Mountains Of Blame

Swidden agriculture has long been considered the primary cause of deforestation throughout Southeast Asia, and the Philippine government has used this belief to exclude the indigenous people of Palawan Island from their ancestral lands and to force them to abandon traditional modes of land use. After adopting ostensibly modern and ecologically sustainable livelihoods, the Pala’wan people have experienced drought and uncertain weather patterns, which they have blamed on their own failure to observe traditional social norms that are believed to regulate climate—norms that, like swidden agriculture, have been outlawed by the state. In this ethnographic case study, Will Smith asks how those who have contributed least to greenhouse gas emissions and environmental degradation have come to position themselves as culpable for the devastating impacts of climate change, examining their statements about changing weather, processes of dispossession, and experiences of climate-driven hunger. By engaging both forest policy and local realities, he suggests that reckoning with these complexities requires reevaluating and questioning key wisdoms in global climate-change policy: What is indigenous knowledge, and who should it serve? Who is to blame for the vulnerability of the rural poor? What, and who, belongs in tropical forests?

The story of a grizzly bear named Millie: her life, death, and cubs, and what they reveal about the changing character of the American West. An "ode to wildness and wilderness" (Outside Magazine), Down from the Mountain tells the story of one grizzly in the changing Montana landscape. Millie was cunning, a fiercely protective mother to her cubs. But raising those cubs in the mountains was hard, as the climate warmed and people crowded the valleys. There were obvious dangers, like poachers, and subtle ones, like the corn field that drew her into sure trouble. That trouble is where award-winning writer, farmer, and conservationist Bryce Andrews's story intersects with Millie’s. In this "welcome and impressive work" he shows how this drama is "the core of a major problem in the rural American West—the disagreement between large predatory animals and invasive modern settlers”—an entangled collision where the shrinking wilds force human and bear into ever closer proximity (Barry Lopez). “Andrews’s wonderful Down from the Mountain is deeply informed by personal experience and made all the stronger by his compassion and measured thoughts . . . Welcome and impressive work.”—Barry Lopez

"A Mountain Boyhood" by Joe Mills is the coming-of-age story of a boy growing up in the American mountain wilderness. Estes Park is a quaint town in northern Colorado where the tale unfolds. The town is meticulously described to let the setting come to life as a young boy finds adventures out west and how those exciting and detailed adventures can play such a great role in turning him into a man.

While our politicians argue, the truth is that climate change is already here. Nobody knows this better than Indigenous peoples who, having developed an intimate relationship with ecosystems over generations, have observed these changes for decades. For them, climate change is not an abstract concept or policy issue, but the reality of daily life.After two decades of working with indigenous communities, Gleb Raygorodetsky shows how these communities are actually islands of biological and cultural diversity in the ever-rising sea of development and urbanization. They are an “archipelago of hope” as we enter the Anthropocene, for here lies humankind’s best chance to remember our roots and how to take care of the Earth.We meet the Skolt Sami of Finland, the Nenets and Altai of Russia, the Sapara of Ecuador, the Karen of Myanmar, and the Tla-o-qui-aht of Canada. Intimate portraits of these men and women, youth and elders, emerge against the backdrop of their traditional practices on land and water. Though there are brutal realities—pollution, corruption, forced assimilation—Raygorodetsky's prose resonates with the positive, the adaptive, the spiritual—and hope.

Navigating the Nonsense will change the way your church approaches conflict and communication. It will unlock the untapped potential that exists in your church. It is a book for clergy and lay leaders. It is for churches tired of getting a new pastor every four years. It is for pastors who are afraid conflict may derail the effectiveness of their ministry. It is for pastors who are afraid conflict with a small group of people may lead to an early departure from their pastorate. It is for church leaders who want to find ways to protect their pastors from disgruntled members. It is for leadership teams and boards that feel their ministries are frozen in place or in a permanent state of decline. It is for those who believe the church cannot focus on ministry if it is bound up by so much conflict. It is for anyone who is tired of feeling frustrated and wants their church to become more centrally focused on Jesus and his way of doing things.

A long time ago, before the arrival of Christianity in Europe, there was a betrayal in the Old Tower, a conflict between the local centre of power and a warlock from the mountains. Although King Nimrod is a good warrior, he and his army are defeated, leaving the wise and skillful warlock Wintersun free to create a new community and culture in the forest, where simple people have been living. A boy joins in the adventure with other free people, and with the arrival of the Crusaders, the text of the Holy Trinity is brought to the community.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) has over 800 miles of wild-trout waters, many of which provide exceptional fly fishing for brook, brown, and rainbow trout. In this comprehensive guidebook to the park’s best fishing, locals Ian and Charity Rutter share best access areas, seasonal strategies, and best tactics and techniques for making the most out of your park adventure. They also include detailed information about the hatches and best fly patterns to use throughout the year.