Synopsis
Winner of the Midwest Book Award, Kansas Notable Book Award, Hamlin Garland Prize, and the Ferguson Book Award
Since the last wild bison found refuge on the back of a nickel, the public image of natural Kansas has progressed from Great American Desert to dust bowl to flyover country that has been landscaped, fenced, and farmed. But look a little harder, George Frazier suggests, and you can find the last places where tenacious stretches of prairie, forest, and wetland cheat death and incubate the DNA of lost, wild America. Documenting three years spent roaming the state in search of these hidden treasures, The Last Wild Places of Kansas is Frazier's idiosyncratic and eye-opening travelogue of nature's secret holdouts in the Sunflower State.
These are places where extirpated mammalian species are making comebacks; where flying squirrels leap between centuries-old trees lit by the unearthly green glow of foxfire; where cold springs feed ancient watercress pools; where the ice moon paints the Smoky Hill with memories of the buffalo wolf and the lonesome rattle of false indigo; where the blue lid of the sky forms a vacuum seal over treeless pastel hills, orange in winter; where bluestem rises. Some are impossible to find on maps. Most are magnificently bereft of anything beneficial to 99.9 percent of modern America. True wildernesses they may not be, but at the correct angle of light, when the wind blows pollen carrying biological memories of the glaciers, these places are a crack between the worlds, portals to the lost buffalo wilderness.
En route Frazier takes us from the unexpected wilds of the Kansas City suburbs to the Cimarron National Grassland in the far southwestern corner of the state. He visits ancient springs, shares a beer with prairie dog hunters, and fails in his mission to canoe the upper Marais des Cygnes―a trip that requires permission from every landowner on the route. Along the way we encounter a host of curious characters―ranchers, farmers, Native Americans, explorers, wildlife experts, and outdoor enthusiasts―all fellow travelers in a quest to know, preserve, and share the last wild places of Kansas.
These are places where extirpated mammalian species are making comebacks; where flying squirrels leap between centuries-old trees lit by the unearthly green glow of foxfire; where cold springs feed ancient watercress pools; where the ice moon paints the Smoky Hill with memories of the buffalo wolf and the lonesome rattle of false indigo; where the blue lid of the sky forms a vacuum seal over treeless pastel hills, orange in winter; where bluestem rises. Some are impossible to find on maps. Most are magnificently bereft of anything beneficial to 99.9 percent of modern America. True wildernesses they may not be, but at the correct angle of light, when the wind blows pollen carrying biological memories of the glaciers, these places are a crack between the worlds, portals to the lost buffalo wilderness.
En route Frazier takes us from the unexpected wilds of the Kansas City suburbs to the Cimarron National Grassland in the far southwestern corner of the state. He visits ancient springs, shares a beer with prairie dog hunters, and fails in his mission to canoe the upper Marais des Cygnes―a trip that requires permission from every landowner on the route. Along the way we encounter a host of curious characters―ranchers, farmers, Native Americans, explorers, wildlife experts, and outdoor enthusiasts―all fellow travelers in a quest to know, preserve, and share the last wild places of Kansas.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
George Frazier is a software developer and writer whose work has appeared in such venues as Canoe & Kayak and Wild Earth.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Other Popular Editions of the Same Title
Search results for The Last Wild Places of Kansas: Journeys into Hidden...
Stock Image
The Last Wild Places of Kansas: Journeys into Hidden Landscapes
Published by
University Press of Kansas, 2016
ISBN 10: 0700622195
ISBN 13: 9780700622191
Used
Hardcover
Seller: Mispah books, Redhill, SURRE, United Kingdom
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
hardcover. Condition: Good. Good. Dust Jacket NOT present. CD WILL BE MISSING. . SHIPS FROM MULTIPLE LOCATIONS. book. Seller Inventory # ERICA82907006221953
Buy Used
US$ 213.16
US$ 33.82 shipping
Ships from United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Ships from United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Quantity: 1 available