Review 710: This Land Was Saved for You and Me

This Land Was Saved for You and Me: How Gifford Pinchot, Frederick Law Olmsted, and a Band of Foresters Rescued America's Public Lands by Jeffrey H. Ryan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book provides the history of how land in the United States became preserved for future generations. Nothing in the book addressed deserts, it was very tree oriented.

U.S. Forest Service, National Parks, Wilderness Preserves, and other public lands have a history, and part of that history is told in this book. Its focus is on some of the men that fought the land and forests.

The book begins with Frederick Law Olmsted, managing a mining operation in the California Sierra Nevada. Needing a break, he wanders to the Yosemite area and is astonished by its beauty. Olmsted realizes this land needs to be protected before it is destroyed by commerce, either mining, clear-cutting timber or some other extraction method that destroys beautiful landscapes.

There are more biographical details of Olmsted for the page length of this book than he deserves. I didn’t mind too much since I’ve been interested in learning more about the guy. Yet it did detract from the premise of this book.

From Olmsted the book discusses Gifford Pinchot. I found it interesting that Pinchot was groomed by his father to become a forester, and good thing he liked it. Pinchot saw opportunity to make his mark with forestry. Like all early foresters he got his forestry education in Europe, then back to the United States, first working with Olmsted then quickly becoming the lead man on forestry management.

At this point there was a lengthy discussion about the development of schools for forestry and development of an agency within the federal government. Pinchot was quite influential with both aspects, even being underhanded towards people he previously worked with.

Pinchot’s view towards forestry was that forests were to be used, not preserved, and this viewpoint became very influential in managing forest service lands. He not only headed the new agency he also trained many foresters for many years.

Further in the book discusses other men who saw that needed to be preserved as wilderness, untouched by humans for the future. They believed that wilderness helped humans reconnect with nature and was good antidote for city life.

The book had many interesting points and yet it also was too large of a topic to be adequately cover everything for a book of under 250 pages. It also seemed to miss quite a bit as well, such as neglecting to mention any women who also helped in the fight to protect lands.

Review 690: In Trees

In Trees: An Exploration by Robert Moor
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

This book is somewhat hard for me to categorize other than saying it is a non-fiction book about trees and the human life, well mostly. It’s somewhat philosophical, somewhat scientific, while also being partly autobiographic.

Each chapter, which can be lengthy, focus on different topic. The book doesn’t have a thesis or summation and the subtitle is perhaps very apt as it is an exploration of trees in a variety of ways.

It begins with the author and his personal experiences, first with climbing trees then with bonsai trees. One surprising chapter was genealogy based, looking at how family are like trees branching out, although it is more in-depth there than I’m summarizing here.

There was a chapter on the Korowai people who live in tree houses, and are mostly living as their people have done for thousands of years. The author does visit. There is a chapter on chimpanzees, who make nests in trees and of course Moor has to sleep the night in one. From there we move into tree-sitters and saving old growth. Moor volunteers a few stints then becomes quite involved in becoming an activist to save some old big trees in Canada.

I felt like the trees were more the launching pad for Moor’s discussions than be centrally focused. I didn’t mind some of the explorations, but a few of them I wasn’t too excited about.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

Review 663: Evergreen

Evergreen: The Trees That Shaped America by Trent Preszler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I like reading books about trees. This one took the evergreen trees as a jumping point. This was a social history, looking at what trees are used for with a focus on the use of wood and Christmas trees. The holiday tree became a recurring theme, even looking at the various fake trees history, and what a Christmas tree can symbolize.

Wood is a very important resource. This was not a complete assessment of everything evergreens are used for, but did discuss a variety of areas. Which trees that were found to be better during the war, which trees are better the balloon frame type house that became popular.

Preszler meanders away from the topic, going into more social and cultural history at times, such as lumberjack camps and how that plays into gay history. After veering away from the trees, he would refocus back, particularly onto the Christmas tree.

Had hoped for more about the trees history, not just focused on its usage, but it was a decent book overall.


Thanks to Algonquin Books and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book. However, I listened to a published audiobook copy of the book.

Review 624: The Tree Collectors

The Tree Collectors: Tales of Arboreal Obsession by Amy Stewart
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Listened to the audio, which was not the best way to read this book. I have a print copy on hold and will reassess this book once I get a chance to view that copy.

