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The Final Forest: Big Trees, Forks, and the Pacific Northwest
William Dietrich has gone to the heart of the greatest forest left in North America and returned with a clear and compelling story of why so many people are fighting over it. Like the towering firs of the Olympic Peninsula, this book will stand the test of time. - Timothy Egan, author of The Big Burn
337 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1992
44 people are currently reading
824 people want to read
About the author
William Dietrich
25 books396 followersWilliam Dietrich is a NY Times bestelling author of the Ethan Gage series of eight books which have sold into 28 languages. He is also the author of six other adventure novels, several nonfiction works on the environmental history of the Pacific Northwest, and a contributor to several books.
Bill was a career journalist, sharing a Pulitzer for national reporting at the Seattle Times for coverage of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. He taught environmental journalism at Huxley College, a division of Western Washington University, and was adviser to Planet Magazine there. He was Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, and received several National Science Foundation fellowships for reporting on science. His travels have taken him from the South Pole to the Arctic, and from the Dead Sea to the base camp of Mount Everest. The traveling informs his books.
He lives in Anacortes, WA, in the San Juan islands, and is a fan of books, movies, history, science, and the outdoors.
Bill was a career journalist, sharing a Pulitzer for national reporting at the Seattle Times for coverage of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. He taught environmental journalism at Huxley College, a division of Western Washington University, and was adviser to Planet Magazine there. He was Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, and received several National Science Foundation fellowships for reporting on science. His travels have taken him from the South Pole to the Arctic, and from the Dead Sea to the base camp of Mount Everest. The traveling informs his books.
He lives in Anacortes, WA, in the San Juan islands, and is a fan of books, movies, history, science, and the outdoors.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
December 17, 2012
Man this should be required reading in schools. Environmentally a great lesson, though not presented in a condescending manner. This is one of the most effective pieces of journalism I have come across. Loggers, Forestry, Industry, Local communities and Environmentalists both conservative and radical have a voice. All side have an equal platform and the reader cannot help but sympathize with everyone at times. This is more about what we as a society have to change when realities become apparent, than one forest or one spotty little owl.
November 2, 2019
I’ve been trying to write these notes for months now. This book was overwhelming. Kind of a history of both logging in the Pacific NW forests and the fight to preserve them, listening to the different and conflicting perspectives of the loggers, the scientists, the activists, the corporations and so on.
Beside the pragmatism of the research (pretty thorough and accessible), what also stood out to me was the untold: the point of view of the owls, the trees, the earth. I don’t mean to romanticize it. But in comparison, the various point of views of the interviewees reinforced the idea that mankind will continue to exploit everything that it can possibly exploit not necessarily out of evil, but because we don’t have the ability to come together and collectively think at issues that span beyond our own existence. At least I don’t see a way with the current social and economic structures. We are small, and think in small terms, but unfortunately we are also very powerful.
It was cool to learn about how many environmental battles began and developed. It was not clear to me which side to pick. I tend to side with the environmentalists, but surprisingly I felt for the loggers too and it changed my way of looking at them. Their connection to the forest (its beauty, its regenerative powers) is stronger than what the average environmentalist will ever feel. Well, sometimes at least. It’s on a very different level.
The destruction of forests is no different than any other kind of environmental destruction. While the loggers are the arms doing the work, it’s not them to blame, it’s the power of a system that forces them to do what they do in order to survive. Before the advent of mechanization, the extent of cutting that Europeans did was not much more than what natives did: it was sustainable. And in front of all those gigantic trees the idea of an infinite supply of wood must have felt real to them. Then, when clear-cutting processes took over, to my eyes this idea was no longer an excuse, so to speak. Yet we largely continue(d) to ignore the impact of these destructive practices. We are small.
The western world is so disconnected to the “reality” of how things exist and where they come from. Literally the whole world of tech is about creating further abstractions and commodities.
I truly think we are doomed.
Beside the pragmatism of the research (pretty thorough and accessible), what also stood out to me was the untold: the point of view of the owls, the trees, the earth. I don’t mean to romanticize it. But in comparison, the various point of views of the interviewees reinforced the idea that mankind will continue to exploit everything that it can possibly exploit not necessarily out of evil, but because we don’t have the ability to come together and collectively think at issues that span beyond our own existence. At least I don’t see a way with the current social and economic structures. We are small, and think in small terms, but unfortunately we are also very powerful.
It was cool to learn about how many environmental battles began and developed. It was not clear to me which side to pick. I tend to side with the environmentalists, but surprisingly I felt for the loggers too and it changed my way of looking at them. Their connection to the forest (its beauty, its regenerative powers) is stronger than what the average environmentalist will ever feel. Well, sometimes at least. It’s on a very different level.
