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DAVID
CARLE grew up in Orange County, California, received his bachelors
degree at UC Davis in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology and a masters
degree from CSU Sacramento in Recreation and Parks Administration.
He was a ranger in California State Parks for 27 years; including the
Mendocino Coast, Hearst Castle, the Auburn State Recreation Area (in
the gold country of the Sierra foothills), and the State Indian
Museum in Sacramento. From 1982 through 2000, at the Mono Lake Tufa
State Reserve, he shared the unit ranger position with his wife,
participating in the long effort to protect that Eastern Sierra
inland sea from the effects of stream diversions to Los Angeles.
He taught biology and natural history courses at Cerro Coso Community
College, the Eastern Sierra College Center in Mammoth Lakes.
The three books, Introduction to Water in California, Introduction to Air in California, and Introduction to Fire in California are in a new sub-series of the California Natural History Guides: "CALIFORNIANS AND THEIR ENVIRONMENT." According to UC Press, books in this sub-series are "the definitive guides to understanding human influences on the state's ecology and natural resources."
You can e-mail David Carle at carle@qnet.com
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Introduction to FIRE IN CALIFORNIA
Published
in July, 2008, by University of California Press. UC
Press catalog webpage
"Carle
does an excellent job of telling complex social, biological, and
physical stories in a way that makes them not only accessible, but
also interesting."–Neil G. Sugihara, coeditor of Fire
in California's Ecosystems
"A welcome contribution to
the California Natural History Guides series that integrates the
natural and cultural history of fire in California in an engaging
style."–James K. Agee, author of Steward's Fork and
Fire Ecology of Pacific Northwest Forests
MEDIA REVIEWS
Chico Enterprise-Record, July 24, 2008: FIRE IN CALIFORNIA, WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW: -- "The chapter on "Getting Ready: Life on the Edge" is worth the price of admission. It diagrams creating a defensible space around your home and what to do during a fire evacuation . . . . One way to thank the firefighters and volunteers is to become more informed about fire. This book will help."
East Bay Express, July 30, 2008: "THAT'S HOT: Like a scary souvenir of 2008, David Carle's Introduction to Fire in California, new from UC Press, explains how and why. A pyro would slaver over its pictures, including one of Richard Nixon — in neatly pressed slacks, necktie, and button-down shirt — hosing down his roof during the 1961 Bel Air fire."
Palo Alto Online, August 13, 2008: "ABOUT WILDFIRES ... It seems timely, with the sun obscured by smoke from statewide wildfires this summer, for the University of California Press to publish Introduction to Fire in California... a small, sturdy field guidebook, except that fire, not birds or trees, is the subject. Richly illustrated, it tells everything readers need to know about wildfires: how they spread and what their effects are."
RADIO INTERVIEWS:
KVMR Radio, Nevada City, "Booktown," July 21, 2008: http://ia311333.us.archive.org/1/items/Booktown21July2008/Booktown21July2008edit.m4a
Michael Olson's syndicated radio show "Along the Food Chain," July 26, 2008: http://www.metrofarm.com/assets/podcasts/2008-07-26_597dfire.mp3
Peter Laufer's Washington Monthly on the Radio, August 3, 2008: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/WMotR/Audio/Prog080803.html
Capital Public Radio, "Insight," July 28, 2008 (second half of hour): http://www.capradio.org/resources/audioplayer.aspx?showid=5014&bhcp=1
PUBLISHER'S
DESCRIPTION: What
is fire? How are wildfires ignited? How do California's weather and
topography influence fire? How did the California Indians use fire?
In the spirit of his highly acclaimed Introduction to Air in
California and Introduction to Water in California, David
Carle now turns to another fundamental element of the natural world,
giving a fascinating and concise view of this complex topic. His
clearly written, dramatically illustrated book will help
Californians, including the millions who live near naturally
flammable wildlands, better understand their own place in the state's
landscape. Carle covers the basics of fire ecology; looks at the
effects of fire on wildlife, soil, water, and air; discusses fire
fighting organizations and land management agencies; explains current
policies, and explores many other topics.