January 2026 edit: 

This is a book to be read via eBook or print copy. Audio is not the way to go. The text includes color drawings of each of the people who are profiled, and at times images of the trees and environment. The images are a big enhancement. The book is not like a typical linear style book, as it has many entries with very loose organization.

This book profiles people from around the globe that have a passion for trees. Each entry is fairly short, less than a page really. Most specialize in one type of tree, but not all. Some people collect trees, whether they actually own them or not. I'm still not certain how this is, maybe similar to bird watching, like collecting a list?

I was hoping the book was more in-depth than it was. Every entry was cursory, even the entries that expanded on a topic. I have read another of Amy Stewart's books before and it was of similar vein, so I should not have been surprised. Her books remind me of a specialized encyclopedia, but not exhaustive.

Review 619: Hotshot: A Life on Fire

Hotshot: A Life on Fire by River Selby
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is the third book I’ve read this year about a hotshot firefighter, the second one about a woman (see: When it All Burns and Wildfire Days). There was also a fourth book about firefighting in general, just called Fire, which is fictional. It is hard for me to not compare this book with these other memoirs.

Here, Selby goes deeper into her own personal life than the other two, while weaving in the specifics of the history of an area of a current active fire. These three memoirs also discuss how damaging the total fire suppression activity is for the environment and health of the forest. Selby’s account seems to take on a more fervent tone of the damage this is doing, despite it being her job.

Not surprisingly, women are not common as hotshots. There are some, but it is a male dominated job. It is also one that tends undermine the women that do show up. Selby dives into this a bit more than Kelly Ramsey, likely due to her experience with men behaving badly. Ramsey had some of that too, but maybe minimized it. The guys on these crews are usually quite young, and are guided by their superiors, it appears this abusive behavior is systemic. Reporting it generally means losing ones job, as it becomes worse for the woman.

Selby spends quite a bit of time discussing her mom, and that relationship. Like Ramsey who also lost a parent while being a firefighter, they had a tough relationship. Selby didn’t have another parent to lean on though, and the result was a messy adolescence. Firefighting was a way out of some of that self-abuse and giving her a tough job that helped her. In some ways this book is much more about Selby than being a hotshot, unlike the other two.


I listened to the audiobook which was narrated by the author. She did a decent job of it, but honestly, I thought it was too slow and had to speed it more than I usually do to find a decent listening pace. Otherwise, it went well.



Thanks to Grove Atlantic/Atlantic Monthly Press and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book. However, I listened to a published audiobook copy of the book.

Review 609: What Trees Remember

What Trees Remember by Marie Hrušková
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Too bad there isn't a book cover image, as it really is a nice drawing. The cover is pulled from one of the drawings in the book. This seems to be a bit of an obscure book.

This is a short book (easily read in a day, about an hour or so) about 30 important trees across the Czech Republic. Each entry has an illustration drawn by Jaroslav Turek. The associated essay about the particular tree tells the history of why this particular tree is important for the Czech country. Some are fables, but many more are associated with an important person. The trees are mainly oak, linden or pine.

One amazing fact was there were several times when a story mentions how the tree was planted upside down, crown first, and if it continue to grow then it proved something, such as a person’s innocence or where to build a church.

All of the trees discussed are old, ancient trees. Many of them have been helped by the local villagers across the years to continue the tree’s survival, such as banding the trunk, shoring up the branches, and in several cases placing a roof type structure over exposed hollows from broken off branches. And only one mentioned was no longer living by the time of publication, after a very long life.

The last portion of the book has a very short biography of each of the person’s mentioned and of the area where each tree is located. Makes this book feel a bit more of a history book than just a tree survey.

The book came from my continuing a deep dive into my shelves, as I bought in Prague on my second visit there over twenty years ago now. I bought this book as a type of a souvenir for the area. The paper is also very nice and the book is lovely. Not sure why it took me so long to finally read this. Maybe it just mostly got overlooked.

Review 598: Wildfire Days

Wildfire Days: A Woman, a Hotshot Crew, and the Burning American West by Kelly Ramsey
My rating: 3.75 of 5 stars

This memoir details working as a hotshot and being a woman. Oh, and also being about a decade or so older than most hotshots. Kelly Ramsey found solace in pushing her body beyond the limits in physically. She combined her love of working outdoors with fighting fire and the elite hotshots were perfect for her for going the extra.

