Synopses & Reviews
The topic of the border wall between the United States and Mexico continues to be broadly and hotly debated: on national news media, by local and state governments, and even in coffee shops and over the dinner table. By now, broad segments of the population have heard widely varying opinions about the walland#8217;s effect on illegal immigration, international politics, and the drug war.
But what about the walland#8217;s effect on the Sonoran pronghorn antelope herds and the kit fox? On the Mexican gray wolf, the ocelot, the jaguar, and the bighorn sheep? In unforgettable images and evocative text, Continental Divide: Wildlife, People, and the Border Wall helps readers understand all that is at stake.
As Krista Schlyer explains,and#160; the remoteness of this region from most US citizensand#8217; lives, coupled with the news mediaand#8217;s focus on illegal immigration and drug violence, has left many with an incomplete picture. As she reminds us, this largely isolated natural area, stretching from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, hosts a number of rare ecosystems: Arizonaand#8217;s last free-flowing river, the San Pedro; the grasslands of New Mexico, some of the last undeveloped prairies on the continent; the single most diverse birding area in the US, located along the lower Rio Grande River in Texas; and habitat and migration corridors for some of both nationsand#8217; most imperiled species.?In documenting the changes to the ecosystems and human communities along the border while the wall was being built, Schlyer realized that the impacts of immigration policy on wildlife, on landowners, and on border towns were not fully understood by either policy makers or the general public. The wall not only has disrupted the ancestral routes of wildlife; it has also rerouted human traffic through the most pristine and sensitive of wildlands, causing additional destruction, conflict, and deathand#151;without solving the original problem.
To view a book trailer for Contintental Divide, please visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ou1Uh-SDAFs
Review
"Krista Schlyer has lived the border problems.and#160; Hers is a narrative balanced with words and images.and#160; She's tasted the arid land's flavors and distilled the essential truth: that it's madness to drive a wedge through our own heart in a misguided effort to keep our nation safe."--Jack Dykinga, Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer
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Review
andquot; . . .offers a taste of geology and biology and history. We feel the searing temperatures of the desert.. Above all, Schlyer examines the human hands that have shaped these landscapes, sometimes sustaining them but too often bringing destruction, even death, to man and beast..andquot;--Lynn Scarlett, former deputy secretary, US Department of the Interior
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Review
and#8220;With
Continental Divide, Krista Schlyer, wielding pen and camera with equal grace, takes her place as one of the staunchest advocates of the battered, contested, and sublimely beautiful territory we know as the US-Mexico borderlands.and#8221;--William DeBuys, author,
A Great Aridness: Climate Change and the Future of the American SouthwestReview
"There is a visual song of peace and reason in
Continental Divide. Border security hysteria has drowned out such music in recent years, with much of the hate speech and hawkishness coming from those who've never stepped foot here. Schlyer's voice and camera bring the reality of the borderlands to
Continental Divide and present it to the reader as it is."--Daniel Millis, Borderlands Campaign Organizer, Sierra Club
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Review
"Krista Schlyerand#8217;s magnificent book, Continental Divide: Wildlife, People, and the Border Wall,and#160;reveals much truth about a part of the United States that is little known and largely misunderstood.and#160; Refuting the popular image of the border as a sterile desert area, her book reveals that the borderlands hold almost unimaginable richness of life and beauty in both human and natural communities.and#160; She goes on to outline the almost overwhelming odds against preserving that beauty and interconnectedness in the face of both political and physical barriers.and#160; This is the only book that addresses both the human and ecological world that is being torn apart by the failure of both the United States and Mexico to deal with their internal problems related to immigration, drugs, and guns.and#160; For those of you who donand#8217;t know the borderlands, you owe it to yourself to read this and learn.and#160; For those you who do, you will both smile and weep at the stunning pictures and poignant text."--Dinah Bear, attorney, border issues Defenders of Wildlife and Humane Borders and also author, amicus brief, supporting a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the waiver of laws for construction of the border wall and roads
Review
"Aand#160;visual feast of southwestern borderlands. But this book offers so much more than a photographic tableau. Beautifully written,
Continental Divide offers a taste of geology,biology, and history. Her tale is one of unintended consequences and a wall across the desert that is a symbol but not a solution to complicated economic and geopolitical forces."--Lynn Scarlett, former deputy secretary of the US Department of Interior under President George W. Bush
Review
and#8220;Continental Divide: Wildlife, People, and the Border Wall is a strange and wondrous book. In many ways an ugly story about what weand#8217;ve become, itand#8217;s also a love story about one of the worldand#8217;s loveliest places. Schlyer shows that the wall is ultimately a failure and#8211; it doesnand#8217;t do what it was designed for, yet the disruptions to land, culture and ecosystems are monstrous. But Schlyerand#8217;s argument is carefully entwined within the complex natural and human history of this region. The bookand#8217;s gorgeous photos range from wildlife to human portraits and from art shots to landscape photos. If I wanted my dear old mother in Indiana to understand whatand#8217;s going on along the border, Iand#8217;d send her this book. Continental Divide should make you angry. Furious even. I was deeply struck by the simple beauty and grace of Schlyerand#8217;s prose. Krista Schlyer has thrown down a challenge to all of us.and#8221;and#8212;Tucson Weekly
Review
"A clash between politics and nature is front and center among the winners of the 2013 National Outdoor Book Awards. . . . This is a groundbreaking . . . important work on nature, and it's timely."--Great Falls Tribune
Review
and#8220;Krista Schlyerand#8217;s deeply informative and visually head-turning ode to the rich borderland ecosystems being undone in the madand#8212;in every sense of the wordand#8212;rush to build a wall between one side of a line in the sand and the other. Should be required reading for any legislator with a hand in federal immigration policy.and#8221;and#8212;
Texas Observer and#160;
Synopsis
The topic of the border wall between the United States and Mexico continues to be broadly and hotly debated: on national news media, by local and state governments, and even over the dinner table. By now, broad segments of the population have heard widely varying opinions about the wallandrsquo;s effect on illegal immigration, international politics, and the drug war. But what about the wallandrsquo;s effect on animals? Krista Schlyer vividly shows us that this largely isolated natural area, stretching from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, is also host to a number of rare ecosystems.
About the Author
KRISTA SCHLYERand#160;is a writer and photographer based in the Washington, DC, area. Her work has appeared in National Parks, Defenders, High Country News, Ranger Rick, National Geographic News, Audubon, and Outdoor Photographer. She is a member of the International League of Conservation Photographers and the North American Nature Photographers Association.