OUR NATIONAL FORESTS - Greg M. Peters

I am, admittedly, a sucker for just about anything related to our National Parks and National Forests system - especially books - so this immediately caught my attention.

Author Greg M. Peters offers some insight to various aspects of our (U.S.) National Forests system.  Peters has had a long career with the Forests - though not as a ranger - and he's able to draw on some insider knowledge. There's nothing too scurrilous however - Peters was a faithful employee, not a disgruntled one.

The book covers a lot of ground (pun intended) - perhaps a little too much so as we get a little bit of information about a lot of topics in a brief book (under 300 pages and full of photos and illustrations). We get 'the story of Eastern National Forests' and the 'art and science of growing trees' in the first two chapters and the 'restoring America's grasslands' in the third. The fourth chapter, about the 'Native Voices' and the challenge of Indigenous People's ability to be heard in the conversation about the land. That their ancestors lived harmoniously with the land well before the arrival of the white man should be proof enough of the need to have their voice at the table in any conservation conversation.

Along the same line, the last chapter in the book was perhaps the most important to me. "All the People's Land" opens (or continues) an important conversation about diversity in outdoor America.  I've watched a number of documentary films about this and how some of us (I'm Caucasian, male) have taken this for granted but how such a large portion of the population, specifically Black and other BIPOC persons don't typically take advantage of our National Forests and largely because they have never felt welcomed and even in today's world, they feel like an oddity. I'm glad that Peters addresses this subject even if there are no easy answers or solutions to how to get people of all races and backgrounds into the outdoors.

Fires have to be a major problem for our national forests, and this is addressed in the chapter "After the Burn." But I found this to be a little too specific about the Eagle Creek Fire which took me out of my reading this book in some generalized ways to suddenly reading about something very specific.  And something which, for me, was not something I was very aware of, so I was left a bit confused.

Overall, a slightly above average book.  I'm glad to have read it and if someone were looking for a recommendation specifically about forests or the outdoors, I might suggest this, but it's not high on the recommendation list.

Looking for a good book? Our National Forests by Greg M. Peters is a nice, general overview of the American National Forests, and addresses some challenges to the program which should not be ignored.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

3-1/2 stars

* * * * * *

Our National Forests

author: Greg M. Peters

publisher: Timber Press

ISBN: 9781604699630 

hardcover, 280 pages


 

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