National Outdoor Book Awards

For more information about the National Outdoor Book Awards, click here.

2018
Nature & the Environment: The snake and the salamander : reptiles and amphibians from Maine to Virginia by Alvin R. Breisch ; illustrated by Matt Patterson
Natural History Literature: A naturalist at large : the best essays of Bernd Heinrich by Bernd Heinrich; Rising : dispatches from the new American shore by Elizabeth Rush
Outdoor Literature: Pure land : a true story of three lives, three cultures, and the search for heaven on earth by Annette McGivney
Classic Award: NOLS Cookery, edited by Claudia Pearson ; illustrated by Mike Clelland
History/Biography: To the edges of the Earth : 1909, the race for the three poles, and the climax of the age of exploration by  Edward J. Larson; Elevations : a personal exploration of the Arkansas River by Max McCoy
Design & Artistic Merit: Sage grouse : icon of the West. Photographed by Noppadol Paothong; text by Kathy Love
Children's Category: Oregon & Washington 50 hikes with kids by Wendy Gorton; honorable mention: Belle's journey : an osprey takes flight by Rob Bierregaard ; illustrated by Kate Garchinsky; honorable mention: The kid's guide to birds of Minnesota by Stan Tekiela ; illustrated by Elleyna Ruud
Outdoor Adventure Guidebook Category: Discovering the John Muir Trail : an inspirational guide to America's most beautiful hike by Damon Corso
Instructional Category: The ultimate guide to whitewater rafting and river camping by Molly Absolon
Nature Guidebooks: Butterflies of the Pacific Northwest by Robert Michael Pyle and Caitlin C. LaBar

2017
Nature & the Environment: Monarchs and milkweed : a migrating butterfly, a poisonous plant, and their remarkable story of coevolution by Anurag Agrawal; honorable mention: The Pipestone wolves : the rise and fall of a wolf family by Günther Bloch; photography by John E. Marriott
Natural History Literature: Tides : the science and spirit of the ocean by Jonathan White
Outdoor Literature: Co-winner: A fly rod of your own by John Gierach; co-winner: On trails : an exploration by Robert Moor
Classic Award: Kingbird Highway : the biggest year in the life of an extreme birder by Kenn Kaufman
History/Biography: Art of freedom : the life and climbs of Voytek Kurtyka by Bernadette McDonald
Design & Artistic Merit: Wild encounters : iconic photographs of the world's vanishing animals and cultures. Photography and commentary by David Yarrow
Children's Category: Pup the sea otter by Jonathan London; illustrated by Sean London; honorable mention: Treecology : 30 activities and observations for exploring the world of trees and forests by Monica Russo; photographs by Kevin Byron
Outdoor Adventure Guidebook Category: Outdoor adventures, Acadia National Park : your guide to the best hiking, biking and paddling by Jerry and Marcy Monkman
Instructional Category: Co-winner: Backpacker long trails : mastering the art of the thru-hike by Liz Thomas; co-winner: Big walls, swift waters : epic stories from Yosemite Search and Rescue by Charles R. "Butch" Farabee
Nature Guidebooks: Co-winner: The Scout's guide to wild edibles by Mike Krebill; co-winner: Butterflies of Pennsylvania : a field guide by James L. Monroe and David M. Wright