The destruction of forests is no different than any other kind of environmental destruction. While the loggers are the arms doing the work, it’s not them to blame, it’s the power of a system that forces them to do what they do in order to survive. Before the advent of mechanization, the extent of cutting that Europeans did was not much more than what natives did: it was sustainable. And in front of all those gigantic trees the idea of an infinite supply of wood must have felt real to them. Then, when clear-cutting processes took over, to my eyes this idea was no longer an excuse, so to speak. Yet we largely continue(d) to ignore the impact of these destructive practices. We are small.
The western world is so disconnected to the “reality” of how things exist and where they come from. Literally the whole world of tech is about creating further abstractions and commodities.
I truly think we are doomed.
June 25, 2011
Phenomenal. One of the first times I have really taken time to listen to diverse perspectives in the conservation/preservation debate and suddenly found myself on the side of the loggers in Forks,WA. It made me feel more connected to the diverse perspectives people come from in relating to the natural world. I loved the truth spoken when a logger said that when tourists look into the ugliness of a clearcut and are shocked they are only looking into the desires of their own heart. Such a great reminder that real environmentalism is about changing the way we consume at home. Also included a great history of the pacific northwest and reminded us that the largest clearcut in washington is covered in asphalt and named Seattle.
January 12, 2018
Goodreads didn't exist when I read this so I don't need to apologize for being late in writing about it. When it was published, I worked in Seattle as a port agent for a company that serviced bulk cargo tankers in the Puget Sound and I wanted to read Dietrich's views on the spotted owl controversy. But I left the copy on my work desk with a bookmark in it and soon after, I was fired from my job.
I saw Mr. Dietrich a few years ago when he came to my school to talk and read about his latest book (at that time) and I was able to tell him how his book had changed my life, literally, and for the better. After getting fired, I used the kick-in-the-pants-is-still-a-step-forward to go back to school and get certified to teach--something that I have been working at for over 22 years and a career in which I can be active in helping others (and not working merely to document logging ships and their cargo).
Thank you, William Dietrich!
I saw Mr. Dietrich a few years ago when he came to my school to talk and read about his latest book (at that time) and I was able to tell him how his book had changed my life, literally, and for the better. After getting fired, I used the kick-in-the-pants-is-still-a-step-forward to go back to school and get certified to teach--something that I have been working at for over 22 years and a career in which I can be active in helping others (and not working merely to document logging ships and their cargo).
Thank you, William Dietrich!
May 29, 2009
This is true journalism. Bill Dietrich (now an environmental journalism professor at Western Washington University) walks a delicate balance in this book, outlining the logging industry in Washington state, its historic, cultural and socio-economic importance. Hitching rides with loggers in Forks, deep in the forest of the Olympic Penninsula, he weaves a compassionate portrait of their livelihood but also makes a critical examination of our use of natural resources as an industry.
May 19, 2011
A very balanced perspective on logging in the Pacific Northwest--which sounds boring, but is actually quite interesting:) It dragged a little in parts, particularly the parts where Deitrich threw out a whole bunch of numbers and statistics, but that's more a statement about what I'm interested in (big picture, not numbers;) than the worth or interest of the book.
Plus, how cool is it to learn about stuff that was going on in your own backyard?
Plus, how cool is it to learn about stuff that was going on in your own backyard?
July 16, 2025
One of those books that, given the sea changes in environmentalism, politics, and culture since first published, is stunningly dated. That's (mostly) not the author's fault, and I learned halfway through that there was a 2011 update. I should have gone for that edition, especially because anything written about pre-"Twilight" Forks is going to be...well, somewhat irrelevant now. I tried to read this as a historical dispatch from the year I was born, lol.
All that aside, I had trouble keeping all the figures straight, and the structure he chose didn't really gel for me. I really only finished it to fulfill a Summer Book Bingo square. :|
All that aside, I had trouble keeping all the figures straight, and the structure he chose didn't really gel for me. I really only finished it to fulfill a Summer Book Bingo square. :|
January 25, 2023
This should be required reading for every urban environmentalist.
June 18, 2025
An extremely dense and boring and hard to read 5 star book. I loved it one page at a time.
July 30, 2022
The historic battle over old growth forests in the Pacific Northwest
Congress enacted the National Forest Management Act in 1976 (NFMA), detailing a long list of goals for the protection and improvement of natural resources and requiring planning to support sustainable use; biodiversity; and prevention of damage to soil, streams, lakes, and wetlands. The problem was that the USFS had focused too long on treating the forest as though timber production was its primary value. The USFS was slow to transition to the requirements of the NFMA and allowed unsustainable harvesting of trees until they were confronted by environmentalists over logging of old growth forests in the Pacific Northwest.
