Island Press began with a simple idea: knowledge is power—the power to imagine a better future and find ways for getting us there. Founded in 1984, Island Press’ mission is to provide the best ideas and information to those seeking to understand and protect the environment and create solutions to its complex problems.
Trains, Buses, People
An Opinionated Atlas of US Transit
In Trains, Buses, People: An Opinionated Atlas of US Transit, transportation expert Christof Spieler shows how cities can build successful transit.
He profiles the 47 metropolitan areas in the US that have rail transit or BRT, using data, photos, and maps for easy comparison. The best and worst systems are ranked and Spieler offers analysis of how geography, politics, and history complicate transit planning. In this fun and accessible guide, he shows how the unique circumstances of every city have resulted in very different transit systems. In the end, Trains, Buses, People shows that it is possible with the right tools to build good transit.
Designing Climate Solutions
A Policy Guide for Low-Carbon Energy
The Great Lakes Water Wars
With three new chapters and significant revisions that bring the story up to date over the past decade, this is the definitive behind-the-scenes account of the people and stories behind hard-fought battles to protect this precious resource that makes the region so special for the millions who call it home.
Ecology and Recovery of Eastern Old-Growth Forests
The Food Sharing Revolution
How Start-Ups, Pop-Ups, and Co-Ops are Changing the Way We Eat
Adapting Cities to Sea Level Rise
Green and Gray Strategies
Adapting Cities to Sea Level Rise, by infrastructure expert Stefan Al, introduces design responses to sea-level rise, drawing from examples around the globe. Going against standard engineering solutions, Al argues for approaches that are integrated with the public realm, nature-based, and sensitive to local conditions and the community. He features design responses to building resilience that creates new civic assets for cities.
With the right solution, Al shows, sea-level rise can become an opportunity to improve our urban areas and landscapes, rather than a threat to our communities.
Life After Carbon
The Next Global Transformation of Cities
Life After Carbon presents the new ideas that are replacing the pillars of the modern-city model, converting climate disaster into urban opportunity, and shaping the next transformation of cities worldwide. It will inspire anyone who cares about the future of our cities, and help them to map a sustainable path forward.
The Farm Bill
A Citizen's Guide
Urbanism Without Effort
Reconnecting with First Principles of the City
A whirlwind global tour, Urbanism Without Effort offers readers inspiration, historical context, and a better understanding of how an inviting urban environment is created.
Grain by Grain
A Quest to Revive Ancient Wheat, Rural Jobs, and Healthy Food
When Bob Quinn was a kid, a stranger at a county fair gave him a few kernels of an unusual grain. Years later, it would become the centerpiece of his multimillion dollar heirloom grain company, Kamut International. How Bob went from being a true believer in better farming through chemistry to a leading proponent of organics is the unlikely story of Grain by Grain. Along the way, readers will learn how ancient wheat can lower inflammation, how regenerative agriculture can bring back rural jobs, and how combining time-tested farming practices with modern science can point the way for the future of food.
Naturalist 25th Anniversary Edition
At once practical and lyric, Naturalist provides fascinating insights into the making of a scientist, and a valuable look at some of the most thought-provoking ideas of our time. As relevant today as when it was first published twenty-five years ago, Naturalist is a poignant reminder of the human side of science and an inspiring call to celebrate the little things of the world.
Water is for Fighting Over
and Other Myths about Water in the West
"Illuminating." —New York Times
WIRED's Required Science Reading 2016
When we think of water in the West, we think of conflict and crisis. Yet despite decades of headlines warning of mega-droughts, the death of agriculture, and the collapse of cities, the Colorado River basin has thrived in the face of water scarcity. John Fleck shows how western communities, whether farmers and city-dwellers or U.S. environmentalists and Mexican water managers, actually have a promising record of conservation and cooperation. Rather than perpetuate the myth “Whiskey's for drinkin', water's for fightin' over," Fleck urges readers to embrace a new, more optimistic narrative—a future where the Colorado continues to flow.
The Grand Food Bargain
and the Mindless Drive for More
Through beautifully-told stories from around the world, Kevin Walker reveals the unintended consequences of our myopic focus on quantity over quality. By the end of the journey, we not only understand how the drive to produce ever more food became hardwired into the American psyche, but why shifting our mindset is essential.
Holistic Management Handbook, Third Edition
Regenerating Your Land and Growing Your Profits
This new edition, thoroughly revised, updated, and streamlined offers step-by-step instructions for running a ranch or farm using a holistic management approach. Ranchers, farmers, and anyone working to address global environmental degradation will find this comprehensive handbook an indispensable guide to putting the holistic management concept into action with tangible results.
Protecting Pollinators
How to Save the Creatures that Feed Our World
Protecting Pollinators breaks down the latest science on environmental threats and takes readers inside the most promising conservation efforts. Efforts range from cities creating butterfly highways to citizen scientists monitoring migration.
Along with inspiring stories of revival and lessons from failed projects, readers will find practical tips to get involved. And they will be reminded of the magic of pollinators—the iconic monarchs, dainty hummingbirds, and homely bats alike who bring food to our tables.
Corridor Ecology, Second Edition
Linking Landscapes for Biodiversity Conservation and Climate Adaptation
This second edition of Corridor Ecology: Linking Landscapes for Biodiversity Conservation and Climate Adaptation captures advances in the field over the past ten years. It features a new chapter on marine corridors and the effects of climate change on habitat, as well as a discussion of corridors in the air for migrating flying species. Practitioners, land managers, and scholars of ecology will find it an indispensable resource.
Vacant to Vibrant
Creating Successful Green Infrastructure Networks
Landscape architects and other professionals whose work involves urban greening will learn new approaches for creating infrastructure networks and facilitating more equitable access to green space.
The Heart of the City
Creating Vibrant Downtowns for a New Century
This book will help public officials, civic organizations, downtown business property owners, and people who care about cities learn from successful recent actions in downtowns across the country, and expand opportunities facing their downtown. Garvin provides recommendations for continuing actions to help any downtown thrive, ensuring a prosperous and thrilling future for the 21st-century American city.
True Roots
What Quitting Hair Dye Taught Me about Health and Beauty
So Ronnie decided to ditch the dye and go in search of answers. What are the risks of hair dye? Are there safer alternatives? Will I still feel like me when I have gray hair?
True Roots follows her journey from dark dyes to a silver crown of glory, from fear of aging to embracing natural beauty. Along the way, women of all ages can learn to protect themselves from dangerous products and discover a new hair story—one built on individuality, health, and truth.
Climate Action Planning
A Guide to Creating Low-Carbon, Resilient Communities
Climate Action Planning is the most comprehensive book on the state of the art, science, and practice of local climate action planning. It should be a first stop for any local government interested in addressing climate change.