91
color illustrations and 15 maps
o Tips on what to do before,
during, and after fires
o An overview of major wildfires in
California's history
o A discussion of the effect of climate
change on fires in natural landscapes
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Introduction to AIR IN CALIFORNIA
Published
October 2006 by University of California Press
UC
Press online catalog
"Before you take another breath, find out everything you need to know about what's in your air. David Carle has made California's most complicated environmental resource problem accessible and interesting." --Mary D. Nichols, Director, UCLA Institute of the Environment; former Chair Calif. Air Resources Board; former Asst. Admin. of Air and Radiation, U.S. EPA; former California Secretary for Resources.
MEDIA REVIEWS:
Los Angeles Times, January 14, 2007: "Elegantly written, copiously researched and illustrated, this is a Baedeker of the atmosphere, a guide not just to the sky's corpus but also to its soul."
San Luis Obispo Tribune, Dec. 10, 2006: "A fascinating look at how weather patterns, geography and pollution impact the air we breathe. Don’t be thrown off by the title. This book tackles some weighty subjects. ...Carle’s guide to air and all its aspects — climate, pollution and flight — is ideal for budding weather watchers, nature lovers and environmentalists."
Mammoth Times, Dec. 7, 2006: "Carle's style is friendly and most importantly, digestible. . . . The guide gives some good food for thought."
East Bay Express, Nov. 22, 2006: "Shopping for someone about whom you know virtually nothing? In such blind-date cases you're no better off giving books than giving antlers or a syringe, but go for the universal. Everyone breathes, right? Try David Carle's Introduction to Air in California (University of California, $16.95)."
KVMR Radio, Nevada City, on the show "Booktown" on Nov. 27, 2006. Listen to the interview at: http://booktown.blogspot.com/
KQED public radio's program "Forum," Nov. 22, 2006, included an interview with David Carle about both books: Introduction to Air in California and Introduction to Water in California. The program is archived at: http://www.kqed.org/epArchive/R611221000
PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION: What is air? Why is the sky blue? Why do people react favorably to mountain or sea air? How does desert air differ from the air of California's Central Valley? How is air pollution affecting plants and animals?
This book is a unique guide to the air we breathe in California. More than a natural history guide, it approaches this fascinating topic by recognizing the overwhelming role played by humans in the story of California's air. In a highly engaging style, David Carle explains daily weather patterns, seasonal climate, characteristic winds, and sky phenomena. He explores air as the gases in our atmosphere, but also considers the aspects of air that influence all of our senses--its taste, smell, feel, and look. The guide discusses California's history of air quality management, air pollution and its effect on humans and the environment, and the technological and individual measures needed to address these challenges. The book also functions as a handbook for more environmentally conscious living by providing information on alternative energy sources for consumers and tips for cleaner running cars.
* Features 80 color photographs, 23 figures, 18 maps
* Covers regional differences of topography, weather, and the character of the air in California's fifteen designated air basins
* Includes a field guide to the sky, explaining color and light, clouds and wind, and the nature of flight
* Addresses issues surrounding global climate change in California
CONTENTS: Introduction: The Nature of California Air; THE THIN BLANKET -- the atmosphere: Layers of the Blanket; The Elegant Balance—Photosynthesis and Respiration; Why is There Air?; The Essence of Air; Weighty Matters—Air Pressure; Highs and Lows—California's Mediterranean Climate; El Nino; “It's Not the Heat, It's the Humidity;” Temperature Upside Down; AIR APPARENT – A Field Guide to the Sky: Why is the Sky blue?; How to Find Cloud 9; Air in Motion; Motion in Air; CALIFORNIA AIR BASINS: San Diego County; South Coast; South Central Coast; North Central Coast; San Francisco Bay; North Coast; Lake County; Sacramento Valley; San Joaquin Valley; Mountain Counties; Lake Tahoe; Northeast Plateau; Great Basin Valleys; Mojave Desert; Salton Sea; FOOTPRINTS IN THE AIR: The Breath of Life; What's a PPB to Me? The Pollutants; The Enemy is Us; Sharing Air with the Wildlands; SHARING AIR WITH THE GLOBE: Adrift from Asia; Ozone Depletion; The Enhanced Greenhouse Effect and Climate Change; Climate Stewardship; BREATHING EASY: Who Takes Regulatory Responsibility? Cleaning the Car; Renewable Energy—Here Today, Much More tomorrow; What You Can Do Every Day; Finally, Think About Numbers.
