Julia Moberg, Andrew Stempel, Danni Kline, Maya
Spier, Joselynn Plank, and Josie Heyward. Allison
Woodruff contributed greatly in the final stages
of manuscript preparation with patience and good
humor. Chapters benefited from careful reviews by
Bil Alverson, Phil DeVries, Maureen Donnelly, John
Eisenberg, Mike Grayum, Craig Guyer, Doug Levey,
Bette Loiselle, Robert Marquis, Alan Masters, Gor-
don Orians, Kent Redford, Dave Roubik, Philip
Sollins, F. Gary Stiles, and Harry Tiebout III. Our
project was partially supported by a Fulbright Fel-
lowship (to N.T.W.), a grant from the National Sci-
ence Foundation (to N.M.N.; DEB 96-15341 and Fac-
ulty Development funds from The Evergreen State
College. Dan Janzen, his keystone book Costa Rican
Natural History (1983), and his dedication to con-
servation were a true inspiration. We thank Kirk
Jensen and Lisa Stallings, our editors at Oxford Uni-
versity Press. Special thanks and abrazos to Jack
Longino and Genie Wheelwright.MONTEVERDE BEGINNINGS
WilforcTWoIf Guindenhe founding and development of the Monte-
verde community were influenced by a num-
ber of factors: the diversity of ages of the set-
tlers, their financial and physical abilities, and the
importance of day-to-day interactions and interdepen-
dence on one another plus Costa Rican friends and
neighbors. Being in a frontier setting a long way from
a sustaining market and source of supplies, and ad-
justing to a different culture, language, climate, soils,
and season were the challenges to be faced. Each per-
son stretched his or her creative abilities to contrib-
ute and fill a niche in the community. The number of
"acquired" skills by members was impressive, and
whatever the project or emergency, someone would
come forward with a solution.
The "research project" that the Green Mountain
pioneers set out to develop was a community that
sought the good of every one of its members and ex-
perimented in ways of living that would naturally lead
to peace in the world, To reach solutions through
group decision-making, allowing time for all views to
be presented and considered, was challenging. The
basic belief in the visible and invisible power of cre-
ation, and the interrelatedness of all life, and the de-
sire to live simply and close to nature were among the
common values that strengthened the community.
There was always a concern for the wise use of our
natural resources and for the protection of our water-
shed. Each family practiced sensitive management in
the development of its individual homestead. The
most concerned people (plus the heavy winds and
torrential rains) frequently reminded those less aware
of the dangers of destroying our chosen habitat. Sav-
ing forested areas, allowing natural windbreaks to
regenerate, and planting trees in pastured areas were
active demonstrations of this concern.Among community members with a special inter-
est in biology and natural history were Mary and
Walter James. Mary was a graduate of Earlham Col-
lege with a B.S. in biology. She taught biology classes
in her home; many of the class projects were inven-
tive, making use of the materials at hand. One ex-
ample was the construction of a camera stand to take
a photograph of a "nigua" (flea larva, Pulex irritans)
viewed under a microscope. The enlarged specimen
was especially impressive, as many Monteverdeans
were host to this pest. Walter James had an interest
in natural history and horticulture. His interests led
to collecting fern samples for Luis Diego Gomez of the
Costa Rica National Museum and later for Dr. Clemens
at the University of Pennsylvania. Through his work,
three new species were identified.
Charles Palmer, a retired biology professor who
visited Monteverde several times, was the first biolo-
gist to descend into Penas Blancas and collect plants.
On the excursion, he and I spent three days and
reached the last squatter claim (now known as Dos
Aces). He was the biologist who taught me the les-
son that before sleeping on board planks (as we did
for two nights), a person "should always try both
sides to determine which side is the softest"—advice
that I have often had the opportunity to test. Charles
also involved school children in raising fern proth-
allia for wholesale to labs in the United States, a
project that Mary James continued in her biology
class. This raised funds for student biology field
trips. Carl Rittenmeir, a professor from the Univer-
sity of Kansas, did a research project on army ants.
With the help of a chain saw, he was able to capture
the entire colony, complete with queen. From Carl,
I learned the fascinating ecology of the army ants that
periodically invaded our homes to feast on cock-10 IntroductionT