This epic struggle between the environmentalists and the timber industry is brought to life by William Dietrich in his book, The Final Forest: Big Trees, Forks, and the Pacific Northwest. It was first published in 1992, the year after Judge William Dwyer banned further sale of logging rights on national forest land in Washington, Oregon, and northern California until federal agencies established a plan to conserve the Northern Spotted Owl. An updated version of the book was published in 2010, adding a preface and an afterward. Dietrich reflects on how his work of journalism has now become history and describes what happened to many of the people whose lives were central to showing the variety of perspectives on this controversy. William Dietrich is a former science writer for the Seattle Times and a Pulitzer Prize winner for his coverage of the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
Forks, WA once proclaimed itself as “the logging capital of the world,” a title which Dietrich confirms is now obsolete. Instead, the town is now famous as the setting of the Twilight series. Dietrich shares the stories of regular people trying to make an honest living in the timber industry, providing basic resources demanded by Americans and other countries, and how this way of life in the forest has largely disappeared. He also shares the stories of environmentalist activists and the challenging work of biologists to track and learn about the animals in the forest.
Dietrich shows his talent in journalism by adeptly juxtaposing both sides. In the first chapter he describes the wasteland appearance of a clearcut with the beauty of the loggers’ grace of movement as they precisely cut each tree, carefully sensing the physics and geometry necessary to ensure their safety and preserve the value of the wood. Although a reporter on environmental issues, Dietrich writes that he really liked those he came to know in the logging community. He appreciated the courage and skill of the loggers and others in the timber industry who work hard and at great risk to their safety. In contemplating clearcuts, he raises the point that logging is the result of modern civilization, the desire for wood to make homes, furniture, books, and toilet paper, and to question it seems hypocritical.
Ecology was an emerging science in the last half of the twentieth century and Dietrich reveals how the USFS and timber industry were slow to understand the importance of preserving complex ecosystems made up of individual species linked into a larger web. While reading through the book, it seems that the government agencies should be blamed for the unsustainable harvesting. Perhaps this is true, but Dietrich gives evidence to condemn and exonerate them. He explains that the US Fish and Wildlife Service lacked the funding to properly carry out the requirements of the Endangered Species Act (1973), and that Congress would dictate timber harvest levels to the USFS, forcing them to allow harvesting at levels that were too high.
The book makes us consider essential questions, such as how can human society coexist with ecosystems. Dietrich reveals that the story of Pacific Northwest logging is not simply about environmentalists versus timber companies but is far more nuanced and complex. Through the various accounts in the book, Dietrich weaves a narrative that is even-handed to both sides, showing us the challenges of balancing the economic needs and wants of humans with nature’s requirements for habitat and biodiversity. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in forestry, the controversy over old growth, or the history of logging in the Pacific Northwest.
Today, while the USFS continues to sell trees for harvesting, it appears to have a much clearer understanding of the value of forests, issuing its own studies recognizing the many services provided by forests beyond timber production that include cultural values, water resources, carbon sequestration, air quality, and medicine. In a study on resilience within the USFS, researchers recognized it for being the first federal agency to implement an ecosystem approach to its land management practices. Despite the drain on its funding from fighting massive forest fires in the western United States, the USFS uses a large portion of its resources for restoration, scientific research, and stewardship programs. Its mission is “to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the Nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations.”
References
Bone, C., Moseley, C., Vinyeta, K., & Bixler, R. P. (2016). Employing resilience in the united states forest service. Land use Policy, 52, 430-438. 10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.01.003
Daniels, J. (2005). The rise and fall of the Pacific Northwest log export market. https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pu...
Duncan, S. L., & Thompson, J. R. (2006). Forest plans and ad hoc scientist groups in the 1990s: Coping with the forest service viability clause. Forest Policy and Economics, 9(1), 32-41. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...
Loomis, E., & Edgington, R. (2012). Lives under the canopy: Spotted owls and loggers in western forests. http://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cgi/...
U.S. Forest Service (2017). Trees at work: economic accounting for forest ecosystem services in the u.s.south. https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/55474
U.S. Forest Service (2018). FY 2019 budget justification. https://www.fs.fed.us/sites/default/f...
Congress enacted the National Forest Management Act in 1976 (NFMA), detailing a long list of goals for the protection and improvement of natural resources and requiring planning to support sustainable use; biodiversity; and prevention of damage to soil, streams, lakes, and wetlands. The problem was that the USFS had focused too long on treating the forest as though timber production was its primary value. The USFS was slow to transition to the requirements of the NFMA and allowed unsustainable harvesting of trees until they were confronted by environmentalists over logging of old growth forests in the Pacific Northwest.
