Before They're Gone

March 19, 2012
Worried that climate change might soon destroy many of America's most beautiful places, Lanza, the northwest editor for Backpacker magazine, embarks with his wife and two kids, nine-year-old Nate and seven-year-old Alex, to visit "as many climate-threatened U.S. national parks as could cram into a year." Their journeys take them from Alaska's Glacier Bay to Florida's Everglades, and to many breathtaking locales in between. Blending anecdotes and ecology lessons, Lanza sheds light on his family's charming dynamic (from his daughter's sensible suggestion that they depart from bear territory to his son's preference to attack the brutes), the wonder of the natural world, and the ethical responsibility we all have to mitigate the forces that are changing our planet "faster even than scientists or computer models have anticipated." This is a terrific blend of adventure ("Seeing a bison gallop thirty miles an hourâas they canâis like seeing a grand piano suddenly sprout horns and charge you with the speed of a horse.") and ecological forecasting (and forewarning) that aptly conveys the passion of a devoted outdoorsman, and serves as a wake-up call to the state of our planet. Photos.

January 15, 2012
One family's year-long adventure exploring the national parks of the United States. Worried about the increasing evidence that global warming is affecting America's national parks, Backpacker northwest editor Lanza crammed a year full of visits to 10 sites with his wife and two young children. Based on the premise that his children needed to see these natural wonders before the parks completely disappeared, the book is part family travelogue and part ecological observation. Scientists are not "talking about the distant future; they're talking about ecological calamities and social breakdown on a scale unprecedented in human history, which many adults alive today will witness." With this thought ever-present, Lanza writes with a bittersweet tone. He relishes his children's joy as they discover these natural wonders for the first time and remembers his own first experiences. However, there is also a darker side to the narrative, as the author contemplates the sometimes-drastic changes that have taken place in the last 30-40 years. Glaciers that no longer exist in Glacier National Park, the erosion of shorelines as sea storms grow in strength, the death of Joshua trees in California's Joshua Tree National Park--each site is under attack from events instigated primarily by humans. Although Lanza has opened the doors to this world to his children and readers alike, he offers no solutions to the current problems. His best advice: See what you can of these natural wonders before it's too late. Intriguing premise; decent execution--certainly of interest to environmentalists and other eco-minded readers.

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April 1, 2012

Freelance writer and photographer Lanza (Northwest editor, Backpacker) chronicles his one-year journey with his nine-year-old son and seven-year-old daughter to ten climate-threatened American national parks. As a lifelong backpacker, he has observed firsthand the changes in parks caused by global warming, and he wanted his children to see Glacier, Yellowstone, the Everglades, Yosemite, and Mount Rainier National Parks before they are permanently altered. (Scientists agree that if current climate conditions persist, Glacier National Park's glaciers may disappear entirely as soon as 2020.) Part travelog (including kayaking, canoeing, and rock climbing), part memoir, and part scientific inquiry, the work points to what lies ahead--melting glaciers, disappearing species, and inundated coastlines, unless Americans decide as a society to change their behavior. Yes, these national treasures will remain beautiful parks but they will be inalterably changed. VERDICT Lanza's sobering account is recommended for all readers who care about nature's grandeur.--Eva Lautemann, Georgia Perimeter Coll. Lib., Clarkston

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2012
Outdoors writer Lanza wanted to share his love for hiking, climbing, and powerful landscapes with his family, a desire made urgent by his frontline witnessing of the rapid and alarming changes delivered by global warming. Struck by the ironic tragedy of how heavily the impact of climate change is falling on our most-protected natural environments, Lanza and his wife decide to visit as many climate-threatened U.S. national parks as they can in a year with their son, Nate, 8, and daughter, Alex, 6. As he chronicles their Grand Canyon adventure, Lanza establishes his profoundly compelling narrative strategy of mixing in-the-moment accounts of their demanding hikes and intrepid Nate's and Alex's exuberant pleasure in nature with scientifically based and heart-clenching observations of climatic anarchy. As they exult in the wonders of Glacier National Park and Mount Rainier National Park, Lanza contemplates dying forests and the looming loss of 7,000-year-old glaciers; in Joshua Tree National Park, the iconic giant yucca are ailing; while rising seas threaten the Everglades. Climate change, Lanza wisely concludes, forces us to confront our deepest values.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)