With its rich evolutionary record of natural systems and long history of human activity, the Chesapeake Bay provides an excellent example of how a great estuary has responded to the powerful forces of human settlement and environmental change. Discovering the Chesapeake explores all of the long-term changes the Chesapeake has undergone and uncovers the inextricable connections among land, water, and humans in this unusually delicate ecosystem. Edited by a historian, a paleobiologist, and a geologist at the Johns Hopkins University and written for general readers, the book brings together experts in various disciplines to consider the truly complex and interesting environmental history of the Chesapeake and its watershed. Chapters explore a variety of topics, including the natural systems of the watershed and their origins; the effects of human interventions ranging from Indian slash-and-burn practices to changing farming techniques; the introduction of pathogens, both human and botanical; the consequences of the oyster's depletion; the response of bird and animal life to environmental factors introduced by humans; and the influence of the land and water on the people who settled along the Bay. Discovering the Chesapeake, originating in two conferences sponsored by the National Science Foundation, achieves a broad historical and scientific appreciation of the various processes that shaped the Chesapeake region. "Today's Chesapeake Bay is only some ten thousand years old. What a different world it was . . . when the region was the home of the ground sloth, giant beaver, dire wolf, mastodon, and other megafauna. In the next few thousand years, the ice may form again and the Bay will once more be the valley of the Susquehanna, unless, of course, human-induced changes in climate create some other currently unpredictable condition."—from the Introduction

Discovering the Chesapeake explores all of the long-term changes the Chesapeake has undergone and uncovers the inextricable connections among land, water, and humans in this unusually delicate ecosystem.

This richly illustrated, informative, and inviting book intertwines two fascinating stories of discovery. The first, among the earliest classics of New World adventure, recounts Captain John Smith's exploration of Chesapeake Bay 400 years ago; the second revisits this stunning landscape as it is today-- both to showcase its still-unspoiled splendors and to issue a timely warning of looming threats to its vibrant but fragile ecology. Dozens of dazzling full-color contemporary photographs evoke the Chesapeake spirit in all its many moods, while a wonderfully wide-ranging selection of archival images span the four centuries since John Smith first sailed, rowed, and wandered its woods and waterways, mapping the wilderness shores of an untamed America. The author, a veteran naturalist at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, has spent decades leading tours and teaching classes about the region. An ideal guide, he shares both his delight in the Bay's glorious diversity and his deep concern for its future. In addition, his unique blend of experience, environmental sensitivity, and historical expertise offers modern visitors a rare opportunity to discover the Chesapeake as Smith did so long ago, leaving beaten paths and familiar waters behind to learn why Congress will soon designate it as the first of America's official National Historic Water Trails. For history buffs, conservationists, armchair travelers, tourists planning a trip, and anyone who simply loves first-rate nature photography, this beautiful book more than meets the high standard readers have come to expect from National Geographic.

“The best-written and best-illustrated guide ever about a North American tidal estuary. It is the model for all future coastal nature guides.” —Whole Earth Review Life in the Chesapeake Bay is the most important book ever published on America’s largest estuary. Since publication of the first edition in 1984, tens of thousands of naturalists, boaters, fishermen, and conservationists have relied on the book’s descriptions of the Bay’s plants, animals, and diverse habitats. Superbly illustrated and clearly written, this acclaimed guide describes hundreds of plants and animals and their habitats, from diamondback terrapins to blue crabs to hornshell snails. Now in its third edition, the book has been updated with a new gallery of thirty-nine color photographs and dozens of new species descriptions and illustrations. The new edition retains the charm of an engaging classic while adding a decade of new research. This classic guide to the plants and animals of the Chesapeake Bay will appeal to a variety of readers—year-round residents and summer vacationers, professional biologists and amateur scientists, conservationists and sportsmen. “Handsome, generously illustrated . . . All of the Bay’s richness is catalogued here.” —The Washington Post Book World “A story book, a field guide and a reference work, and anyone interested in fishing, ecology, or our bay should own it.” —The Baltimore Sun “The region’s quintessential field and reference guide.” —Chesapeake Life Magazine “One of the most popular, well written, and useful guides to the Chesapeake.” —Northeastern Naturalist

Adventures along the Star-Spangled Banner Trail. Winner of the Association of Partners for Public Lands Media Partnership Award of the Association of Partners for Public Lands All but forgotten by Americans, the War of 1812 (1812–1815) was a dramatic watershed for the young, groundbreaking United States Republic. Ill-prepared to fight the powerful English nation, the U.S. struggled through three years of conflict but emerged more unified with new patriotic symbols like the "Star-Spangled Banner." Much of the fighting occurred in the Chesapeake region and this new book, In Full Glory Reflected, uncovers its gripping stories of devastating raids, heroic defense, gallant privateers, fugitive slaves, and threatened lands. The historic tales unfold with a lively narrative, well over a hundred vivid illustrations, and clear maps to follow the action. In addition, a travel section provides a rich guide for adventurers who want to step back 200 years and explore the tidewater world where the war was fought. In Full Glory Reflected is an enchanting invitation to travel the Star- Spangled Banner National Historic Trail and discover the amazing world of our ancestors.

Whether you want to see snow geese and trumpeter swans pausing in their northward migration each March, or the mating jubileeof polychaete worms during the new moon in May, A Year across Maryland offers valuable advice for the spontaneous adventurer and the serious planner alike.

As Schmidt circles the Bay counterclockwise from Jamestown, she explores Smith's encounters with Native Americans and the Bay's ecological changes over the past hundred years. On each river and creek, she quotes Smith's journals on matching wits with Powhatan, meeting Pocahontas, surviving thunderstorms, ambush, and a stingray's barb. Anchored on wild creeks, Schmidt observes swans and dragonflies, lightning and sunsets; in port she interviews colorful characters and working watermen about blue crabs and oysters.