2016
Nature & the Environment: Victory gardens for bees : a DIY guide to saving the bees by Lori Weidenhammer
Natural History Literature: A sea of glass : searching for the Blaschkas' fragile legacy in an ocean at risk by Drew Harvell
Outdoor Literature: Fast into the night : a woman, her dogs, and their journey North on the Iditarod Trail by Debbie Clarke Moderow; honorable mention: Portage : a family, a canoe and the search for the good life by Sue Leaf
Classic Award: Over the edge : death in Grand Canyon by Michael P. Ghiglieri and Thomas M. Myers
History/Biography: The ghosts of K2 : the epic saga of the first ascent by Mick Conefrey; honorable mention: Continental divide : a history of American mountaineering by Maurice Isserman; honorable mention: Valley walls : a memoir of climbing and living in Yosemite by Glen Denny
Design & Artistic Merit: The living bird : 100 years of listening to nature. Photography by Gerrit Vyn ; design by Jane Jeszeck;  essays by Scott Weidensaul, Lyanda Lynn Haupt, John W. Fitzpatrick, and Jared Diamond; Yosemite in the fifties : the iron age. Design by Tom Adler and Evan Backes. Photo Editing by Dean Fidelman. Edited by John Long; honorable mention: Todd and Brad Reed's Michigan : Wednesdays in the mitten. Photography by Todd & Brad Reed. Design by Todd & Brad Reed, Sarah Genson and Rachel Gaudette. Cover by Misty Reed
Children's Category: Chasing at the surface : a novel by Sharon Mentyka; honorable mention: Wake up, island by Mary Casanova ; woodcuts by Nick Wroblewski
Outdoor Adventure Guidebook Category: Hiking Acadia National Park : a guide to the park's greatest hiking adventures by Dolores Kong and Dan Ring
Instructional Category: Honorable mention: Winter in the wilderness : a field guide to primitive survival skills by Dave Hall with Jon Ulrich
Nature Guidebooks: Mushrooms of the Northeast : a simple guide to common mushrooms by Teresa Marrone and Walt Sturgeon; honorable mention: Pacific seaweeds : a guide to the common seaweeds of the West Coast by Louis D. Druehl and Bridgette E. Clarkston

2015
Nature & the Environment: The house of owls by Tony Angell; honorable mention: The bee : a natural history by Noah Wilson-Rich; The passenger pigeon by Errol Fuller
Natural History Literature: The human age : the world shaped by us by Diane Ackerman; honorable mention: H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald
Outdoor Literature: Jimmy Bluefeather : a novel by Kim Heacox (fiction); Paddlenorth : adventure, resilience, and renewal in the Arctic wild by Jennifer Kingsley and The tower : a chronicle of climbing and controversy on Cerro Torre by Kelly Cordes (non-fiction)
Classic Award: Wahb : the biography of a grizzly by Ernest Thompson Seton, edited by Jeremy M. Johnston and Charles R. Preston
History/Biography: Finding Abbey : the search for Edward Abbey and his hidden desert grave by Sean Prentiss
Design & Artistic Merit: The last great wild places : forty years of wildlife photography by Thomas D. Mangelsen. Photography by Thomas D. Mangelsen. Text by Todd Wilkinson
Children's Category: This strange wilderness : the life and art of John James Audubon by Nancy Plain
Outdoor Adventure Guidebook Category: Field guide to Oregon rivers by Tim Palmer; honorable mention: Muir Valley pocket guide by Rick Weber
Instructional Category: NOLS river rescue guide by Nate Ostis
Nature Guidebooks: Guide to marine mammals and turtles of the U.S. Pacific by Kate Wynne; illustrated by Garth Mix; honorable mention: Beetles of eastern North America by Arthur V. Evans

2014
Nature & the Environment: Life on the rocks : a portrait of the American mountain goat, written and photographed by Bruce L. Smith
Natural History Literature: The small heart of things : being at home in a beckoning world by Julian Hoffman
Outdoor Literature: Small feet, big land : adventure, home and family on the edge of Alaska by Erin McKittrick
Classic Award: Not without peril : 150 years of misadventure on the Presidential Range of New Hampshire by Nicholas Howe
History/Biography: Grandma Gatewood's walk : the inspiring story of the woman who saved the Appalachian Trail by Ben Montgomery
Design & Artistic Merit: Salt : coastal and flats fishing. Photography by Andy Anderson ; essays by Tom Rosenbauer
Children's Category: Good morning loon by Elizabeth S. Varnai, illustrated by Kate Hartley
Outdoor Adventure Guidebook Category: Chattahoochee River user's guide by Joe Cook
Instructional Category: Training for the new alpinism : a manual for the climber as athlete by Steve House and Scott Johnston; honorable mention: Simple fly fishing : techniques for tenkara and rod & reel by Yvon Chouinard, Craig Mathews and Mauro Mazzo ; paintings by James Prosek
Nature Guidebooks: The warbler guide by Tom Stephenson and Scott Whittle
Work of significance: Fieldbook : Scouting's manual of basic and advanced skills for outdoor adventure by Robert Birkby

