. The reader smells, tastes, hears and feels the physical journey from boat building to the final landing of the new world's Vinland. But one frustration of last year's book is that the pictures are too small, too few and in black and white. November's publication of An Illustrated Viking Voyage remedies that problem. The new 147 page volume is packed with Russell Kaye's vivid color photographs. Carter provides brief text for those who are unfamiliar with the previous book.

Copies of Carter¹s books can be obtained by calling McCormick Book Inn at 662-332-5038.