The book covered not only fighting fires, but also her relationship at the time and her father who was an alcoholic. book we have Ramsey’s personal life, such as her relationship Josh who was also a firefighter, but not a hotshot. We also get extensive details about her father and growing up. These personal details does make her a more fuller person on the page. Certainly being away from home for weeks at a time doing exhausting work takes a toll on relationships. It’s an unusual job from the regular 9-5 where you come home every day.

The subtitle implies some focus on the “burning American West” but that was only incidental as they were the fires Ramsey and her crew were battling. There was one fire she didn’t fight and that was one that threatened her home at the time. But there was little information about fire in general, just sparse moments.

This seems to be my year of reading these types of books, the second for a memoir of being a hotshot, and a fictional tale of a fire that blows-up written in the 1940s. I have another book or two on my docket of fire related books, next one is another woman hotshot. I’m interested in how their stories compare.

Thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book. However, I listened to a published audiobook copy of the book.

Review 595: Fire

Fire by George R. Stewart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is all about a fiction fire that blows up in California. The location is fictionalized using real place names, but they aren’t near each other as stated in the book. The location is generally in the Sierra Nevada Mountains somewhere between Reno and Sacramento.

The characters are not fully fleshed out characters in the book, they are mere placeholders really for the jobs they do. A few characters do get some motivations and an extremely small amount of their life outside of the fire, but generally even then not more than a couple of sentences. Instead the main character that is fully explained and detailed is the fire. The Spitcat.

The book is broken up in “days” as the first day is the lightning strike that will create the fire. This first two chapters/days are more involved with the people, such as the Supervisor of the forest district and the fire lookout, which is a young woman. This is the only woman taking a “man’s” job during the firefighting operation. The only other women are not even named, but are secretary timekeepers or cooks.

The book was written in the 1940s, and the date does show. Not only with the sexism but also with the techniques of fighting fires and the approach to it.

I liked how the book described all the ways they pulled men in to help fight the fire. There were first the young boys, high school age doing summer work in the mountains. Then they had the smoke jumpers come in. By the time the fire blew-up they needed an army of men, they came in from other districts. They went and recruited from the streets of skid-rows in Stockton, Reno and Sacramento. They called these men pogies. They also brought in soldiers and convicts.

The book has two viewpoints, one that the forest is there to be used by man and the other to be remain pristine as a natural park for beauty. While the animals are of concern, there isn’t any concern about ecology or natural systems in how everything is connected.

In any case, this is a through telling of a fire burning through a forest.

Previously Read George R. Stewart books:

• Storm
• (3.75 stars) December.2023
• Earth Abides
• (5 stars) October.2017

Review 579: When It All Burns

When It All Burns: Fighting Fire in a Transformed World by Jordan Thomas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

While working on a graduate degree Jordan Thomas takes a break from research to understand fire better and joins the hotshots and battles wildfires for a season. He didn't put it this way, others and himself questioned why he wanted to join this elite firefighting team. One of his explanations was simply he needed money. But there are a ton of ways to earn money. Thomas was also interested in fire and wanted to understand it more thoroughly, and why not experience it by fighting it.

The book is not only about working as a US Forest Service Hotshot, it also delves into the history of fire and environmental changes being seen due to the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.

The book was a blend of personal story, history and more, but it also felt somewhat uneven. The history aspect turned into outrage against corporations, while it may be understood, it changed the tenor of the overall book.

It was fascinating to get an inside look at this dangerous job, that is being even more necessary as more of these firestorms and super-heated wildfires will increase in the coming years.

I listened to the audiobook version of this book, which was narrated by the author. Oftentimes author narrators don’t do this very well, but this was an exception and was well done.

Thanks to Penguin Group Riverhead and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book, and PRH Audio for advance access to the audiobook.

Review 566: The Lost Trees of Willow Avenue

The Lost Trees of Willow Avenue: A Story of Climate and Hope on One American Street by Mike Tidwell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was a mix of personal story and climate change. Tidwell focuses on what was happening on his street and neighborhood, particularly the trees. The oaks dominated the streets, which had been thriving there for over a hundred years, and now were dying. Why? Tidwell finds out.
The answer to why happens to be yes from climate change, but not in a direct way such as it was hotter and the trees didn’t like the heat. No, instead it is a bit more complicated, and he shows the connections. It felt almost like a mystery the way it was laid out.

While the focus was on Tidwell’s neighborhood he isn’t entirely contained there, as he explores some of the science of solutions. The book is also fairly autobiographical, which makes it quite personable along with the other people who appear in his book, such as some of the neighbors.