2013
Nature & the Environment: Continental divide : wildlife, people and the border wall by Krista Schlyer; honorable mention: The California wildlife habitat garden : how to attract bees, butterflies, birds and other animals by Nancy Bauer
Natural History Literature: Telling our way to the sea : a voyage of discovery in the Sea of Cortez by Aaron Hirsh; honorable mention: The uncidental steward : reflections on citizen science by Akiko Busch; honorable mention: Wolves in the land of salmon by David Moskowitz
Outdoor Literature: I promise not to suffer : a fool for love hikes the Pacific Crest Trail by Gail D. Storey; honorable mention: Closer to the ground : an outdoor family's year on the water, in the woods and at the table by Dylan Tomine
Classic Award: Everest : the west ridge by Thomas F. Hornbein.
History/Biography: The Emerald Mile : the epic story of the fastest ride in history through the heart of the Grand Canyon by Kevin Fedarko
Design & Artistic Merit: The Appalachian Trail : celebrating America's hiking trail by Brian B. King; A world in one cubic foot : portraits in biodiversity by David Liittschwager
Children's Category: Travels with Gannon and Wyatt : Botswana by Patti Wheeler and Keith Hemstreet; honorable mention: The kid's outdoor adventure book : 448 great things to do in nature before you grow up by Stacy Tornio and Ken Keffer; illustrations by Rachel Riordan
Outdoor Adventure Guidebook Category: Your guide to the national parks by Michael Joseph Oswald
Instructional Category: Snow travel : skills for climbing, hiking, and moving across snow by Mike Zawaski
Nature Guidebooks: Butterflies of Indiana : a field guide by Jefffrey E. Belth; honorable mention: The Crossley ID guide : raptors by Richard Crossley, Jerry Liguori and Brian Sullivan; The field guide to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks by Kurt F. Johnson

2012
Outdoor Literature: Almost somewhere : twenty-eight days on the John Muir Trail by Suzanne Roberts; The ledge : an adventure story of friendship and survival on Mount Rainier by Jim Davidson and Kevin Vaughan; honorable mention: Before they're gone : a family's year-long quest to explore America's most endangered national parks by Michael Lanza
Natural History Literature: The forest unseen : a year's watch in nature by David George Haskell
History/Biography: Buried in the sky : the extraordinary story of the Sherpa climbers on K2’s deadliest day by Peter Zuckerman and Amanda Padoan; Anything worth doing : a true story of adventure, friendship and tragedy on the last of the West's great rivers by Jo Deurbrouck
Design and Artistic Merit: Beneath cold seas : the underwater wilderness of the Pacific Northwest by David Hall
Children's Category: For the birds : the life of Roger Tory Peterson by Peggy Thomas. Illustrated by Laura Jacques
Nature and the Environment: The melting edge : Alaska at the frontier of climate change by Michael Collier; honorable mention: Spring wildflowers of the Northeast : a natural history by Carol Gracie; honorable mention: Polar bears : a complete guide to their biology and behavior by Andrew E. Derocher; photographs by Wayne Lynch
Instructional Category: AMC guide to outdoor digital photography : creating great nature and adventure photos by Jerry Monkman; Backpacker Magazine's complete guide to outdoor gear maintenance and repair : step by step techniques to maximize performance and save money by Kristin Hostetter
Outdoor Adventure Guidebook Category: Grand canyoneering : exploring the rugged gorges and secret slots of the Grand Canyon by Todd Martin
Nature Guidebook Category: A field guide to the southeast coast & Gulf of Mexico by Noble S. Proctor and Patrick J. Lynch

2011
Classic Category: The works of John Muir. (Including titles such as My First Summer in the Sierra, Stikeen, Steep Trails and others); My first summer in the Sierra : 100th anniversary illustrated edition of the American classic by John Muir; photographs by Scot Miller
Natural History Literature: Salvaging the real Florida : lost and found in the state of dreams by Bill Belleville
Outdoor Literature: Fire season : field notes from a wilderness lookout by Philip Connors
Nature and the Environment: Seeing trees : discover the extraordinary secrets of everyday trees by Nancy Ross Hugo; photography by Robert Llewellyn
Design & Artistic Merit: Raptors of the West captured in photographs by Kate Davis, Rob Palmer and Nick Dunlop
Children's Category: The secret lives of backyard bugs by Judy Burris and Wayne Richards; To market, to market by Nikki McClure
History/Biography: Take a seat : one man, one tandem and twenty thousand miles of possibilities by Dominic Gill; honorable mention: An empire of ice : Scott, Shackleton, and the heroic age of Antarctic science by Edward J. Larson
Nature Guidebook Category: Naturally curious : a photographic field guide through the fields, woods and marshes of New England by Mary Holland
Outdoor Adventure Guidebook Category: The Rio Grande : a river guide to the geology and landscapes of northern New Mexico by Paul W. Bauer
Instructional Category: The cycling bible : the complete guide for all cyclists from novice to expert by Robin Barton

