Sagebrush Heart: Sagebrush Landscape of Elko County, Nevada

Sagebrush Heart describes the sagebrush landscape and the problems faced by Elko County in protecting and rehabilitating this landscape. It is written for the people who have sagebrush in their peripheral vision, readers who either live in, or travel through, this distinctive landscape. The book begins in the past by describing this landscape and its natural history, including highly adapted plants and animals, native peoples and geology. It turns to the present to describe the current conditions, much of it based on the decline of sagebrush and those animals dependent on sagebrush. It depicts the increase in cheatgrass and the changes in range fires. The book looks to the future as it describes the hopes, new ideas, and collaborative efforts of federal agencies, ranchers, miners and local groups to save this fragile ecosystem.
Carefully researched facts are checked by experts in the particular subject. The writing is positive, with no desire to bash anyone or assign blame. It focuses on successes rather than failures. Its central message is the sagebrush steppe and the Nevada people addressing its ecological problems.