cover image Wings for My Flight: The Peregrine Falcons of Chimney Rock

Wings for My Flight: The Peregrine Falcons of Chimney Rock

Marcy Cottrell Houle. Addison Wesley Publishing Company, $19 (187pp) ISBN 978-0-201-57706-8

In 1975 there were perhaps eight pairs of wild peregrine falcons in all of the Rocky Mountains. One known nesting site was at Chimney Rock in Colorado's San Juan National Forest. Employed by the Colorado Division of Wildlife, newly fledged biologist Houle was excited by her assignment to study the birds during their nesting season. But elation turned to dismay when she learned that the Forest Service, under its multiple-use policy, had plans to make Chimney Rock and its Anasazi ruins a tourist center to rival Mesa Verde. The arrival of a second biologist provided assistance with the study and a psychological boost. Houle here records her and her partner's observations of the peregrines (a father and two young males), harrassment by workmen, the resentment of local people and the disruption of their work by tourists. Her engaging story is an example of conflicting environmental and economicok? interests. (Apr.)