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Published March, 2004, by University of California Press:
Introduction to WATER IN CALIFORNIA
#76 in the California Natural History Guide series. 137 color photographs, 27 color maps, 7 line drawings. UC Press online catalog
"Water is the foundation upon which California's ecosystems and economic vitality rise. . . .This is a must read for anyone living in California, whether they are students, politicians, farmers, environmental activists, or corporate executives."--Arthur Guy Baggett, Jr., Chair, California State Water Resources Control Board
"This book engages readers at a personal level." --Donald Pisani, author of Water and American Government
"This is a comprehensive, readable natural history guide to an extremely complicated subject. It interweaves the historical, human, and technological factors with the ecological and environmental realities."-Pam Lloyd, former Chair of the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, S.F. Bay Region
MEDIA REVIEWS:
COAST & OCEAN, Spring, 2007: "...should be in every home, within easy reach, because we all need to understand the basics about water... It's written with the kind of elegant simplicity that only a master of his material can achieve." --Rasa Gustaitis, Editor
HIGH COUNTRY NEWS, Feb. 2005: "Lavishly illustrated with maps and color photos, the book is a sort of field guide to the state’s watersheds, canals, reservoirs, groundwater basins, legendary water contamination problems and colossal endangered species issues, and to the ways all these parts intermesh with — or grind against — each other. "We can only hope that, someday, such a guide is available for every state in the West, perhaps handed out like voter’s guides, or Gideons’ Bibles." --Matt Jenkins
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION, Oct. 2004: "The highlight of this book for me is the straight forward manner in which Carle explains the many complexities of the California water distribution system using tables, figures, and dozens of maps. It is the best, most concise, explanation of this system that I have seen. For others, the highlight may be his consistent use of analogies and attempts to raise awareness of just how integral water is to our lives in California.
"The type of book you would hope to see in every welcome basket for every lawmaker coming to Sacramento for the first time. California, with its diversity in climate, natural water wonders, and massive expenditures on water based infrastructures deserves such a book. Anyone living in or interested in California should read such a book." ---E. George Robison
AEOE (ASSOC. FOR ENVIRONMENTAL & OUTDOOR EDUCATION) NEWSLETTER, Fall 2006, EDUCATOR RESOURCE OF THE SEASON: "This book is a tremendous resource for educators throughout California, ripe with a rich array of statistics, visuals, history and up to date information on the use and importance of water in California. A major strength of this great resource is its focus on cause and effect. Interconnectedness is a running theme. It does not claim to have all the answers - just lots of questions, lots of possibilities, and lots of information. It is important in Environmental Education to keep it relative. Kids and adults - your students - should know how the choices they make affect the earth and how the earth affects them. David Carle's INTRODUCTION TO WATER IN CALIFORNIA will help us all tell some of the story." ---Brett Tillman
CHOICE REVIEWS, Oct. 2004: "This book is easy to read and understand, with comprehensive explanations of each issue. ...provides a valuable overview of the problems facing California, but it has implications for the rest of the country, where there is also a dwindling water supply." Highly recommended." ---M.E. Lenczewski, Northern Illinois University
TERRAIN MAGAZINE, Fall 2004: "David Carle makes what could have been a forbiddingly technical subject accessible to anyone with an interest in water policy and politics. With 27 maps, this is also a useful water atlas. It's sobering to contemplate the Central Valley's vanished wetlands, the lost salmon streams, the maze of plumbing that shunts water all over the state. The book is testament to William Mulholland's dictum: "Whoever brings the water, brings the people"—and sustainability be damned." —Joe Eaton, “Essential Reads”
MAMMOTH TIMES, Nov.. 2004: "Get a library card and check this guide out for a week or two, and then make it a part of the natural history library at your home. It's a comprehensive look at a very complicated subject and a fascinating journey about water."--Christina Reed
PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION: It takes 8 gallons of water to grow a tomato; 616 gallons to make a burger patty. In fact, the food each of us consumes per day represents an investment of 4,500 gallons of water, according to the California Farm Bureau. In this densely populated state where it rains only six months out of the year, where does all that water come from? This thoroughly engaging, concise book tells the story of California's most precious resource, tracing the journey of water in the state from the atmosphere to the snowpack to our faucets and foods. Along the way, we learn much about California itself as the book describes its rivers, lakes, wetlands, dams, and aqueducts and discusses the role of water in agriculture, the environment, and politics. Essential reading for a state facing the future with an already overextended water supply, this fascinating book shows that, for all Californians, every drop counts.