2010
Nature and the Environment Category: Adventures among ants : a global safari with a cast of trillions by Mark W. Moffett
Natural History Literature: An entirely synthetic fish : how rainbow trout beguiled America and overran the world by Anders Halverson; The sound of a wild snail eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey
Outdoor Literature: Kook : what surfing taught me about love, life and catching the perfect wave by Peter Heller; honorable mention: Just passin' thru : a vintage store, the Appalachian trail, and a cast of unforgettable characters by Winton Porter
History/Biography Category: Pilgrims of the vertical : Yosemite rock climbers and nature at risk by Joseph E. Taylor III; honorable mention: The last man on the mountain : the death of an American adventurer on K2 by Jennifer Jordan; honorable mention: Arctic labyrinth : the quest for the Northwest Passage by Glyn Williams
Classic Category: Annapurna : first conquest of an 8,000-meter peak by Maurice Herzog
Children's Category: Camping with the President by Ginger Wadsworth; illustrated by Karen Dugan; Captain Mac : the life of Donald Baxter MacMillan, Arctic explorer by Mary Morton Cowan; An egret's day: poems by Jane Yolen ; photographs by Jason Stemple
Design and Artistic Merit: Freshwater fish of the Northeast ; illustrated by Matt Patterson ; text by David A. Patterson
Nature Guidebook Category: Tracks and sign of insects and other invertebrates : a guide to North American species by Charley Eiseman and Noah Charney; honorable mention: Night sky : a field guide to the  constellations by Jonathan Poppele; honorable mention: Molt in North American birds by Steven N. G. Howell
Outdoor Adventure Guidebook Category: Exploring Havasupai : a guide to the heart of the Grand Canyon by Greg Witt
Instructional Category: Sport climbing : from top rope to redpoint : techniques for climbing success by Andrew Bisharat

2009
History/Biography Category: The wilderness warrior : Theodore Roosevelt and the crusade for America by Douglas Brinkley
Outdoor Literature Category: Halfway to heaven : my white-knuckled and knuckle-headed quest for the Rocky Mountain high by Mark Obmascik; honorable mention: Rowboat in a hurricane : my amazing journey across a changing ocean by Julie Angus
Design & Artistic Merit Category: Lars Jonsson's birds : paintings from a near horizon by Lars Jonsson
Classic Category: Kayak : the new frontier by William Nealy; honorable mention: Appalachian odyssey : walking the trail from Georgia to Maine by Steve Sherman and Julia Older
Children's Category: Whistling wings by Laura Goering ; illustrated by Laura Jacques; honorable mention: Operation Redwood by S. Terrell French
Nature and Environment Category: Our living Earth : a story of people, ecology, and preservation ; photographs by Yann Arthus-Bertrand ; text by Isabelle Delannoy ; illustrations by David Giraudon; honorable mention: Sand : the never-ending story by Michael Welland
Natural History Literature: Every living thing : man's obsessive quest to catalog life, from Nanobacteria to new monkeys by Rob Dunn
Nature Guidebook Category: Peterson field guide to birds of North America by Roger Tory Peterson; honorable mention: Dragonflies and damselflies of the West by Dennis Paulson
Outdoor Adventure Guidebook Category: Guide to the Green and Yampa Rivers in Dinosaur National Monument by Duwain Whitis and Barbara Vinson; honorable mention: The guide to Baja Sea kayaking by Dave Eckardt
Instructional Category: Girl on the rocks : a woman's guide to climbing with strength, grace and courage by Katie Brown; photography by Ben Moon

