Uncertain Path A Search for the Future of National Parks [Paperback]

In this provocative walking meditation, writer and former park ranger William Tweed takes us to Californias spectacular High Sierra to discover a new vision for our national parks as they approach their 100th anniversary. Tweed, who worked among the Sierra Nevadas big peaks and big trees for more than thirty years, has now hiked more than 200 miles along Californias John Muir Trail in a personal search for answers: How do we address the climate change we are seeing even nowin melting glaciers in Glacier National Park, changing rainy seasons on Mt Rainer, and more fire in the Wests iconic parks. Should we intervene where we can to preserve biodiversity? Should the parks merely become ecosystem museums that exhibit famous landscapes and species? Asking how we can make these magnificent parks relevant for the next generation, Tweed, through his journey, ultimately shows why we must do just that.

William Tweed, Chief Park Naturalist at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks before he retired in 2006, is the author, with Lauren Davis, ofDeath Valley and the Northern Mojave,A Visitors Guideand, with Lary M. Dilsaver, ofChallenge of the Big Trees: A Resource History of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

Foreword
Introduction

1. South from Yosemite
2. Kings Canyon National Park
3. Sequoia National Park
4. National Parks in the Twenty-first Century

Notes
References
Acknowledgments
Index

Uncertain Pathis a must read for wilderness and parks lovers who also know that climate change must be addressed if we are to be good stewards of our natural heritage. Bill Tweed is leading us down the right trail just in time. Carl Pope, Chairman, Sierra Club

Author and naturalist Bill Tweed, like Muir, assumed that large, wild parks and wilderness areas could protect themselves, if we just let nature run its course. But on a hike along thlc·