Overall the book was quite readable and didn’t get bogged down with too many facts and figures or scientific jargon. One aspect that had me give this book a better rating was the book went beyond the effects of climate change and included solutions. Tidwell explored what is being done now to help get us out of this mess from all the carbon-dioxide that is already in our atmosphere, and how to prevent it from getting worse. There was a heavy focus on one of his scientific neighbors who won an X-prize for his idea of tree sequestration. This was a new concept to me, so I didn’t mind the extra pages devoted to this one solution.

I read this book from a published audiobook version that I got from my local library. The narrator did an excellent job and this could be a good way to read this book. However, I also had an eBook copy, which meant I got to see the images that are included at the beginning of each chapter. Some of the photos include his neighbors too.


Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

Review 530: Defending Giants

Defending Giants: The Redwood Wars and the Transformation of American Environmental Politics by Darren Frederick Speece
My rating: 4.25 of 5 stars

This is an in-depth look at the fight to save old growth redwoods on the California northern coast that are now known as the Redwood Wars. The redwood tree is known by several names, scientifically as Sequoia sempervirens, colloquially as coastal redwoods, California redwoods, or just plain redwoods. Their preferred habitat today is along the coast of Northern California reaching into Oregon. The old-growth trees that were at the heart of the redwood wars are forests and these giant trees which can live for two-thousand years.

With the narrow range of where these trees can grow, which like coastal fog, the 1.3 million acres of area from pre-Columbus days are now down to just 5% of the land. And to save that five percent was a hard fought battle that this book describes.

The main company involved is Pacific Lumber. It was founded in 1863 and was a family company that grew to be one of the largest in the area. The company policy in cutting trees was in a fairly sustainable manner with looking towards long term and generally did not clear-cut groves of tree stands. They were more selective.

Unfortunately, it didn’t stay that way. In 1985 the company was taken over by Maxxam Corporation run by Charles Hurwitz, who was known as a corporate raider and used the Michael Milken junk bonds. (see savings and loan crisis of the 1980s.) This is when the old-growth redwoods became extremely endangered. The plan by Maxxam was to reduce the inventory, i.e. trees standing, in order to increase profits as quickly as possible and clear-cutting began.

In order to make this shorter, let’s just say that didn’t happen, not entirely anyway. The book is detailed in explaining all the various steps and stages that took place during these years. There were many, many lawsuits, activists protests and actions all to raise awareness and save the last standing redwoods from being cut down. Environmental groups, forest plans and government agencies, along with the main environmental leaders are heavily features in the book. Several women took major roles as leaders, which needs to be acknowledged since the corporations, forest service and government were all men.

There aren't any close biographies of people involved, only cursory. Although the car bombing in 1990 of two prominent activists, Judi Bari and Darryl Cherny, does come up several times. It was a major point in the Redwood Wars.

The book is somewhat academic. Darren Speece wrote his PhD thesis on this topic being nearly the same length of this book. Certainly that was transformed into this book. The book comes with extensive section of notes (46 pages), Selected Bibliography (8 pages) and a very long index that is 31 pages.

Review 528: The Forester

The Forester by James Kraus
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I read this book to about the half-way point. I almost stopped earlier, due to major plot holes, but decided to give it more room. Then another farcical moment arrived and after another unbelievable situation that I had to quit this book. The writing style wasn’t very good, but I was willing to overlook that a little, but with all the other problems with the book, no there are much better books out there to spend my time on.

Normally I don’t rate books I don’t finish because I think it’s more me than the book, my reading mood at the time or something. This time it is the book.

I was disappointed this didn’t work out better. The book cover is nice, the title sounds like something I’d be interested in, and the overall content is dealing with the environment. Oh, I didn’t even mention how there was this message, repeating how environmentalists are naïve and misguided in not wanting clear cutting a forest, or wanting wild animals to live.

I’m just glad I got the book for free instead of paying for this. I got it free from amazon back when I had prime and there are free monthly offerings, if I remember correctly.

Review 524: Young Men and Fire

Young Men and Fire by Norman Maclean
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is the story of what happened at the Mann Gulch Fire on August 5, 1949. Smokejumpers were a relatively new way to fight forest fires, and were the elite of the firefighters. On that day, the fire turned into a blow-up and killed nearly all of the smokejumpers.

Norman Maclean, a firefighter in his youth and grew up in the area was a bit haunted by that day and all those deaths. He wrote and investigated this tragedy for decades, but the book wasn’t finished, he had a hard time finding his way into the story. Instead it was published after his death.