* Includes a table "Where Does Your Water Come From?" that answers the question for 315 California cities and towns
* Provides up-to-date information on water quality in California, covering such timely topics as Giardia, groundwater contamination, fluoride, and the bottled-water phenomenon
CONTENTS: Introduction: Water Web—Connected Californians; TAPPING INTO A PLANETARY CYCLE: A Great Water Wheel; Vital Molecule; “Normal” Weather—Anything But “Average”; CALIFORNIA WATER LANDSCAPE: Pristine Waterscape; Groundwater; Hydrologic Regions: THE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM: Expanding Watersheds; State Water Project; Central Valley Project; Colorado River Delivery Systems; Los Angeles Aqueduct; Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct; Mokulumne Aqueduct; The North Bay; Where Does Your Water Come From? (Table III); CHALLENGES TO CALIFORNIA WATER MANAGEMENT: Extinction is Forever; A Thirsty Garden; Salton Sea; Animal Impacts; Beneath Your Feet; Out of Sight, Out of Control; Can You Drink the Water?; Giardia; Mass Medication; The Bottled Water Phenomenon; The Problem is Us; Where Does Your Dog Go?; Unchecked Growth, Messing with the Cycle; MEETING THE CHALLENGES—CALIFORNIA’S WATER FUTURE: The Public Trust; Restoration; CALFED; The Debate Over Dams--Build More Behemoths? Offstream Dams? Raise Existing Dams? Raze Existing Dams? -- Storage in the Bank; Transfers: Water as a Commodity; Short-cutting the Cycle; Squeezing the Sponge; Clean Water; Lemonade from Lemons; What Future Do You Choose? California Water Timeline; Agencies and Organizations; References, Index
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America's Fight with Nature's Fire
Praeger, 2002
Praeger online catalog Amazon.com
Contents: Preface: America's Hundred Year's War on Wildfire; Part I: Questioning the Dogma of War; "Professional" versus "Indian Forestry;" Burning the Southern Woods; Harolds of Change; Only You; Harry the Torch; Part II: Who were Anti-War Activists of the 60s and 70s? Tall Timbers; Dog-hair Thickets in the National Parks; Burning California State Parks; National Fire Management; Part III: To Burn or Not to Burn, Is NOT the Question; Yellowstone, 1988; On the Edge; Escape!; Peaceful Coexistence; Bibliography; Index
"An important and timely work of wildland fire history. The voices in this book warn us about past mistakes that we must not repeat." Bruce Babbitt, Former Secretary of the Interior:
"Carle joins Ashley Schiff and Stephen Pyne as the preeminent fire historians of America. At a time when we are suffering the consequences of a century of fire suppression, Carle brings forth for the first time the story of the Western fire ecology pioneers, who began fighting for a more rationale fire policy in our Western fire environments. The careers of Harold Weaver and Harold Biswell, spun within the suffocating context of 20th century fire suppression, will be inspiring for new generations of fire managers and scientists." James Agee, Professor of Forest Ecology, University of Washington:
"Carle has done a great job of covering the story of the evolution of fire suppression to RX fire management over the past century. A lively narrative style picks up individual historical comments and conveys attitudes that portray the essential roles the Harolds and Komareks played in setting forth fires various functions in Southern and Western ecosystems. The patience and persistence of Biswell and Weaver, their students and colleagues, and researchers with the park service and forest service, are finally given fair recognition! And the stories of the 1910 fires, the 1988 Yellowstone fires, Oakland 1991, and the Cerro Grande fire of 2000 are all included!" Bruce M. Kilgore, formerly Associate Regional Director Science and Resources Management, Western Region, National Park Service:
"The nation is in its early stages of what could be called a 'paradigm shift' related to how both wildfire and controlled burning are addressed in natural resources management. This shift has been a long time coming and David Carle documents those changes through the stories of the pioneers in fire ecology and controlled burning and their disciples--and in a most entertaining fashion." Jack Ward Thomas,.Chief Emeritus, U.S. Forest Service, Boone and Crocket Professor of Wildlife Conservation, University of Montana:
