DAYS AFIELD click here to veiw the cover
EXPLORING WETLANDS IN THE CHESAPEAKE BAY REGION
WILLIAM S. SIPPLE
Since moving to Maryland in 1971, the author has maintained an extensive journal on his outdoor experiences exploring and studying the Chesapeake Bay Region’s wetlands. Days Afield is a spin-off of his journal. The book represents considerable field work in the Chesapeake Bay Region -- somewhere in excess of 1,500 site visits. Various anecdotal accounts of the Sipple’s experiences should make the book interesting to natural history and outdoor enthusiasts. Professionals working in the field will also find it invaluable, as the book incorporates considerable literature on the Region's wetlands. Many aspects of wetland ecology, biology, processes, dynamics, and management are presented, including dramatic and deploring man-induced changes to the Region’s wetlands.
Chapter One includes a running dialogue between an instructor (the author) and his students as he takes the readers down the Delmarva Peninsula on one of the overnight field trips he annually led for the Graduate School, U.S. Department of Agriculture between 1972 and 1990. Chapter Two is on freshwater marshes, both nontidal and tidal.Chapter Three addresses the extensive brackish tidal marshes of Dorchester and Somerset Counties, which total about 135,000 acres and are so important to waterfowl and furbearers. To complete the range of tidal marshes in the Region, the low diversity but highly productive salt marshes of Maryland's coastal bays are discussed in Chapter Four. The unique Pocomoke River and the nifty Nanticoke River watersheds are treated separately in Chapters Five and Six. The mysterious potholes of the Delmarva Peninsula, interesting nontidal depressional wetlands, are addressed in Chapter Seven. For a number of years, the author has been interested in the botanical finds of a turn-of-the-century botanist, Dr. Charles C. Plitt, who regularly led field excursions into what he called the "wilds of Anne Arundel." Chapter Eight is devoted to Plitt’s exploits in Anne Arundel County, as well as some unique bog sites apparently unknown to Dr. Plitt. During the 1980s and 1990s, the author annually led a number of field excursions in the Chesapeake Bay Region with an informal group of botanical enthusiasts. Verbatim accounts of some of these forays are presented in Chapter Nine. The last chapter covers examples of a number of small but interesting Western Shore streams collectively referred to as the Sleepers -- namely, Severn Run, Piscataway Creek, Mattawoman Creek, Zekiah Swamp Run, and the St. Mary's River. Indices to plant and animal scientific names and common names are also included.
Days Afield is a 6 x 9, perfect bound, glossy paper-cover book with xiv + 560 pages and 75 photos/illustrations. Published for the author by Gateway Press, Inc. in 1999. ISBN 0-9673028-1-1
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Please send me___copies of Days Afield: Exploring Wetlands in the Chesapeake Bay Region at $19.95 each, plus $2.00 shipping and handling for the first copy and $.50 each for shipping and handling of additional copies (Maryland residents add 5% sales tax). Note: Although published through Gateway Press, Inc., this book is available only through the author and book stores. For further information, contact the author by phone (410-987-4083), E-mail (bsip333@aol.com), or mail (see below).
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Please make checks or money orders payable to William S. Sipple and mail remittance along with this order form to:
William S. Sipple
512 Red Bluff Court
Millersville, MD 21108
(AVAILABLE IN AUGUST 1999)