2008
Natural History Literature Category: American chestnut : the life, death, and rebirth of a perfect tree by Susan Freinkel
Outdoor Literature Category: Forget me not : a memoir by Jennifer Lowe-Anker
History/Biography Category: Grand obsession : Harvey Butchart and the exploration of the Grand Canyon by Elias Butler and Tom Myers; Fallen giants : a history of Himalayan mountaineering from the age of empire to the age of extremes by Maurice Isserman and Stewart Weaver
Classic Category: Through the Grand Canyon from Wyoming to Mexico by Ellsworth L. Kolb; The Pacific Crest Trail series in three volumes: Southern California, Northern California, and Oregon & Washington. Authors include Thomas Winnett, Ben Schifrin, Jeffrey Schaffer, Ruby Johnson Jenkins, and Andy Selters
Children's Category: The pole by Eric Walters
Nature and Environment Category: The last polar bear : facing the truth of a warming world, photographs by Steven Kazlowski; The Great Lakes : the natural history of a changing region by Wayne Grady
Design & Artistic Merit Category: Surfboards by Guy Motil; Bruce Aiken's Grand Canyon : an intimate affair, paintings by Bruce Aiken, text by Susan Hallsten McGarry; honorable mention: Soul of the heights : 50 years going to the mountains, photographs and text by Ed Cooper
Nature Guidebook Category: Birds of Peru by Tomas S. Schulenberg, Douglas F. Stotz, Daniel F. Lane, John P. O'Neill, and Theodore A. Parker III
Outdoor Adventure Guidebook Category: Florida Keys paddling atlas by Bill and Mary Burnham
Instructional Category: Road bike maintenance by Guy Andrews; honorable mention: Whitewater kayaking : the ultimate guide by Ken Whiting and Kevin Varette

2007
Outdoor Literature Category: Backcast : fatherhood, fly-fishing, and a river journey through the heart of Alaska by Lou Ureneck; Blue horizons : dispatches from distant seas by Beth A. Leonard
History/Biography Category: The very hard way : Bert Loper and the Colorado River by Brad Dimock; Forever on the mountain : the truth behind one of mountaineering's most ontroversial and mysterious disasters by James M. Tabor
Natural History Category: Sky time in Gray's River : living for keeps in a forgotten place by Robert Michael Pyle; honorable mention: Last stand : George Bird Grinnell, the battle to save the buffalo, and the birth of the new West by Michael Punke
Nature and Environment Category: Condors in Canyon Country : the return of the California Condor to the Grand Canyon region by  Sophie A. H. Osborn; White paradise : journeys to the North Pole by Francis Latreille
Design and Artistic Merit Category: Yosemite in the Sixties, photographs by Glen Denny ; essays by Kevin Starr, Steve Roper and Glen Denny; Arctic wings : birds of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge , edited by Stephen Brown
Outdoor Adventure Guidebook Category: Guide to the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon by Tom Martin and Duwain Whitis

2006
History/Biography Category: The last season by Eric Blehm
Outdoor Literature Category: Being caribou : five months on foot with an Arctic herd by Karsten Heuer
Natural History Literature: Condor : to the brink and back--the life and times of one giant bird by John Nielsen
Nature and the Environment Category: Life in the underground by David Attenborough; Illustrated atlas of the Himalaya by David Zurick and Julsun Pacheco; honorable mention: Carving Grand Canyon : evidence, theories, and mystery by Wayne Ranney
Design and Artistic Merit Category: 100 caterpillars : portraits from the tropical forests of Costa Rica by Jeffrey C. Miller, Daniel H. Janzen and Winifred Hallwachs; Wings of Spring : courtship, nesting and fledging ; photographs by Tom Vezo ; text by Chuck Hagner
Children's Category: Kelly of Hazel Ridge, text by Robbyn Smith van Frankenhuysen ; illustrations by Gijsbert van Frankenhuysen; Gaia girls : enter the Earth by Lee Welles ; illustrated by Ann Hameister
Outdoor Adventure Guidebook Category: The Middle Fork of the Salmon River : a comprehensive guide by Matt Leidecker
Classic Category: honorable mention: Sleeping Island : a journey to the edge of the Barrens by P. G. Downes
Instructional Category: Extreme kids : how to connect with your children through today's extreme (and not so extreme) outdoor sports by Scott Graham
Nature Guidebooks: Yellowstone expedition guide : the modern way to explore America's oldest national park by Charissa Reid; Caterpillars of eastern North America : a guide to identification and natural history by David L. Wagner

