Audubon Guide to the National Wildlife Refuges: Southwest: Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas

The southwestern United States--in this case, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas--harbors several dozen federally administered wildlife refuges, 31 of them open to the public and profiled in this guidebook. Some of the refuges, such as New Mexico's heavily visited Bosque del Apache, are stopovers for great numbers of birds (in this instance, more than 17,000 sandhill cranes alone) and residences for diverse plants and animals. Others, such as Texas's 3,500-acre Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge, are devoted (but, of course, not limited) to a single endangered species. Natural-history writer Daniel Gibson gives a thorough description of the region's wildlife refuges and of the wildlife they shelter, providing a guide that nature-minded visitors will want to have on hand when visiting the desert country. --Gregory McNamee