It story repeats, the actions and what happened are gone over multiple times. There are different versions of what happened, what was in court cases, and what the two remaining survivors told Maclean. The language used was at times poetic, a literary language.

I’d wanted to read this book for a long while. Earlier this year I attended a webinar for the 75th anniversary of Mann Gulch Fire, my desire to read this book, and reminded me I still haven’t read Maclean’s book. Then I saw the unabridged version of the audiobook available but only for another week in the Audible Plus catalog that I was finally propelled to get to this one. I may even have rushed through the ending in order to finish before I lost access to the book.

Review 521: Forty Years a Forester

Forty Years a Forester by Elers Koch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is an autobiographical account of Elers Koch who started working as a forester when the U.S. Forest Service begun near the beginning of the 20th century. Gifford Pinchot established the forest service, being the very first chief and perhaps the very first United States Forester. He hired the first group of young men, with Koch being among them, and the only one that grew up in the West.

While the book starts with his early days of growing up and college, there isn’t very much of his personal life, instead it is focused on being a forest ranger. The earliest days were taken up mostly as surveying the forests, drawing up maps then claiming them for protection. Then as inspector. The forest service also handled the logging, determining which trees should be cut and which should stay, so they were involved in managing the forest. And of course, there are forest fires. Several chapters discuss this and are among the most exciting passages of the book when escaping near death from the flames.

Koch occasionally compares how things were done in those early days to now, such as using airplanes and smoke jumpers helping out in fighting the forest fires. Of course his “today” is now many decades ago and things have changed even more. Koch advocated for sometimes not fighting a natural fire and letting it burn as the best way to manage the forest. That was not the policy at the time. Another thing Koch did not approve was in this all-out effort to save the forest from burning, roads were made and developed throughout the woodlands, thus ruining the pristine wide open lands and wilderness.

When the book was originally written in 1949 Koch could not find a publisher. He died before it was published, it took nearly 50 years before the book found a publisher. This is a very readable book and an fascinating account of what it was being a forester over a hundred years ago. Glad this book finally found a publisher.

I listened to the audiobook version but also had access to an eBook which I used to glance through and see the photographs and maps that were included. Those are always a nice addition to a non-fiction book, particularly an autobiography.

Review 464: Trees in Paradise: A California History

Trees in Paradise: A California History by Jared Farmer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Initial Short Review: 

I have eight pages of notes on this book taken while reading, I need to condense that down before providing some notes here. Let's just start by saying I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

Covered were iconic California trees, one could says they help define California: Redwoods, Eucalyptus, Citrus and Palm.


Full Review:

Who knew that a history of California could be told with four types of trees? Well, not entirely, but this book does attempt that and does a great job.

The book is in four parts, one for each type of tree, these are iconic trees of California and each can be “read as individual botanical and cultural histories.”

Part I: Redwoods – ideas of time, history, antiquity, and mortality.

Part II: Eucalyptus – immigration, naturalization, nativeness, and alienness.

Part III: Citrus – labor, industry, replication, and growth.

Park IV: Palms – beauty, fashion, image, and style.

Redwoods, for their longevity and largeness, and covered all that went along with cutting down the forests for the wood. At first people didn’t believe that trees could be so enormous, samples were taken, cuttings of the trunk would be shipped around the world. Now convinced they were horrified at the atrocity of killing the magnificent tree. I saw one of these in the Natural History Museum in London last summer, now I know how it got there. In Yosemite area, the land was sold off to three monopoly companies, two lumber companies and one organization of socialists. The socialists took nearly four years to build a road. Just as they started cutting trees the land was turned into a National Park – now they were illegally there, and the government came and kicked them out.

Eucalyptus, while not native it certainly feels like it in California. They have been around over 100 years; doesn’t that make them native? And so, the discussion naturally moves to immigration, naturalization and being foreign.

No where else but in California do you see Eucalyptus tree lines streets. In other countries the tree represents something, such as in India the trees symbolize colonialism. My Dad planted a row of these in our yard, they make a great wind break and natural division line. (We also had a Redwood tree!)

Citrus, the trees that were part of the food industry mainly oranges, but other citrus fruits as well. The grafting of trees created the Valencia orange practically in my backyard (ages ago, of course). This section was also close to home as I grew up around orange groves that (to my horror) were cut down to make way for more cookie-cutter housing developments. This passage explains well, from page 318 “The literal ‘orange curtain’ that once marked the transition from Los Angeles County to Orange County no longer exists. Today the leading local landmark is probably the Orange Crush – the largest and most complicated freeway interchange in the world.”

