In 1969, the polluted Cuyahoga River burned, attracting negative national media attention. Then, only three fish species were found to be living in those contaminated waters. Now, in 2026, 77 fish species are thriving. Otter, beaver, and blue heron have also returned to the river’s banks. And people, too, are benefiting from the cleaner waters, enjoying water sports like canoeing, kayaking, and paddling.

In the Ohio counties of the Allegheny Plateau, 19th-century barns hewn from old-growth wood rest near remnant forests, reminders of the state’s deep agricultural roots and rich ecological past. Through 14 linked, meditative essays, Deborah Fleming, author of the award-winning Resurrection of the Wild: Meditations on Ohio’s Natural Landscape, persuasively and passionately argues for protecting these vestiges of the region’s natural and rural history.

An anthology celebrating the biodiversity and staggering beauty of Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Light Enters the Grove collects 42 poems, each of which reflects its author’s unique connection to a living organism found within the park—ranging from white-tailed deer to brown bats and from Japanese honeysuckle to bloodroot. Additionally, each poem is paired with an artistic depiction of the poem’s subject that reinforces the rich relationship between artists and the natural world.

A sequel of sorts to his earlier book, Pleasant Valley, this book significantly adds to Louis Bromfield’s body of work on agriculture, economics, and the value of home.

“Because Bromfield has seen so many different lands, he is now more a country man than ever. When he turned his first spadeful on his new Ohio farm acres, it marked the return of the native. Bromfield writes his books in pencil, longhand. He has such concentration that he can come in from working in his fields, go to his desk and finish a sentence he started the day before.”

—The New Yorker

“Written years before celebrated authors like Wendell Berry and Barbara Kingsolver popularized agriculture writing, Pleasant Valley . . . unveils the romantic qualities of farm labor, without romanticizing it. It celebrates hard work, without being patronizing. It makes you want to get dirt under your nails. Pleasant Valley is charmingly nostalgic, yet offers environmental commentary that is timely and urgent. Bromfield’s writing will appeal to lovers of regional writing, unconventional memoirs, and mid-century modernity in literature. Most of all, it is a book to read when you miss home, whatever and wherever that may be.”

—Public Books

From their beginnings as private farmland to their current form as monuments to cultural and ethnic diversity, the unique collection of landscaped, themed gardens that compose Cleveland’s Cultural Gardens holds a rich history. John J. Grabowski guides readers through this story, using both archival images and Lauren R. Pacini’s stunning contemporary photography.

Anneliese Abbott tells the story of Malabar Farm within the context of the wider histories of soil conservation and other environmental movements, especially the Ohio-based organization Friends of the Land. As one of the few surviving landmarks of this movement, which became an Ohio state park in 1976, Malabar Farm provides an intriguing case study of how soil conservation began, how it was marginalized during the 1950s, and how it now continues to influence the modern idea of sustainable agriculture.

Peatlands—and specifically “bogs”—have long been a source of fascination for humans, and these amazing places are truly living relics of the Ice Age. More recently, bogs have come to be regarded as complex and fascinating wetland ecosystems. Peatlands of Ohio and the Southern Great Lakes Region focuses on the sphagnum peat bogs and rich fens of the lower Great Lakes states of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, southern Michigan, and the glaciated northern corners of Pennsylvania.

Problem Plants of Ohio is an informative guide, providing information on the identification and control of nonnative plant species formally listed as invasive or prohibited noxious weeds in Ohio. In addition, the book treats many additional species that are considered a nuisance in gardens, landscaping, or natural settings.

Resurrection of the Wild: Meditations on Ohio’s Natural Landscape wins the 2020 PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay by this year’s judges—Jelani Cobb, Daniel Menaker, and Judith Thurman!