The Story of Vermont: A Natural and Cultural History

by Christopher McGrory Klyza, Stephen C. Trombulak

"Landscape history or natural history without humans is incomplete history," write authors Christopher McGrory Klyza and Stephen C. Trombulak. In their very readable portrayal of geological, biological, and cultural forces that produced the Vermont of today, they use interconnectedness as a lens to view the changing landscape. Sections such as "From Forestland to Farmland to Funland" describe reciprocal influences of ecosystems, humans, and topography over time. Sections on specific bioregions explain unique interactions of climate and the living world. Whether writing about the emergence of mountain ranges millennia ago, building interstate highways, encounters of indigenous cultures with Europeans, or Act 250's environmental impact, they make it clear that this is not a typical nature guide.

They describe the pre-human evolution of the area and its development into distinct biophysical regions, and then show how pre-Columbian inhabitants engaged and altered the landscape. They trace both the enormous effects of European settlement, as well as how the ecosystem influenced human habitation and activity. Finally, they examine Vermont's three natural forest, open terrestrial, and aquatic. Throughout, they impart much specific knowledge about Vermont, speculate on its future, and foster an appreciation of the complex synergy of forces that produced this region.

254 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1999

About the author

Christopher McGrory Klyza is Robert '35 and Helen '38 Stafford Professor of Public Policy and Professor of Political Science and Environmental Studies at Middlebury College.

Reviews

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reads like a textbook you'd be assigned in your "Vermont Studies" class—certainly not bad, but not engaging. Didn't regret reading in the slightest. Interesting thoughts at the end re: the return to forest, in that we have our forests because of globalization - we deforested VT because we needed to in order to survive off of the land, and that reason we've been able to bring them back is because "Vermonters were able to acquire the resources they needed by taking them from other landscapes." If we'd like to globalize a bit less, what does that mean for our "unglobalized" VT? A part of our local beauty is because we are unbeautiful globally. Little bit to chew on there.

[Bryan Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent history of Vermont's environment. The book intertwines natural and civilizational histories, which is very productive.

As someone studying local history (here's own town's historical society), The Story of Vermont was very useful. I learned a great deal about natural history and related political developments.

I was expecting more from the human history, honestly. There wasn't much on town meetings, the back-to-the-land movement (just how much did that change Vermont?), major political shifts. The Story of Vermont's real focus is on nature, so it selects political and cultural events that directly bear on the ecosystem. So we get more on the development of national forests than on governors.

[Jason Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dense amount of data, not as much "Cultural History" as the title would suggest.

This book is not a page turner and because of the density of the information, it is a read much less exciting than a city directory.

Giving it three stars just because of the incredible level of detail and evident research that has gone into this.

Instead of just lists of facts, it may have benefited from real life examples and interviews.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love stories that happen on a geologic time scale. Hooray for natural scientists who know how to communicate in English. Hooray for social scientists who understand the natural sciences.

[Bambi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the earlier chapters on cultural history, but during the later chapters, I felt like the author was just weirdly jumping from subject to subject. He might spend two paragraphs talking about beavers and then suddenly, without warning, the next chapter would be about a different animal, or something completely different. It honestly was hard to take any of the information in because it jumped so frequently.

I also wondered why the natural history wasn't presented first, so the author could then use it as a basis for talking about how the Abenaki and the Europeans changed what was already there, and then the author could have wrapped up with how things have adjusted back (or not) in the past century. Definitely enjoyed the overview of the book, but not necessarily how it was written.

[Pat Byrd · Rating 4 out of 5]

A geological, ecological, and cultural history of Vermont written by two Middlebury College professors with a forward by Bill McKibben. This work spans the formation of the geologic underpinnings of Vermont up through 2013 ending with an interesting chapter speculating on different paths Vermont's future might take.

[Tim Snyder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating local history.