Palms, the iconic tree of Hollywood, L.A., really of Southern California. They do feel out of place in areas such as Big Sur where different types of trees dominate. The Mexican Palms are in a type of “invasive species” which will grow up out of the asphalt if left alone. The tree doesn’t provide much shade but does give a certain look. They are also high-maintenance trees and can be costly to city governments which causes more controversy for urban tree development. It is dangerous work to keep the fronds trimmed, and when they aren’t the trees look scraggy and not the image desired. Palms can be easily transported and installed elsewhere and for the larger trees big business for instant large palms in flashy places such as Las Vegas.

I could go on, barely touched the surface here of all that is covered by these four tree types, while barely mentioned all the social history. I listened to the audiobook version while had alongside me the print book, which probably is a better way to read this one. The print book included many photos. Also found only in the print book are many, many pages of notes, an index, a lengthy further reading section (there goes my to read list!), and a listing of all the common and scientific names of many plants and trees. The print book was from the library, now I may have to search to get my own copy.

February 11, 2019 – Started Reading

February 12, 2019 – 

page 24

 

 4.05% "this one might take a while too....the focus in on four tree types: Redwoods, Eucalyptus, Citrus and Palms."

February 13, 2019 – 

page 35

 

 5.91% "putting on pause for a little while until I can get hold of a print copy to follow with the audio, lots of photos missing out with only audio"

February 15, 2019 – on pause --turned out a very long pause

November 15, 2023 – Started Reading

November 15, 2023 – 

page 16

 

 2.7% "returning to this book - listening alongside the print book, many photos! restarted from the beginning as it was too long ago when I read the intro prior."

November 22, 2023 – 

page 16

 

 2.7% "seem to be not reading this book...will get to it soon"

November 28, 2023 – Shelved as: own-read

November 29, 2023 – 

page 16

 

 2.7% "another week and still not reading this...maybe I wasn't ready to tackle this book yet. It's long and daunting. But soon...(or remove from currently reading.)"

December 6, 2023 – 

page 16

 

 2.7% "again, another week and still not reading this book. Clearly was not ready to jump into the book just yet."

December 9, 2023 – 

page 53

 

 8.95% "finally got back to this book (yesterday) - finished Introduction. started Part I: Redwoods: The Value of Longevity, chapter 1: Twilight of the Giants....some disagreement on the scientific name for redwoods back in the day"

December 13, 2023 – 

page 78

 

 13.18% "illegal redwood forested land grabs by monopolists in the mid-1800s, was aimed at individuals, yet largely ignored by the government until the California Redwood Company attempted to sell their holdings to a Scottish group in Edinburgh. Monopoly ok, foreign ownership was not."

December 19, 2023 – 

page 78

 

 13.18% "reading this extremely slowly...may take several more months, at least at this rate."

December 26, 2023 – 

page 78

 

 13.18% "haven't moved forward on this book, decided to resume in january but keeping it as currently reading for now"

January 8, 2024 – 

page 78

 

 13.18% "finally returned to this book"

January 9, 2024 – 

page 102

 

 17.23% "continuing with the (section) Consuming the redwoods"

January 11, 2024 – 

page 146

 

 24.66% "just about done with section - Park politics"

January 19, 2024 – 

page 226

 

 38.18% "began Part II: Eucalypts: The taxonomy of belonging - deep into p.ch.03: Immigration and naturalization / mid-way through the (section) Boom and bust. ...planned "crop" of the hardwood blue gum/eucalyptus did not go well at all."

January 25, 2024 – 

page 292

 

 49.32% "deep into chapter 04: Natives, Aliens, and (Bio)Diversity.....still discussion Eucalyptus trees. now starting (section) Invasion of the Nonnatives"

January 26, 2024 – 

page 318

 

 53.72% "starting up Part III: Citruses: The Industry of growth and chapter 05: Orange revolution"

February 2, 2024 – 

page 318

 

 53.72% "some listening today...nearly done with ch.05: Orange revolution. next section is last: Managerial Control."

February 5, 2024 – 

page 372

 

 62.84% "finishing up ch.05: Orange revolution. next section is last: Managerial Control."