MEDIA REVIEWS: CHOICE REVIEWS: "Carle offers a perceptive and informative discussion of this compelling ecological and natural resource management issue. The book provides an excellent background for understanding the continuing fire suppression versus prescribed burning dialogue and why current wildland fire issues are drawing national attention. Recommended for all readership levels and especially for scientists, resource managers, ecologists, and environmentalists. --M. J. Zwolinski, University of Arizona
E-STREAMS:
"...a detailed and highly readable history.... The heavy use of primary sources makes this work an invaluable window into a controversy which...has a widespread if little recognized impact on American culture and its approach to the use and management of woodland resources." --Robert B. Ridinger, Northern Illinois University
ENVIRONMENT (April, 2003):
"Recommended for anyone who wants to understand (at a deeper level than the dramatic but often misleading headline stories and television video footage) the role of fire in our public lands and how fire policy came to its current state." --Janice Coen, National Center for Atmospheric Research
Save-The-Redwoods-League:
This timely book chronicles the controversies of the last 100 years surrounding fire suppression and the debates over prescribed burning. The impacts of the effective public relations campaign of Smokey Bear begun in 1944 and the historic fires of Yellowstone and the Oakland Hills are detailed. An historical account of the prescribed burning in Calaveras Big Trees State Park pioneered in 1970 is particularly interesting.
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Drowning the Dream
California's Water Choices at the Millennium
Praeger Publishers. Westport, Conn. 2000. 256 pages
ISBN 0-275-96719-0. C6719
clothbound(hardcover); illustrated-- 20 photographs/prints, 6 maps
Greenwood Publishing Group
Amazon.com catalog webpage
Mono Lake Committee bookstore
NEW TITLE:
Water and the California Dream
Choices for the New Millennium
UC Press catalog page
Mono Lake Committee bookstore
** CONTENTS ** -- Introduction: Changes and Choices; Frontierland to Fantasyland: In Grizzly Days; Save the Cows... Horses Off the Cliffs; Gold Fever: Sick Forefathers; Statehood, State Hoods and State Laws; R&R Railroads and Real Estate, Citrus and Sunshine; Water Choices (1)--Eastern Sierra Water: Melodrama on the Right Side of California; Life in the Big City--How Did They Get Away With It?; Did They See Where They Were Going?; What If the Los Angeles Aqueduct Had Never Been Built?; Water Choices (2)--Colorado River Water: "And Lest Our City Shrivel and Die..."; Boom! Postwar, Postaqueduct Arrivals; People Fumes: Just Don't Inhale; Water Choices (3)--Northern California Water: The Northern End of the Pipe; Too Much Is Not Enough; Sprawling Gridlock; Tomorrowland: Today's Choice (1): Who Needs Farms?; Today's Choice (2): The Environment--Has Mono Lake Really Been Saved?; Visualizing Tomorrow--Just Say No to Water?; References; Index
**Endorsements:
"Water has always been the defining element in California's history, driving its dreams of expansion. Carle tells that story well--but what his inventive and informative text also demonstrates is that if the state does not turn back on its own history, its infatuation with limitless growth and the water to supply it may create a world too ugly to contemplate." T.H. Watkins, Wallace Stegner Professor of Western American Studies, Montana State University
"For anyone genuinely concerned with the continuing loss of a finer California, David Carle offers a high moral and technological challenge, together with a desperate (and perhaps final!) hope." Dr. Kevin Starr, State Librarian of California
"David Carle, born and raised in Orange County, knows first hand the changes in Southern California during the past 50 years. For 20 years, the ranger at Mono Lake Tufa State Reserve...learned how water exports can devastate a productive and scenic ecosystem....This book belongs in the hands of anyone interested in California's history and future." Sally Gaines, Co-founder, Mono Lake Committee
"For anyone at all interested in water issues in California, this book must go on your bookshelf alongside your DVD of Roman Polanski's Chinatown. Masterfully researching his subject--from newspaper clippings to first-person accounts--David has done a wonderful thing in his book. He not only brings the history of the state alive through his writing but he does something else--which I consider very difficult and very smart--he uses this history as a foundation for a deeper consideration of the future--for helping us understand where we might go from here."
