Wild New Jersey

Price: $19.95  

Subtitle: Nature Adventures in the Garden State
Author: David Wheeler
Foreword by Margaret O'Gorman
Subject: Regional / Environment-Ecology
Paper ISBN: 978-0-8135-4921-7
Pages: 256 pages, 16 color and 31 black-and-white-photographs, 6 maps
Publication Date: February 2011

David Wheeler Speaking Engagements

Praise:

"This book is for anyone in the Garden State with the teeniest spark of adventure and enthusiasm. From your easy chair, Wheeler will take you places you've never been." —Star-Ledger

"What is wonderful about this book is it shows we still have wild places left even in middle of our state’s most developed urban areas.  This book captures why we must preserve what’s left of nature in New Jersey – and it reads like a page-turner you can't put down."
—Jeff Tittel, Director, New Jersey Sierra Club

"Wild New Jersey brings the reader on a real-life safari through the Garden State's wildlife and natural wonders."
—Tom Gilmore, President, New Jersey Audubon Society

"Wheeler provides an entertaining overview of the diversity of wildlife in New Jersey that challenges the notion that our state is merely a crowded, overdeveloped stretch of toxic sites. He weaves carefully selected information into a fast-paced, hard-to-put-down story. It's not often we can refer to a book about nature as a 'page turner.' "—Gregory A. Remaud, Deputy Director, NY/NJ Baykeeper

"Full of exciting tales about New Jersey, from the crowded urban areas to the most remote places of the state."
—Joanna Burger, author of Naturalist Along the New Jersey Shore

"Wild New Jersey may sound like fantasy—but this inspiring book is all reality. It's David Wheeler's great gift that he can continually see the treeline behind the skyline and hear the wild birds calling beyond the traffic's roar. He is the great champion and re-explorer of the state's magnificent wilderness and natural resoloence that 400 years of development has often threatened but never erased; he is also the cherisher and celebrator of those struggling natural areas that intrepod local residents are nursing back to like with great success. Here is a book that will change your understanding of where you are, and show you the wild strength and beauty that is still the heartheat of the nation's most urbanized state.."
—Tony Hiss, Author, In Motion:The Experience of Travel

"As someone who has worked through many of the environmental challenges we face in New Jersey, I celebrate New Jersey's unique role in America's environmental movement. Wild New Jersey captures what is at stake in our fight to clean up, restore, and protect our beautiful natural areas, from the pristine heart of the Pinelands to the ecological restorations of Superfund sites.."
—James Florio, former Governor of New Jersey

"Wild New Jersey proves that in many places and in so many ways, New jersey is still the 'Garden State'. And the Wetlands State, the Woodlands State, the Beach State and more. Once you read this book, don't be surprised if you find yourself going straight to the nearest outdoors adventure, whether it be boating and birding the Meadowlands, hiking the Appalachian Trail or exploring the Pinelands. "
—Captain Bill Sheehan, Hackensack Riverkeeper

"While many people view New Jersey as the as a kind of "ground zero" in the conflict between development and preservation, David Wheeler reminds us in this beautifully written book that human efforts over the last 40 years to protect our environment and preserve open space—coupled with Nature's amazing resiliency—have made the Garden State an incredible place to enjoy wildlife both rare and common. Reading Wild New Jersey will make you flush with pride to be a New Jerseyan, while you reach for your hiking boots and binoculars to follow in David's intrepid footsteps.."
—Joanna Burger, author of Naturalist Along the New Jersey Shore

The fastest animal on earth dive-bombs him from the skies. A young black bear bounds up a mountain trail a few yards away. Poisonous snakes swirl at his feet. A thousand bats careen past his head in a pitch-black roost. Pods of dolphins swim right past him by the scores. Who? Experienced naturalist David Wheeler. Where? In Wild New Jersey, of course. 

Wild New Jersey invites readers along Wheeler’s whirlwind year-long tour of the most ecologically diverse state for its size in America. Along with the expert guidance of charismatic wildlife biologists and local conservationists, he explores mountains, valleys, beaches, pine barrens, caves, rivers, marshlands, and more—breathtaking landscapes and the state’s Noah’s Ark of fascinating creatures.

This isn’t your ordinary ride on the Jersey Turnpike. Fasten your seatbelts and join Wheeler as he . . .

• Kayaks through the Meadowlands under the watchful eye of the Empire State Building,
• Pans for cretaceous fossils in a hidden brook once home to mastodons and giant sloths,
• Rides a fishing boat in the frigid snows of winter on a high-seas quest for Atlantic puffins,
• Trudges through the eerie darkness of a bog on a mysterious night hike,
• Dogsleds across the windswept alpine slopes in the haunts of the porcupine and bobcat. 
  

With Wheeler’s compelling narrative, in-depth background details, and eye for revealing the offbeat, you can count this as the first nature book to paint the extraordinary picture of New Jersey’s unlikely wilderness in all its glory. Come along for all the adventure and insight in Wild New Jersey!

DAVID WHEELER is the director of operations for the nonprofit Edison Wetlands Association.  He founded the nature blog, WildNewJersey.tv, and has written conservation stories for The Star-Ledger and other media.