A collection of over 250 photographs and episodic essays that celebrates the biodiversity, adventure, and ecology of the Central Appalachian mountains, and outlinesits ecological stories and preservation needs.

Beautiful and wild, the Central Appalachians of Maryland, Pennsylvania,
Virginia, and West Virginia are a hotspot for biodiversity. They also
make up a large part of the Chesapeake Bay watershed and are responsible
for a majority of its freshwater flow to the Chesapeake Bay.

Award-winning author and nature photographer Mark Hendricks spent years
documenting life on the mountain trails and underneath Appalachian
waters, and built camera traps to capture images of rarely seen species, to capture this collection of over 250 beautiful and fascinating photographs in The Central Appalachians. Beyond their aesthetics, these photographs facilitate a better understanding of the environmental importance of the area.

Among each image are various essays that outline the ecological stories and preservation needs of the Central Appalachians. Those include:

Stories of an Appalachian Trail thru-hiker
A biologist dedicated to saving fungus-plagued bats in winter caves
An ecologist who protects one of the most rare ecosystems in the region
A close encounter with a bobcat
Various encounters with
other rare and exciting species such as black bear, eastern hellbender and
other rare salamanders, and sparring elk
And more

Well-known locations such as Shenandoah National Park are featured
prominently, as are little-known areas such as the Finzel Swamp and the
famous reintroduced elk herd of north-central Pennsylvania. The Central Appalachians is a wild
and wonderful journey for all nature and nature photography lovers.By Mark HendricksMark Hendricks is a freelance natural-history photojournalist and public speaker. He has been published in the Washington Post, Nature Photographer, Audubon, and many others. He is a faculty member at Towson University and a fellow in the International League of Conservation Writers.254 color photosMountains of the Chesapeake254 color photos