Water plays different roles in the desert. It appears when we least expect it and hides when we want it most. Rain falls but never reaches the ground, and dry washes abruptly become rivers. One constant holds true: water enables life. In "Desert Wetlands" a distinguished photographer and a passionate naturalist document sites in the American Southwest and Mexico that are gauges to the environment. The wetlands included are Cuatro Cienegas Basin in Coahuila, Mexico, the San Pedro River in Arizona, the Escalante River in Utah, the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico, the playas and wetlands in Arizona, the Mohave Desert in California, and the Big Bend National Park in Texas. Exploration of desert wetlandsawhether on foot, with photographs, or in wordsainvolves vacillating between tremendous, uplifting beauty and great, heartbreaking degradation. We offer the images and words in your hands that you might grasp the beauty more readily, and join the chorus of voices calling for an end to despoiling of these treasurelands."aThomas Lowe Fleischner in "Desert Wetlands"Mr. Niemeyer's photography . . . is utterly superb."a"Southern Living"