2005
History/Biography Category: Journey of a hope merchant : from apartheid to the elite world of solo yacht racing by Neal Petersen with William P. Baldwin and Patty Fulcher; honorable mention: Breaking trail : a climbing life by Arlene Blum
Outdoor Literature: Savage summit : the true stories of the five women who climbed K2, the world's most feared mountain by Jennifer Jordan; honorable mention: At the mercy of the river : an exploration of the last African wilderness by Peter Stark
Natural History Literature: Out of Eden : an odyssey of ecological invasion by Alan Burdick
Nature and the Environment: Sea turtles : a complete guide to their biology, behavior, and conservation by James R. Spotila
Design and Artistic Merit Category: Mountain ranges of Colorado ; photographed and written by John Fielder ; designed by Mark Mulvany
Children's Books: The little green island with a little red house : a book of colors and critters by Sharon Lovejoy; honorable mention: Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert
Instructional Category: Basic kayaking : all the skills and gear you need to get started by Wayne Dickert and Jon Rounds ; photographs by Skip Brown ; illustrations by Roberto Sabas; Glacier mountaineering : the illustrated guide to glacier travel and crevasse rescue by Andy Tyson ; illustrated by Mike Clelland
Outdoor Adventure Guidebook Category: Top trails : Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks : must-do hikes for everyone by Andrew Dean Nystrom; honorable mention: Idaho's Salmon River : a river runner's guide to the River of No Return by Eric J. Newell and Allison J. Newell; honorable mention: Red Rock Canyon : a climbing guide by Roxanna Brook and Jared McMillen
Nature Guidebook Category: Snakes of the Southeast by Whit Gibbons and Mike Dorcas; honorable mention: Nature's strongholds : the world's great wildlife reserves by Laura and William Riley
Classic Category: Life-time Achievement Recognition: Farley Mowat for Sea of Slaughter, Never Cry Wolf and other works.

2004
Nature and the Environment Category: The snowflake : winter's secret beauty by Kenneth Libbrecht ; photography by Patricia Rasmussen
Outdoor Literature: Out there : in the wild in a wired age by Ted Kerasote; Where the mountain casts its shadow : the dark side of extreme adventure by Maria Coffey; honorable mention: A blistered kind of love : one couple's trial by trail by Angela and Duffy Ballard
History/Biography Category: Ways to the sky : a historical guide to North American mountaineering by Andy Selters
Design and Artistic Merit Category: Edge of the earth, corner of the sky ; photography by Art Wolfe ; essays by Art Davidson; The mountains know Arizona : images of the land and stories of its people ; photographs by Michael Collier ; text by Rose Houk ; designed by Mary Winkelmann Velgos
Classic Category: Walden : a fully annotated edition by Henry David Thoreau ; edited by Jeffrey S. Cramer
Children's Category: Whose garden is it? By Mary Ann Hoberman. Illustrated by Jane Dyer
Nature Guidebook Category: Dragonflies of the north woods by Kurt Mead
Outdoor Adventure Guidebook Category: 100 classic hikes in Oregon by Douglas Lorain
Instructional Category: Rock climbing : mastering basic skills by Craig Luebben

2003
Outdoor Literature: The beckoning silence by Joe Simpson
Design and Artistic Merit: First light : Acadia National Park and Maine's Mount Desert Island ; photography by Tom Blagden, Jr. ; text by Charles R. Tyson, Jr.
Nature and the Environment: Ice Island : expedition to Antarctica's largest iceberg by Gregory S. Stone
History/Biography: Southern exposure : a solo sea kayaking journey around New Zealand's South Island by Chris Duff; honorable mention: Women on high : pioneers of mountaineering by Rebecca A. Brown
Outdoor Classic: Alone : the classic polar adventure by Richard E. Byrd (original edition here)
Children's Books: Dot & Jabber and the big bug mystery by Ellen Stoll Walsh; Jam & jelly by Holly & Nellie by Gloria Whelan
Nature Guidebooks: Mammal tracks & sign : a guide to North American species by Mark Elbroch; honorable mention: The rockfishes of the northeast Pacific by Milton S. Love, Mary Yoklavich, and Lyman Thorsteinson
How-to/Instructional Category: Basic canoeing : all the skills and tools you need to get started : edited by Jon Rounds ; Wayne Dickert, paddling consultant ; photographs by Skip Brown ; llustrations by Taina Litwak
Outdoor Adventure Guidebooks: 100 hikes in Yosemite National Park by Marc J. Soares; honorable mention: 100 hikes in the inland Northwest : Eastern Washington, Northern Rockies, Wallowas by Rich Landers and the Spokane Mountaineers; honorable mention: Trekking Washington by Mike Woodmansee; Work of Significance: AMC White Mountain Guide, 27th : hiking trails in the White Mountain National Forest ; compiled and
edited by Gene Daniell and Steven D. Smith