Thomas Curwen, Deputy Book Editor, Los Angeles Times (introductory remarksfor LA Times Festival of Books author panel, April 30, 2000)
"Discussions of population and growth control are often difficult, but in Drowning the Dream David Carle brings a new, strongly reasoned approach to the table. In the process, Carle takes on the ultimate questions of California water politics: What kind of state do we want to live in? How much more growth does California really need? Can we keep the California Dream alive? California is naturally limited by its water supply...and, therefore, water can be the tool to limit the state's future growth naturally--once we finally abandon the untenable proposal that more water can always be found."
Geoffrey McQuilkin, Co-Executive Director , Mono Lake Committee
"A well documented history of boosterism, population growth, water development, and the loss of the quality of life in California. We have lost many of the natural and esthetic resources to reckless greed and growth in an exceedingly short time frame, but more losses are coming fast if we don't change our policies on water development and the population growth it enables. Carle brings the water development history current, i.e., the present CalFed bureaucratic attempt to restore fisheries, have water security for everyone, and end the water wars. Carle inspires us to save what is left of California. Californians can choose population growth control rather than the continuing spiral of population increase and never-ending demand for water in the water-short West. After reading this book I think most would agree that we had better hurry up and make this choice." Lee W. Miller, Fishery Scientist and Board Member of Californians for Population Stabilization
"Drowning the Dream dramatically illustrates the connections between water supplies and population growth. It clearly explains the role of water development in promoting sprawl. David Carle uses fascinating historical anecdotes and quotations to demonstrate the choices Californians have had in managing the water wealth of their state. He details the current threats to the most productive agricultural lands in the world and dares to question the inevitability of growth. He cautions us that indifference will allow growth to accelerate and makes a strong case for consciously choosing stability and sustainability." Rick Kattelmann, Ph.D; hydrologist, Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory
**Publisher's description:
Imported water has transformed the Golden State's environment and quality of life. In the last one hundred years, land ownership patterns and real estate boosterism have dramatically altered both urban and rural communities across the entire state. The key has been water from the Eastern Sierra, the Colorado River and, finally, Northern California rivers. "Whoever brings the water, brings the people" wrote engineer William Mullholland, whose leadership began the process of water irrigating unlimited growth. Using first-person voices of Californians to reveal the resulting changes, Carle concludes that the new millennium may be the time to stop drowning the California Dream.
With extensive use of oral histories, contemporary newspaper articles, and autobiographies, Carle provides a rich exploration of the historic change in California, showing that imported water has shaped the pattern of population growth in the state. Water choices remain the primary tool, he claims, for shaping California's future. The states damaged environment and reduced quality of life can be corrected if Californians will step out of their historic pattern and embrace limited water supplies as a fact of life in this naturally dry region.
Media Reviews
CHOICE Reviews , July 2000: "Carle's analysis of the impact of an ever-expanding need for water on the past and future of California is well done, so much so that his book has enormous value to those wrestling with issues of sustainability anywhere. This well-written study, which is suitable for anyone interested in growth and related environmental issues, joins other powerful books on water use in the West, e.g., Donald Worster's Rivers of Empire ...and Marc Reisner's Cadillac Desert . Overall, strongly recommended." -- J. W. Green, University of South Carolina--Spartanburg
NATURAL RESOURCES FORUM , United Nations, August, 2002: "...in any endlessly growing population, the challenges of dealing with fixed water supply become more and more difficult, the pressures to develop new sources become greater, and the risk of a renwal of ecological decline and loss returns. Any efforts we make will be undermined or even reversed by a population that continues to endlessly grow. Sustainability can only be achieved with a steady-state population, and while Carle is not the first to make this point, it deserves a higher place in the debate over our water future."
