The Northern Forest

by David Dobbs

The Northern Forest is one of the most resilient and valuable forests in the world. This huge, still largely unspoiled ecosystem lies within a day's drive of a third of the nation's population. Intense pressures are now disrupting centuries-old patterns of land ownership and use, causing economic, ecological, and social upheaval. Dobbs and Ober closely focus on the lives of Northern Forest residents—a mill worker, a forester, several loggers, a fishing guide, and a Christmas tree-farming family—and discover an extraordinary sense of place that arises in those who have a continuous, working relationship with the land. The relationships of these people with the forest are too often misunderstood by those hoping to preserve the region. The authors assert that environmentalists must finally reinvent their approach to land conservation by creating meaningful, respectful alliances with residents of the special areas they would save.

Genres: Environment, Nature

356 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

David Dobbs writes articles and essays on science, medicine, and culture for The New York Times, NY Times Book Review, Atlantic, WIRED, et alia. He also wrote the #1 Kindle Single My Mother’s Lover and books describing fierce arguments about forests, fish, and Darwin’s reefs. He lives in Vermont.

Reviews

[Alexander Skowron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful account of the lives and experiences of the men and woman tied most deeply to the conservation movement, specifically the Northern Forest, the land that they have lived on for generations.

Dobbs and Ober do a great job in explaining how conservation is not merely setting aside land to look at, but reestablishing a need for responsible management of the land that allows landowners not only reap benefits now, but maintain those benefits for years to come.

Central to the book, and what I believe is the thesis of the work, is the idea that local communities need to be part of the conversation on conservation. This theses is built upon through highly detailed descriptions of the experiences multiple landowners had in their respective states, and how they feel not only failed and misrepresented by the environmental movement, but also extremely willing to partake in the movement, so long as it allows for their input.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really wanted to give this book five stars. Up until the final section, "New York and Beyond," I thought I would. But there was too much "beyond" in this section and not enough "New York." The sensitive, in-depth look into the lives of families and individuals living in and working in the Northern Forest was missing from the brief chapter on the Adirondacks. While the brief history of the Adirondack Park and the recounting of the property-rights vs. conservation conflicts there were useful, especially in the context of the work of the Northern Forest Lands Council in the early 1990s, it was disappointing to find that this was really all that the authors had to say about the region. Unlike the other regions, individuals, and families, whose stories were told in great detail, the chapter on the Adirondacks felt like an afterthought. Perhaps I'm biased, though, having been born and raised in a town on the southern edge of the Adirondack Park.

Despite this, I was really impressed by the book as a whole. Dobbs and Ober did a really nice job of conveying the real connection that people feel to the land there, that the people who live on and yes, work, the land really do care about its future. Unfortunately, almost a decade after it was published, this message doesn't seem to have gotten through to many environmentalists, especially those "from away."