2002
Outdoor Literature Category: Rowing to latitude : journeys along the Arctic's edge by Jill Fredston
History/Biography Category: Gifford Pinchot and the making of modern environmentalism by Char Miller; honorable mention: Arctic crossing : a journey through the Northwest Passage and Inuit culture by Jonathan Waterman
Design and Artistic Merit Category: Wilder Mississippi ; photographs by Stephen Kirkpatrick ; text by Marlo Carter Kirkpatrick ; design by Heidi Flynn Allen; honorable mention: The Southwest's contrary land : forever changing between Four Corners and the Sea of Cortes by Craig Childs ; designed by Mary Winkelman Velgos ; photography editor: Peter Ensenberger
Nature and the Environment Category: Down to earth : nature's role in American history by Ted Steinberg; honorable mention: Listening to whales : what the orcas have taught us by Alexandra Morton; honorable mention: The Southwest inside out : an illustrated guide to the land and its history ; text by Thomas Wiewandt and Maureen Wilks ; photography by Thomas Wiewandt ; design by Carol Haralson
Children's Category: Wild wings : poems for young people by Jane Yolen ; photographs by Jason Stemple; honorable mention: Ladybugs : red, fiery, and bright by Mia Posada
Nature Guidebook Category: Lichens of North America by Irwin M. Brodo, Sylvia Duran Sharnoff and Stephen Sharnoff; honorable mention: Bird tracks & sign : a guide to North American species by Mark Elbroch and Eleanor Marks
Outdoor Adventure Guidebook Category: Hiking the Sierra Nevada by John Mock and Kimberley O'Neil; honorable mention: Alaska : a climbing guide by Michael Wood and Colby Coombs
Instructional Category: The complete sea kayaker's handbook by Shelley Johnson; honorable mention: The mountain traveller's handbook : your companion from city to summit by Paul Deegan
Classic Category: honorable mention: Backwoods ethics : a guide to low-impact camping and hiking by Laura and Guy Waterman

2001
History/Biography Category: A river running west : the life of John Wesley Powell by Donald Worster; Sunk without a sound : the tragic Colorado honeymoon of Glen and Bessie Hyde by Brad Dimock
Literature Category: Where the pavement ends : one woman's bicycle trip through Mongolia, China, & Vietnam by Erika Warmbrunn
Outdoor Classic Category: Wilderness and the American mind by Roderick Nash (5th ed (2014) here)
Design and Artistic Merit Category: The living wild by Art Wolfe
Children's Category: What does the sky say? by Nancy White Carlstrom ; illustrated by Tim Ladwig; Coyote and badger : desert hunters of the Southwest by Bruce Hiscock
Nature and Environment Category: Wild solutions : how biodiversity is money in the bank by Andrew Beattie and Paul Ehrlich; honorable mention: For love of wildness : the journal of a U.S. game management agent by Terry Grosz; honorable mention: Pacific light : images of the Monterey Peninsula by Douglas Steakley ; poetry by Ric Masten
Nature Guidebook: Butterflies through binoculars : the West : a field guide to the butterflies of western North America by Jeffrey Glassberg; honorable mention: The raptor almanac by Scott Weidensaul
Instructional Category: The Orvis fly-tying guide by Tom Rosenbauer ; illustrations by Rod Walinchus ; fly pattern photographs by Henry Ambrose
Outdoor Adventure Guidebook Category: Fifty favorite climbs : the ultimate North American tick list by Mark Kroese; honorable mention: Hike America : Virginia: an atlas of Virginia's greatest hiking adventures by Bill & Mary Burnham; honorable mention: 101 hikes in Northern California : exploring mountains, valleys, and seashore by Matt Heid

