Wintergreen: Rambles in a Ravaged Land

by Robert Michael Pyle

As logging continues to rule the rural Northwest, Wintergreen's message is more important than ever. Set in the Willapa Hills of southwest Washington, both people and forest are threatened with extinction. Timeless among the literature of the land, Wintergreen is now back in print with a new afterword by the author.

Genres: Nature, Environment, Nonfiction, Natural History

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Robert Michael Pyle is a lepidopterist and a professional writer who has published twelve books and hundreds of papers, essays, stories and poems. He has a Ph.D. from the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University. He founded the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation in 1974. His acclaimed 1987 book Wintergreen describing the devastation caused by unrestrained logging in Washington's Willapa Hills near his adopted home was the winner of the 1987 John Burroughs Medal for Distinguished Nature Writing. His 1995 book Where Bigfoot Walks: Crossing the Dark Divide was the subject of a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Reviews

[Mike Keough · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a truly magnificent book. It is a book not only about the Willapa Hills, but about the people there, the main industry and it is very much a book about a certain time and place. The nature writing was great and Pyle certainly does a compelling job of describing the climate, geography, history, ecology and of his experiences with the natural world there. But it is also a book about a certain political and economic climate, that of the Pacific Northwest during the last years of the Reagan administration. It captures very well the near total dependence of the area on one industry and the consequences to the community of the decline of that industry. The resulting layoffs after the withdrawal of Weyerhauser and Crown Zellerbach, with the rising unemployment, houses up for sale with no takers, declining tax base and the cost to families of divorce, alcohol abuse, foreclosures, and their efforts to survive struck a cord with me, a resident of the Rust Belt who saw many similar things happening at the same time with the decline of the steel industry in Northeast Ohio, where I lived at that time. I also spent some time in the Northwest at that time so it really struck a chord with me.

[Wendy Feltham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wintergreen is a very special book, as relevant today as it was when first published over thirty years ago. Robert Michael Pyle, an authority on butterflies, moved to a tiny town in southwestern Washington State in the middle of clearcutting by the timber industry. Each chapter is an essay about the struggle for nature to survive in such a setting-- the spiders and slugs, the butterflies and bears. Pyle really notices subtle changes over time of forest succession, and eloquently describes the brutality of the clearcuts and the beauty of the emerging shoots. I was surprised to learn of the herbicides poured over these forests decades ago, the very same ones we oppose today for our environment. Pyle also writes about the people who live on this land-- gatherers of moss, of mushrooms, hunters, and mail deliverers. As I read this book, I continually searched for images of the plants and animals he describes-- the Clodius Parnassian butterfly with red spots on its wings, the Hemphillia camelus (banana slug) with a partial shell. Pyle writes with wit and joy, for example recommending tours of stumps, the vestiges of old growth that take centuries to decompose while providing home to many plants and animals, and in days past even shelter to humans. Wintergreen is a dense book, filled with so much information that the reader can't race through it. I took pages of notes to remember interesting facts. Although this is the first book by Robert Michale Pyle for me, it won't be the last.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent rereleased (originally from 1986) natural history of the Willapa hills region of Washington from an FES compatriot. I'm surprised it's not more popular! Although I do admit to skipping the beginning river chapters.

"Jung called coincidence 'synchronicity' and it happens to us all if we are only aware. Coincidence -- happening with. You must be ready to see it and do more than say 'wow' when you do. To pluck a plum when you pass beneath the bough you've got to be looking up. To catch the glisten of the green snail beneath the plum tree, you must regard the ground. To capture more good than bad, you scan the whole and, mantis like, snatch the happy moment before it springs away, out of reach."

new vocab: freshet - the flood of a river from heavy rain or freshly melted snow
turves - plural of turf
concision - the quality of giving the relevant or necessary information clearly and in a few words
orogeny - process in which a section of the earth's crust is folded and deformed by lateral compression to form a mountain range.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Wintergreen" is as relevant now as it was 30 years ago when it was written. What happened and still is happening in the SW Washington Willapa Hills region I found fascinating and eye-opening, especially in the form and format so well put together by Robert Michael Pyle.
The sets of essays he constructed formed a great picture of the history, the natural science, ecology and people of the area. All woven as one into the essays so that none were tiresome and no one viewpoint of the subject was over the top. Lovely!
I need to visit this area more and find out what has happened since.

[Marianne Mersereau · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an older book first published in 1986 and is all about the Willapa Hills and Grays Harbor region of southwest Washington. The author who is a resident (and also a poet) writes beautifully of the flora and fauna of the region and the environmental impact of logging on the forests there. I am struck by the similarities to the situation in the Appalachian hills where I grew up - a region also decimated by mining and logging, particularly coal mining.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a lovely book. I have bought a copy for myself, and I suggest you do likewise. I feel it has earned some rereadings. On my first reading of it, I find Pyle's writing some of the most compelling among naturalists - he takes you along on his lifetime of drizzly forest walks, canoe trips, quiet musings in the glade. A knowledgeable biologist, he conveys much about animal behavior, post-logging vegetation, and seasonal ecology. Yet despite that fact that you have the nagging feeling you are learning something, you're also strongly reminded of Tolkien. Pyle captures the magical feeling brought on by beds of moss and springy ferns sparkly with dew, and marries it to the concepts of ecology: old-growth and epiphytes (my new word from this book); moisture, rot, and regrowth.
I could probably write a book on how much I love this book - he talks about the constant political struggles in the NW: logging, litter, land management; he talks about the people: "urban naturalists" and "countrymen," hunters and gatherers, natives and non-natives; he has entire chapters devoted to stumps, essays suggesting the creation of words to describe the different types of rain; he takes you on a tour of salamanders, of tailed frogs (which, as far as this book tells, I have caught WAY more of than he has).
This book is basically an ode to the Pacific Northwest. Read it. It's great.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging collection of essays about a largely ignored section of the Pacific Northwest. Willipa Hills is mostly known for being logged to death so I was intrigued. I enjoyed it very much though it was a bit dated (written in the mid-80's). I am inspired to go visit the area myself and see how it's fared after the downturn in the logging industry.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in 1986, Pyle's essays are eminently valuable commentary on the denuded land in Southwestern Washington. Yet his love of what he sees and finds in the natural world overrides what's missing. Much has happened since this was written that gives us small hope for the planet.in his gentle way, Pyle reminds us of the wonder all around us.

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read these essays during summer evenings savoring each one for the gem it is. The author has the soul of a poet and the eye of a scientist and his love for the ecology of the Pacific Northwest is great. He expresses so well what I feel for this exploited and rarely beautiful country. I re-read this book every couple of years and would recommend it to anyone with a love of land and nature.

[Talbot Hook · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a lot about colors, nature, birds, spiders (!!!), and logging; the chapter on seasons was truly sublime. This was a lovely book of essays from a man who honestly knows his land, its people, and its natural history. Finally! Another human who loves moss, lichen, and other epiphytes as much as I do!

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

So envious of his personal chanterelle patch. Rekindled my love of denuded hills.