February 8, 2024 – 

page 444

 

 75.0% "deep into chapter 6: Cultural costs. Finished section: Subdivide and uproot. Next up is section: Bugs in the System. - last section and chapter for this part on Citrus. (Next up: Palms)"

February 9, 2024 – 

page 493

 

 83.28% "now in the last part - Part IV - Palms: The Ecology of Style and deep into chapter 07: Cosmopolitan Fronds. Nearly finished with (section) Street trees and city boosters."

February 14, 2024 – 

page 532

 

 89.86% "continuing chapter Aesthetic Infrastructure, finishing (section) Sunbelt design and next up (section) Wilted crowns...this is the last chapter, although Epilogue is quite long."

February 14, 2024 – Finished Reading

Review 448: Timber Wars

Timber Wars by Judi Bari
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Judi Bari was an activist for saving old growth redwoods. She worked within the group Earth First! and helped to organize non-violent actions and protests to save the forests from the continuing of clear-cut practices. Of course, doing this caused a ruckus and as a result she was bombed. This bomb was a small personal bomb placed underneath her car seat, and it’s surprising she even survived. She nearly didn’t. Instead, she had a painful recovery and permanent disability afterwards.

What becomes more amazing is the first instinct for the FBI is that she and her passenger Darryl Cherney must have been transporting the bomb for nefarious activity and so arrested them, while still in the hospital for the bombing. After not enough evidence was ever discovered to charge them, the case was dropped against Bari and Cherney. However, neither the FBI nor the Oakland Police, where the bombing occurred, seriously looked into who may have actually done this.

Through the Freedom of Information Act Bari was able to get hold of her FBI files and they showed that the FBI used this bombing to investigate all the environmental activists they could. Digging into phone records they also looked into anyone who may have been contacted, which included family members. It is utterly surprising there was no serious investigation into who actually committed the crime.

So, this book is a compilation of articles Bari wrote, mostly newspaper articles, along with a few interviews with the media. The focus is quite often on the bombing. It does get to be repetitive with the same information going over time and again, but I don’t blame Bari, if I was bombed, I’d be talking about it every chance I got, especially when nothing was being done to find the culprit.

The articles are in chronological order, from October 1989 to the last in February 1994 as a lengthy article that appeared in Earth First Journal covering specific details on the bombing and investigation, which included several photos. The most mainstream publication Bari had an article published was with Ms. Magazine, where she focused on feminism and bringing that to environmental activism.

The thrust of the book is about the car bombing and Bari suggests a few culprits, starting with the FBI as the prime suspect. She also discusses evidence that the officials never investigated, such as a letter sent to the local newspaper that took responsibility for the bomb and included details about it that was not public knowledge. This letter also matched another that was sent by someone Bari knew which told the Oakland police he would be an informant against Bari.

Anyway, the book goes into these details, and more, many times. Also included is the local organizing and demonstrations against the corporate companies that were doing the clear-cutting. Bari makes it clear she was for the loggers, the individuals who lived in the area, but was against the destroying of the forest and the jobs for these loggers. Without using the word sustainable, this is what she was striving for, sustainable logging. Then loggers would have employment and people would have the wood they need.

It's a fascinating history, and the work Bari, Earth First!, and other activists did stopped the logging and saved the final areas of old growth redwoods. In the late 1980s there was only 5% left in the world still standing and the corporations wanted to take that too. Today they are still there. A paltry 120,000 acres, but at least it is still there.

Review 432: North Woods

North Woods by Daniel Mason
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There was some early hype and good reviews, so I thought I should read this as well. An audio copy was available to borrow, so I started to listen.

Turns out, this was highly enjoyable. I very much liked the multi-cast narration for this book. The format lends itself to more voices than one narrator, as there are different forms of storytelling weaved into the book.

The location doesn’t change through the book, but the years and characters, even the trees change. We get an in-depth view of some of the people who live in the yellow house. And some of the residents don’t really leave after dying. So, this book is a good pick for this time of year.

I loved the deep focus on the trees and the nature around the house, the apple orchard and the forest. There was a surprising section on some beetles that the text is more often found in the romance section. Perhaps too much anthropomorphizing on those small creatures. It definitely provides a new way of seeing.

Book rating: 4.5 stars

Review 382: A Forest Journey

A Forest Journey: The Role of Trees in the Fate of Civilization by John Perlin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Very comprehensive in covering thousands of years of cutting down trees.

This book had a new edition released in February 2023 by Patagonia, which adds many photos and images in addition to text material. It’s hard for me to determine exactly all that is new, but certainly anything that is dated after the original release in 1989.