2000
Children's Category: The blueberry shoe by Ann Dixon ; linocut illustrations by Evon Zerbetz; Jellies : the life of jellyfish by Twig C. George
History Biography Category: The wildest dream : the biography of George Mallory by Peter and Leni Gillman
Literature Category: On Celtic tides : one man's journey around Ireland by sea kayak by Chris Duff
Nature and the Environment Category: Wildlife wars : the life and times of a fish and game warden by Terry Grosz; Penguin planet : their world, our world by Kevin Schafer
Design and Artistic Merit Category: Bradford Washburn : mountain photography ; photographs by Bradford Washburn ; edited and compiled by Antony Decaneas
Instructional Category: The National Outdoor Leadership School's wilderness guide by Mark Harvey
Nature Guidebook Category: Guide to marine mammals & turtles of the U.S. Atlantic & Gulf of Mexico by Kate Wynne and
Malia Schwatz ; illustrated by Garth Mix
Adventure Guidebook Category: Guide to sea kayaking Central and Northern California by Roger Schumann and Jan Shriner; honorable mention: Montana and Idaho's Continental Divide Trail by Lynna Howard ; photography by Leland Howard
Outdoor Classic Award: A Sand County almanac ; and sketches here and there by Aldo Leopold

1999
History/Biography Category: One man's wilderness : an Alaskan odyssey by Sam Keith ; from the journals and photographs of Richard Proenneke
Literature Category: The lost river : a memoir of life, death, and transformation on wild water by Richard Bangs
Children's Category: The Inuksuk book by Mary Wallace
Nature and the Environment Category: Washington's Mount Rainier National Park : a centennial celebration by Tim McNulty ; photographs by Pat O'Hara; Islands of hope : lessons from North America's great wildlife sanctuaries by Phillip Manning
Instructional Category: Extreme Alpinism : climbing light, fast, and high by Mark Twight and James Martin
Nature Guidebook Category: Scats and tracks of the Rocky Mountains : a field guide to the signs of 70 wildlife species by James Halfpenny; honorable mention: Vermont and New Hampshire winter trails by Marty Basch
Design and Artistic Merit Category: Wildflowers of the Appalachian Trail by Leonard Adkins ; photographs by Joe and Monica Cook; honorable mention: Spotted Bear : a Rocky Mountain folktale by Hanneke Ippisch ; illustrated by Hedvig Rappe-Flowers ;  designed by Kim Ericsson
Adventure Guidebook Category: Trout Unlimited's guide to America's 100 best trout streams by John Ross
Outdoor Classic Award: Cache Lake country : life in the North Woods by John J. Rowlands

1998
Nature Guidebook Category: A field guide to snakes of Florida by Alan Tennant; honorable mention: Colorado nature almanac by Stephen R. Jones and Ruth Carol Cushman
Nature and the Environment Category: The Columbia : sustaining a modern resource text and photographs by Tim Palmer; honorable mention: The Arctic wolf : living with the pack by David Mech
Outdoor Adventure Guidebook Category: Colorado's Continental Divide Trail by Tom Lorang Jones
Instructional Category: Knots  & ropes for climbers by Duane Raleigh
Design and Artistic Merit: Track of the tiger, edited by Maurice Hornocker; honorable mention: 100 Classic Hikes in Washington by Ira Spring and Harvey Manning
History/Biography Category: The doing of the thing : the brief and brilliant whitewater career of Buzz Holmstom by
Vince Welch, Cort Conley, and Brad Dimock
Outdoor Literature Category: Postcards from the ledge : collected mountaineering writings of Greg Child by Greg Child
Outdoor Classic: Two in the Far North by Margaret Murie; Mountaineering : the freedom of the hills, edited by Don
Graydon and Kurt Hanson (7th ed. (2003) here)

1997
Literature Category: Landscapes of the interior : re-explorations of nature and the human spirit by Don Gayton; honorable mention: The sacred place : witnessing the holy in the physical world, edited by Scott Olsen and Scott Cairns
Outdoor Education Category: Sharing the wonder of birds with kids By Laura Erickson ; illustrations by Kathryn Marsaa
Instructional/How-to Category: Ragged Mountain Press guide to outdoor sports By Jonathan and Roseann Hanson
Guidebook Category: Canoe country flora : plants and trees of the North Woods and Boundary Waters By Mark Stensaas ; illustrated by Jeff Sonstegard
Design and Artistic Merit: honorable mention: The Rocky Mountain wild foods cookbook by Darcy Williamson