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION, March 22, 2001: "This outstanding book provides a concise and well-documented environmental history of California as context for the ongoing question: "Where will the water come from for the future?" The discussion of California's environmental history from the "Grizzly Days" to the railroad tycoons is very well done and provides a solid foundation for the discussion of water demand, supply, and manipulation by politicians, developers, and agribusinesses." Carle's review of California history should be required reading for all students in California schools. The most valuable part of the book, however, is the discussion rarely heard, "What if?" What if the Owens Valley project had not been built? What if the massive water bonds of 1960 had not passed--what would California look like today? These lead to the final discussion, "What should California do for the future?" Carle proposes a series of thoughtful and conservative steps California could take for a stable future. Unfortunately, like the "knockers" of earlier projects, who were most often correct, he is likely to be categorized as a backward thinker and buried by the "boomers" of today. --David Bainbridge
San Diego Union Tribune March 5, 2000 "It's no secret that California, particularly its Southland, has been involved in some of the most noxious water wars imaginable. The details of these down-and-dirty fights receive a fascinating airing..." -- Paula Friedman
Mammoth Times March 9, 2000 "Primary sources...were a big part of Carle's research; they bring voices from the past to life in this environmental history. [T]his book is ultimately hopeful and positive. By examining California's watery past, perhaps we can avoid making the same mistakes." -- Stacy Corliss
San Diego Union Tribune, March 15, 2000. Quest-Eureka, Daily Discoveries for the Scientifically Bent .
Page E2. "Using oral histories, newspapers, and autobiographical material Carle describes how California has been transformed by the distribution and use of water. Whoever brings the water, brings the people," said engineer William Mulholland. He was right."
Los Angeles Times April 5, 2000 "West Words:" "...none of it was inevitable, or so Carle argues, and he invites us to imagine what Los Angeles would have been like today if we had learned to live with the natural water resources of Southern California." -- Jonathan Kirsch
BookNews Using Californians' own voices to filter the impact of imported water on the Golden State's environment, the author concludes that the new century is high time to visualize alternatives to drowning dreams of the good life." -- Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
The Western Historical Quarterly Spring, 2001: "That the growth of the state...has depended upon enormous water diversions that have had terrible destructive environmental consequences is not a new story, although Carle...puts some interesting ecological spins on it. He also personalizes his narrative with interesting first-person recollections at significant points. He shows how each step in water development has led paradoxically to a dimming of the prospect of the California dream for the ordinary people of the state." -- Robert Bonner, Carleton College
The Western Historical Quarterly Winter, 2004 (Review of paperback edition): "In his conclusion, Carle turns to contemporary environmental issues facing California and here he does a good job delineating how ecological disaster can only be avoided through population control. And he analyzes how such control can only be achieved if increased water supply is perceived as part of the problem--and not part of the solution. The books final chapter...is a thoughtful consideration of the urban West's future that deserves a wide readership." --Donald C. Jackson, Lafayette College
Several readers reviews can be found on the Amazon.com catalog webpage
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Mono Lake Viewpoint
Mono Lake Committee bookstore
Artemisia Press, Lee Vining, CA. 1992. 128 pages
ISBN 0-932347-06-1
paperback; illustrated by Carl Dennis Buell
A collection of entertaining and factual essays on Mono Lake. Tufa State Reserve ranger Carle writes fondly of birds, brine shrimp, hay fever and freezing fog. The illustrator, Carl Buell, captures the mood of the landscape and animals. A sensitive and accurate description of the natural history and moods of Mono Lake. This is a collection of essays on Mono Lake compiled from a regular column in the Mammoth Times . Ranger Carle knows his subject well enough to write entertainingly and fondly of birds, brine shrimp, tufa, tourists, hay fever and freezing fog. His humor is matched by his knowledge of the natural world and his skill with words.
CONTENTS: Beginnings: Beginnings; Mono Lake Gourmet; A Star is Born; Tufa Thoughts; Spring: Is It Spring Yet?; Flies of Fancy; The Once and Future Shrimp; The Annual Invasion of Mono Lake; The Natural History of the Easter Bunny; What's Biting You? Summer: The Longest Day; A Love Story; The Phalarope; Take a Tour; Tsk Tsk Tamarisk; A Summer Gathering and a Woman Scorned; Autumn: Falling!; The Mystery of the Red-eyed Bird; Noses, Roses and Roots; Drought Dreams; Winter: Happy Quiet; Pogonip; Ouzel Omens; Some Winter Voices; In Search of Happily Ever After: Drain It and Pave It; Money Talk$; In Search of Happily Ever After; Ten Years Later
Author's note: I've been told that we should have put the retail price much higher on this book; that people will not value it adequately otherwise. But the publisher and I aimed to keep the price down; books cost too much these days! The wonderful line drawing illustrations and cover illustration by Carl Dennis Buell make this book worth the price, alone.
