We would like to recognize the influence of a few very key contributors to the making of this book. Linda Parke of Raven Book Design (ravenbookdesign.com) designed this book and played a significant editorial role. This book would be very different without her influence. She guided this project with an intrinsic passion. Linda grew up on a ranch in the Cariboo region of British Columbia, Canada, and feels a deep connection with her rural roots. A graduate of the Alberta College of Art & Design, Linda is grounded in a shared love of books, stories, words, design, paper, history, image, and narrative. When she’s not designing books, she can be found playing old-time tunes on her grandmother’s fiddle.

As one of the world’s leading sustainable, Earth-friendly printing houses, Hemlock Printers provided critical guidance and expertise in the environmentally sound production and distribution of this book. Their thorough commitment to continually advancing and redefining environmental best practices in all phases of production—paper, consumables, emissions, resource consumption, recycling and reuse, industry education, and operating philosophy—allowed us to create a book with the lowest environmental impact and highest artistic presence (hemlock.com/company/sustainability).

As with most every other endeavor in our lives for the past 30 years, we would like to thank our 3 boys for their sway on this book: Ryan, for his discerning aesthetic; Evan, for his special vantage point; and, Dillon, for his percipient view and valued editorial input. All their feedback, discussions, criticism, and support kept us on the right course.

We would like to thank Kate Kennedy for applying her indispensable editing prowess to this book. John Mark Taylor also lent a very needed editorial helping hand. We owe thanks to Larry Donahue from Law 4 Small Business, P.C. (L4SB) for his expert counsel.

A few remarkable artists deserve special mention and thanks. Christina Sporrong created TaranTula, featured in a photograph on the cover of this book. She has used her sculptures to make inspired statements about the wild Earth and the dangers it faces. Don Kennell’s sculptures, including Blue Gorilla, Green Coyote, and Road Runner, present in 3 photographs in this book, are part of his purposeful body of work on wild animals and their relationship with the human world. Fredrick Prescott’s compelling animal sculptures command a presence for nature wherever they reside.