A transfixing memoir, Celtic Tides is the vivid account of the first ever circumnavigation of Ireland by kayak.  Told with sensitivity and care, Duff's odyssey is about a lone man and a capricious sea and its moods of tranquillity and contrasting terror.  But the book is more than an adventure story.  It's also about haunting beauty, ancient history, and spiritual renewal found along the storm-lashed coasts of an enchanting land.
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. History-Biography Category .

 

Biographies don't get any better than this.  Supremely well researched and documented, erudite, and masterfully written, this book isn't so much about what happened to Mallory in 1924 when he and his climbing partner Irvine disappeared in the mists of Mt. Everest, but rather it seeks the answer to another, almost more fascinating question:  who was this man Mallory?  This is the book to read to find the answer.
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Wildlife Wars is the absorbing story of one man's 30-year struggle to protect wildlife in America.  This is what it's like on the front lines.  Terry Grosz, a natural and gifted story teller, brings us face to face with a captivating cast of characters--on both sides of the law--as he matches wits with poachers, commercial hunters, and others who are bent on destroying America's natural heritage.  If you start this book, you won't want to put it down.  It's that good. 
 

And the second winner in the Nature and Environment Category is . . .

Winner: Penguin Planet: Their World, Our World
By Kevin Schafer.  Published by NorthWord Press

Some of the most endearing creatures of all of nature are penguins. They've often been photographed, but never have they been captured in such vivid detail and in all their intimate and strutting glory as in Penguin Planet. But Kevin Schafer not only takes sumptuous pictures, he writes well in an engaging style, generously complementing an affectionate portrait of the world's most popular bird.

This sweet and tender tale is about a baby's shoe which is lost while a family is picking blueberries.  A wondrous scene unfolds as a sequence of creatures come along and sleep and play with the shoe.  One, a bear, even thinks he might eat the shoe. Filled with colorful and enchanting illustrations and marvelously written, it's a book that will delight children and reassure their sense of belonging to the natural world.  (For ages 4-10).  More Information.
 

And the second winner in the Children's Category is . . .

Winner:Jellies: The Life of Jellyfish
Twig C. George.  Published by the Millbrook Press

Beautifully photographed, Jellies is an extraordinary book which manages to make science appeal to the minds and hearts of children.  It's rich in facts about this fascinating creature of the sea, but even richer in imagination and the joy of discovery.  (For ages 8-10)
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The National Outdoor Leadership School is one of the outdoor world's most respected wilderness education programs.  They were one of the first schools to extensively promote and instruct wilderness users in the techniques of treading lightly and minimizing impact on the outdoors.  This is their manual: a compilation of many years of experience, a backpacker's handbook filled with practical and well-tempered advice about equipment, planning, clothing, traveling, navigation, and safety.
 

Traveling the world for eight decades, mountaineer, explorer, scientist and cartographer Bradford Washburn has documented the world's landscapes like no other. This is his life's work as seen through his own camera: one hundred large format mountain photographs, all exquisitely reproduced.  The book includes a short interview with Washburn, but it is the photos which speak volumes about him and his artistic genius.

Winner: Guide to Marine Mammals & Turtles of the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico 
By Kate Wynne and Malia Schwartz
Illustrated by Garth Mix
Published by Rhode Island Sea Grant, University of Rhode Island
 

This is an extraordinarily well done and easy-to-use guidebook that will help you identify marine mammals while traveling the coastal waters of the east. Printed on water-resistant paper, it covers whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, manatee and turtles.  It's truly a model guidebook.  Each and every detail has been designed with user convenience in mind, from its organization and lay-out, to its photographs and map graphics, to its carefully researched and understandable writing.  More Information.
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Well designed and written, this is a splendid sea kayaking guide.  The authors do what should be done in all guidebooks: show they're having fun!   Even if you've never dipped a paddle, you'll be drawn in by the book's cheery personality.  And then there's the maps.  Created with the reader in mind, they are gems--pleasing to look at, easy to grasp, and accurate. More Information.
 

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Honorable Mention: Montana and Idaho's Continental Divide Trail
By Lynna Howard
Photography By Leland Howard

In the design department, this book tops the chart: artistic, full-color photos, eminently usable maps, elevation charts, trail access symbols, and user friendly lay-out throughout.  If you're planning on doing some hiking on the Continental trail, this is the book to get. More Information from Publisher.  More Information from Author. 
 

What can be said of Sand County Almanac?  It is simply one of the great works of nature literature and from it has sprung the environmental movement.  This special edition of Sand County Almanac, published by the original publisher, is a tribute to Leopold, commemorating the one-hundredth anniversary of his birth.  It was over 50 years ago that the book was first published, but his words and insights are as fresh as ever.
 

