The Colorado Plateau IV: Shaping Conservation Through Science and Management

Roughly centered on the Four Corners region of the southwestern United States, the Colorado Plateau covers some 130,000 square miles of sparsely vegetated plateaus, mesas, canyons, arches, and cliffs in Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. With elevations ranging from 3,000 to 14,000 feet, the natural systems found within the plateau are dramatically varied, from desert to alpine conditions.

This book focuses on the integration of science into resource management issues in this unique and highly varied environment. Broken into three subsections, this volume addresses conservation biology, biophysical resources, and inventory and monitoring concerns. The chapters range in content, addressing conservation issues---past, present, and future---on the Colorado Plateau, measurement of human impacts on resources, grazing and wildland-urban interfaces, and tools and methods for monitoring habitats and species.

An informative read for people interested in the conservation and natural history of the region, the book will also serve as a valuable reference for those people engaged in the management of cultural and biological resources of the Colorado Plateau, as well as scientists interested in methods and tools for land and resource management throughout the West.

Charles van Riper III is currently a professor in the School of Natural and Renewable Resources and the Environment at the University of Arizona. He is also a station leader for the SBSC Sonoran Desert Research Station at the University of Arizona. He is the coeditor of several other books, including the first three volumes of The Colorado Plateau, all published by the University of Arizona Press.
Brian F. Wakeling is the Big Game Program supervisor for the Arizona Department of Game and Fish.
Thomas D. Sisk is an ecologist and the Director of Graduate Programs at the Center for Sustainable Environments at Northern Arizona University.