The Road to El Cielo: Mexico's Forest in the Clouds (Treasures of Nature Series) - Hardcover

Webster, Fred; Webster, Marie S.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0292791402 ISBN 13: 9780292791404

Publisher: University of Texas Press, 2002

Synopsis

Hidden high in the Sierra de Guatemala mountain range of northeastern Mexico in the state of Tamaulipas is the northernmost tropical cloud forest of the Western Hemisphere. Within its humid oak-sweetgum woodlands, tropical and temperate species of plants and animals mingle in rare diversity, creating a mecca for birders and other naturalists.

Fred and Marie Webster first visited Rancho del Cielo, cloud forest home of Canadian immigrant Frank Harrison, in 1964, drawn by the opportunity to see such exotic birds as tinamous, trogons, motmots, and woodcreepers only 500 miles from their Austin, Texas, home. In this book, they recount their many adventures as researchers and tour leaders from their base at Rancho del Cielo, interweaving their reminiscences with a history of the region and of the struggle by friends from both sides of the border to have some 360,000 acres of the mountain declared an area protected from exploitation—El Cielo Biosphere Reserve. Their firsthand reporting, enlivened with vivid tales of the people, land, and birds of El Cielo, adds an engagingly personal chapter to the story of conservation in Mexico.

About this title

About the Author:

Fred (1915–2011) and Marie S. Webster spent over sixty years birding together. Their writings appeared for many years in Audubon Field Notes (now American Birds) and other publications.

Review:

"The Websters have produced an entertaining and informative account of a magical place... Their book should be of interest not only to those familiar with El Cielo or with other natural areas in Mexico, but also to anyone drawn to natural history, travel, and memorable places." Lane Simonian, author of Defending the Land of the Jaguar: A History of Conservation in Mexico

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Texas Press
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0292791402
• ISBN 13: 9780292791404
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 311