Natalie Bartley, Boise, ID 
Former U.S. Air Force outdoor trainer and Outward Bound Instructor. Freelance writer and book reviewer.  Serves on the Association of Experiential Education’s Publications Advisory Committee and holds of Doctorate in Recreation and Leisure Services. 

Jerry Dixon, Seward, AK
Biologist, former smokejumper, guide, author (South Fork of the Salmon: Wild and Free), teacher of gifted children, and Alaska's Christa McAuliffe Fellow.

Susanne Dubrouillet, State College, PA
Past Program Director, Clemson Expeditions, South Carolina. Program Director and Senior Trip Leader, America’s Adventure, Colorado.  Currently working with Time Wise, a youth-at-risk program at Penn State University.  Masters in Outdoor Education. 

Laura Erickson, Duluth, MN. 
Ornithologist (600 birds on her life list), contributing writer for Minneapolis Star-Tribune and Northlife Magazine.  Winner of the 1997 National Outdoor Book Award for her work Sharing the Wonder of Birds with Kids-and Dave Barry's bird and tapeworm advisor.

Jim Fullerton, Pocatello, ID 
Former Outdoor Program Director at University of Nebraska.  Past President of the Association of Outdoor Recreation and Education.  Current Leadership Program Director at Idaho State University.

Rachel Galloway, Bloomington, IN
Instructor for Voyageur Outward Bound.  Teaches adventure literature at Indiana University.  Currently working on a Ph.D. dissertation involving explorations into British mountaineering literature.

Steve Guthrie, Unity ME
Associate Professor in Outdoor Recreation at Unity College. Board member of the Association of Outdoor Recreation and Education.

Kristin Hostetter, Portland, OR
Equipment Editor for Backpacker Magazine.  Outdoor Columnist for Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and an outdoor mom.

Rodney Ley, Fort Collins, CO
Coordinator of the Outdoor Adventure Program at Colorado State University.  Has also worked in outdoor retail (10 years) and is the former owner of a backcountry yurt system.

Mac McInnes, Unity ME
Outward Bound Instructor (Great Britian, Europe and U.S.). Ph.D. in Outdoor Pursuits (Ohio State). Doctoral dissertation on children folkloric stories set in a natural environment.  Associate Professor of Outdoor Recreation, Unity College.

John Miles, Bellingham, WA
Director of the Center for Geography and Environmental Social Sciences, Huxley College, Western Washington State.  Executive Editor of the Journal of Environmental Education.  Author/Editor (North Cascades, Guardians of the Parks and Adventure Education, etc.).

James Moss, Lakewood, CO
Outdoor Industry Attorney, author (Lawyer's Adviser), organizes outdoor liability workshops for such groups as the Western River Guides, Professional Paddlesports Association, Boy Scouts of America, Wilderness Education Association and federal land agencies. 

Tom Mullin, Unity ME
Interpretive Naturalist Consultant for a series of twenty Time-Life Books.  Vice President, National Association for Interpretation. Assistant Professor of Park Management, Unity College. Thru-hiker of the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail.

Jim Paruk, Quincy, CA. 
Professor of Biology at Feather River College, California.  Doctoral work on the Common Loon. Author of Sierra Nevada: Tree Identifier.  Currently working on a collection of nature writings.

Brett Pauly, Bothel, WA
Former Outdoor Editor and Book Reviewer with the LA Daily News; Outdoor Network editor with Rival.com.  Member of the Outdoor Writers Association and currently writing and residing in Bothel, Washington.

Mark Reynolds, Oklahoma City, OK
Publisher of Adventure Travel Magazine.  Owner of Wilderness Expeditions, International.  Former outdoor education professor at Mid America Bible College.

Linda Smith, Boring, OR
Artist and graphic designer. Visual Information Specialist, U.S. Forest Service.  Art Director of Fishing News. (Served as a judge in the Design & Artistic Merit Category.)

Ann Weiler Walka, Flagstaff, AZ
Naturalist and guide for the Museum of Northern Arizona, Canyonlands Field Institute, and Four Corners School.  Writer and nature poet (Waterlines: Journeys on a Desert River).

Jerry Watt, Kent, WA
Product Manager and national book buyer for REI.  Jerry tracks 3,021 outdoor books and maps at 50 REI stores and has a book budget of over $9,000,000.

Ron Watters, Pocatello, ID 
Chairman, National Outdoor Book Awards.  Author of seven outdoor books (Never Turn Back, Ski Camping, The Whitewater Book, etc.)  Formally, Director of the Idaho State University Outdoor Program (25 years).

Melanie Wulf, Geneva, IL 
Full-time mom. Former director of the Outdoor Program at Texas Tech University in Lubbock (5 years).  Presently working in outdoor retail at REI--Oakbrook.  Masters in Outdoor Education (Northern Illinois University).