author
William W. Dunmire
b. 1930
A longtime National Park Service naturalist and superintendent, he wrote warmly and knowledgeably about the plants, landscapes, history, and traditional lifeways of the American Southwest. His books bring together field experience, clear observation, and a deep affection for New Mexico.
1 Audiobook
Birds of the National Parks in Hawaii
by William W. Dunmire
About the author
William W. Dunmire was an American naturalist, photographer, and author best known for writing about New Mexico and the wider Southwest. Sources consulted describe him as a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, with degrees in wildlife management and zoology, and as a longtime National Park Service employee whose work took him to parks including Yosemite, Hawai‘i Volcanoes, Yellowstone, and Carlsbad Caverns.
He later retired from the Park Service after a career of roughly twenty-eight years, and was also described by the University of New Mexico Press as an associate in biology at the University of New Mexico and a research associate at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. His books focused on subjects such as wild plants, wildflowers, livestock heritage, and the connections between people and place in the Southwest.
An obituary from August 1, 2019, remembers him as a well-known New Mexico author and naturalist with a lasting interest in the region’s people, plants, history, and livestock. That combination of practical field knowledge and accessible writing helps explain why his work continues to appeal to readers who enjoy nature, regional history, and the stories embedded in the land.