The book covers just about all of human civilization, going way back to when people started using trees for nearly everything. From building fires to keep warm, houses and buildings, tools, furniture and really just about everything. When we reach the iron age wood is needed for fuel to burn in the furnaces. In the later centuries wood was needed for ship building, particularly large trees for masts.

Wood has been part of human life and civilization growth since the beginning, and yet it has always been treated as an endless source that will never disappear. Perlin shows us that is otherwise, how landscapes have changed.

There is a bit of focus on the clearcutting that went on since the beginning of human civilizations with a focus on the west. Perlin does try to cover the globe but misses a few areas, several I wished he did cover (Easter Island for one). The bulk of the book discusses England then a larger section, nearly a third of the book, is about North America.

It seems humans have learned nothing about destroying forests, about what happened in the past, nor about how acting only for the immediate now will effect the future.

At times I found the information overwhelming in repetition of deforestation, and other times amazed at how many things wood is used for. I learned about countries and history and without forests, trees, wood, we would not able to sustain our way of life today. And yet we cannot regrow ancient forests, quickly. Some trees need to be left to grow, and certainly we can have some for use.

Did I mention the beautiful photographs? This is an incredible book.

Thank you to Patagonia and NetGalley for an advance review electronic copy of the book. However, I did listen to audiobook version for reading. I used the eBook for viewing the amazing images and photographs.

Review 327: Tree Thieves

Tree Thieves: Crime and Survival in North America's Woods by Lyndsie Bourgon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It should seem obvious that tree poaching, particularly protected ones is something that happens on a regular basis. Places that used to thrive with logging turned into tourism to survive or stall out, with no other viable industry in the area. This is what happened to Orick in Northern California after the Redwood parks were established. Here they often take the burls off the big trees or take cuttings off trees already felled. The poachers don’t understand that even these actions are harming the trees and forest, as burls are protection and even a logged redwood can regrow from the stump.

The book didn’t only focus on Orick and Redwoods, looking into illegal tree cutting further north in Canada, and elsewhere. As timber prices climb tree poaching increases.

Perhaps the book would have been stronger if remained focused on just the one location in Northern California, since the material gathered from the people who poach and those who go after them to stop was extensive.

I was quite engaged with this topic and information but found myself frustrated with how the book was organized. It was a little chaotic and not well formed out.

Hopefully this book will help bring more attention to this topic, as trees are extremely important resource in so many ways, and the more we leave standing, especially the older forests, the better the plant’s health will remain. It's shocking how little monetary value is placed on the trees illegally cut down. It's also sad that people who live in small towns that didn’t turn to tourism has to resort to illegal ways to survive.

Thanks to Little, Brown Spark and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

Initial thoughts: Really connected with the material, but the organization was a bit chaotic at times.

Review 320: The Treeline

The Treeline: The Last Forest and the Future of Life on Earth by Ben Rawlence
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An investigative journalist, used to working in war zones or refugee camps, went out to investigate the furthest reaches of forest in the far north places, in six locations: Scotland, Canada, Norway, Alaska, Russia, and Greenland. Each place has one tree that dominates, such as the downy birch in Norway and the dahurian larch in Russia; spruce, Scots pine, poplar and ash are the other trees. The research is extensive, and so is his experience with visiting these places. The book is partly travelogue with the people Ben Rawlence meets and how he gets out to these far reaches in the forest.

While the focus is on the trees and the changing landscape, where climate change is more noticeable and effecting the local environment, he also talks about the people, descendants of native populations that have lived in these areas for a very long time. In Norway there is the Sámi people who lived in the far northern reaches for thousands of years, herding reindeer and hunting other animals. In Russia the native peoples, the Nganasan, were isolated from the world living in the far reaches of Siberia until very recently, in the 1930s when they became known to the Soviets.

Rawlence describes how they lived with the land and how the trees that grew there shaped their lives, and how they in turn helped shape the landscape. That humans and nature are intertwined, along with the other plants and animals in the area. And these far northern species of trees can help to restore where the climate is changing.

The book was intricate, with dense rich sentences. The language used was compelling and the topic even more so. While the focus is much on what is being lost, there is also a great amount of hope within the book.

The print book includes line drawings of the trees being discussed in each chapter. There is also a Glossary of Trees contained in the back of the book, with more line drawings and information included. This is a book to return to, read again, as there is so much and done beautifully.