California rice farmers develop eco-friendly products from compressed rice straw, and a separate project to promote water conservation through water transfers and groundwater banking. Teaching For a time, Reisner was a distinguished visiting professor at the University of California at Davis, lecturing on the relationship between urbanization and environmental concerns. Criticism In his later years, Reisner was criticized by environmentalists for his connection to two private companies that went against the values he presented in his books: one stored water underground for profit, and the other promoted the use of rice fibers in Western rice paddies. Reisner later stated that he had changed his mind about the latter due to its ability to provide habitat for birds. Death Reisner died of colon cancer on July 21, 2000, at his home in San Anselmo, California, survived by his wife, biochemist Lawrie Mott, and their two daughters Ruthie and Margot. His final book, A Dangerous Place, was completed before his death but did not appear in print until 2003. Books Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water (1986, revised 1993). Overtapped Oasis: Reform or Revolution for Western Water (with Sarah Bates) (1990). Game Wars: The Undercover Pursuit of Wildlife Poachers (1992). A Dangerous Place: California's Unsettling Fate (2003). References 1948 births 2000 deaths Writers from California Earlham College alumni 20th-century American non-fiction writers People from San Anselmo, California Deaths from colorectal cancer Deaths from cancer in California