Review:
"A witty, easy-to-read tribute to the little mysteries that make the Mono Basin unique. Above all Carle maintains an imaginative approach to his
material. Carle has ingenuously turned this book of facts and expertise into delightful tales of the Mono Basin, to be shared by everyone."
Denise LaVerde for the newsletter of the Mono Lake Committee
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The Frontier Odyssey of Constable John F. Kirgan
by Bill Merrell with David Carle
Foreward by Stanley W. Paher
75 illustrations, including 15 color photographs
Published by Nevada Publications, June, 2003. purchase from Friends of Bodie online
or from Stephens Press
After serving with the 1st Illinois Regiment in the Mexican War, John Franklin Kirgan made his way westward, where his saga intersected with that of the new state of California's constitutional convention in 1850. Years later, the Comstock excitement brought Kirgan to Carson City and a stint as a prison guard at the Nevada State Prison. Finally, fate delivered him to Bodie in 1877, where he worked as constable, jailer, and deputy sheriff during the mining town's boom years. Serving as the "boss lawman" of Bodie was the culmination of Kirgan's life--an odyssey that placed him in contact with the emerging history of the American West. Merrell unearthed the story of a Western lawman who was responsible for law enforcement in a violent town far better known for its "Badmen of Bodie." Carle finished the final chapters of the book and prepared it for publication after Merrell passed away with his text unfinished.
CONTENTS: Foreward (photo essays): Commerce; Gambling & Saloons; Mining & Speculation; Bodies 'High' School; A 20th Century Tribute to Contable Kirgan's Castle; Fire; Bodie Outside and In; At Home in Bodie; Transportation; Law and Disorder; Constable Kirgans Bodie (maps); Part I - The Mexican War: Buena Vista; Prarie Horizons; The Ravine; Part II - California and Nevada: North with the Cavalry; The Mysterious Mr. Houston; Penal Politics in Nevada; Part III - Boss Lawman of Bodie: Bound for Bodie; A Most Gentlemanly Attendant; The Alex Nixon Affair; Yellow Gold in Spangles; Nothing But a Plain Marble Headstone; The Tiger and George Daly; Part IV - Badmen of Bodie: The Man Who Brings Them In; The Miners War; Many Homicides, No Convictions; He Stands Well Among the People; 'A Crime Sitting in Judgement on Degradation; Hanged by Judge Lynch; Notes; References; Index
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by David Carle and Don Banta
Will be published November 2008 by Arcadia Publishing in the "Images of America" series
Mono Lake
dominates the volcanic landscape east of the Sierra Nevada between
Yosemite National Park and Nevada. The lake’s unusual water
chemistry produces algae and brine shrimp, feeding millions of birds
and creating strange mineral formations called tufa, for which the
lake is famed. From the early days of the Kuzedika Paiutes to the
arrival of miners and settlers in the late 19th century, the lake has
stood sentinel for the surrounding camps, mines, and towns. Around
the lake, the town of Lee Vining has served travelers and residents
since 1926, and Carson Camp has been a recreational destination for
generations. Some of the world’s earliest hydroelectric plants
were established here, and Los Angeles began diverting streams and
channeling their waters beneath the Mono Craters to the city’s
aqueduct in the 1940s. Impacts of those water diversions gradually
became apparent, generating controversy around this otherwise placid
landscape.
Authors Don Banta, a 75-year Lee Vining resident,
and David Carle, a Mono Lake ranger for 19 years, present here a
collection of vintage Mono Lake photography. Working with archival
materials from local families and the Mono Lake Committee, Carle and
Banta show the lake, its environs, and its history through stirring
imagery, including the lengthy court battle over the lake and its
tributary creeks.
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You can e-mail David Carle at carle@qnet.com last updated August 23, 2008