Paul Bunyan Lives! and Other Tales from the Natural World

How close did the Bureau of Reclamation come in the 1960s to building two dams in the Grand Canyon? Exactly what is going on with those birds and their songs? The desert Southwest is supposed to look all dry and dusty...isnt it? And remember those silly Paul Bunyan tall tales you read as a kid? Not worth giving a second look you say? Michael ORourkes essays explore natural world topics that arent likely to spring to mind when you think nature or environment. From urine-filled Dr Pepper bottles at a trashed-out campsite in Tennessee to the almost universally mis-reported Tellico Dam/snail darter controversy in the 1970s to El Tule the tree with the largest trunk girth in the world youll find ORourkes essays as fun to read as they are eye-opening.