This epic struggle between the environmentalists and the timber industry is brought to life by William Dietrich in his book, The Final Forest: Big Trees, Forks, and the Pacific Northwest. It was first published in 1992, the year after Judge William Dwyer banned further sale of logging rights on national forest land in Washington, Oregon, and northern California until federal agencies established a plan to conserve the Northern Spotted Owl. An updated version of the book was published in 2010, adding a preface and an afterward. Dietrich reflects on how his work of journalism has now become history and describes what happened to many of the people whose lives were central to showing the variety of perspectives on this controversy. William Dietrich is a former science writer for the Seattle Times and a Pulitzer Prize winner for his coverage of the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
Forks, WA once proclaimed itself as “the logging capital of the world,” a title which Dietrich confirms is now obsolete. Instead, the town is now famous as the setting of the Twilight series. Dietrich shares the stories of regular people trying to make an honest living in the timber industry, providing basic resources demanded by Americans and other countries, and how this way of life in the forest has largely disappeared. He also shares the stories of environmentalist activists and the challenging work of biologists to track and learn about the animals in the forest.
Dietrich shows his talent in journalism by adeptly juxtaposing both sides. In the first chapter he describes the wasteland appearance of a clearcut with the beauty of the loggers’ grace of movement as they precisely cut each tree, carefully sensing the physics and geometry necessary to ensure their safety and preserve the value of the wood. Although a reporter on environmental issues, Dietrich writes that he really liked those he came to know in the logging community. He appreciated the courage and skill of the loggers and others in the timber industry who work hard and at great risk to their safety. In contemplating clearcuts, he raises the point that logging is the result of modern civilization, the desire for wood to make homes, furniture, books, and toilet paper, and to question it seems hypocritical.
Ecology was an emerging science in the last half of the twentieth century and Dietrich reveals how the USFS and timber industry were slow to understand the importance of preserving complex ecosystems made up of individual species linked into a larger web. While reading through the book, it seems that the government agencies should be blamed for the unsustainable harvesting. Perhaps this is true, but Dietrich gives evidence to condemn and exonerate them. He explains that the US Fish and Wildlife Service lacked the funding to properly carry out the requirements of the Endangered Species Act (1973), and that Congress would dictate timber harvest levels to the USFS, forcing them to allow harvesting at levels that were too high.
The book makes us consider essential questions, such as how can human society coexist with ecosystems. Dietrich reveals that the story of Pacific Northwest logging is not simply about environmentalists versus timber companies but is far more nuanced and complex. Through the various accounts in the book, Dietrich weaves a narrative that is even-handed to both sides, showing us the challenges of balancing the economic needs and wants of humans with nature’s requirements for habitat and biodiversity. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in forestry, the controversy over old growth, or the history of logging in the Pacific Northwest.
Today, while the USFS continues to sell trees for harvesting, it appears to have a much clearer understanding of the value of forests, issuing its own studies recognizing the many services provided by forests beyond timber production that include cultural values, water resources, carbon sequestration, air quality, and medicine. In a study on resilience within the USFS, researchers recognized it for being the first federal agency to implement an ecosystem approach to its land management practices. Despite the drain on its funding from fighting massive forest fires in the western United States, the USFS uses a large portion of its resources for restoration, scientific research, and stewardship programs. Its mission is “to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the Nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations.”
References
Bone, C., Moseley, C., Vinyeta, K., & Bixler, R. P. (2016). Employing resilience in the united states forest service. Land use Policy, 52, 430-438. 10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.01.003
Daniels, J. (2005). The rise and fall of the Pacific Northwest log export market. https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pu...
Duncan, S. L., & Thompson, J. R. (2006). Forest plans and ad hoc scientist groups in the 1990s: Coping with the forest service viability clause. Forest Policy and Economics, 9(1), 32-41. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...
Loomis, E., & Edgington, R. (2012). Lives under the canopy: Spotted owls and loggers in western forests. http://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cgi/...
U.S. Forest Service (2017). Trees at work: economic accounting for forest ecosystem services in the u.s.south. https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/55474
U.S. Forest Service (2018). FY 2019 budget justification. https://www.fs.fed.us/sites/default/f...
November 15, 2021
This is a marvelously good book, one I would immediately recommend to anyone interested in issues of logging, forest, environmentalism, etc. in the Pacific Northwest.
Dietrich does an exemplary job of getting into the real stories and intimate details of those affected by the "Timber Wars", yet being able to elucidate the big picture at the same time. He interviews with compassion the loggers, businessmen, townspeople, politicians, scientists, environmentalists, activists, etc. on all sides of the issue and seamlessly works their stories into the greater narrative of how the great forests of the coastal Northwest were managed from the moment they were first encountered by White men to the mid-90s when the Timber Wars reached their peak. As someone who considers himself decently well-informed on the relevant topics, there was an incredible wealth of new information I learned and I certainly have a fuller picture of the saga than I did before.
I can't come up with a single flaw. If you are interested enough in the subject to have read this review, then you should really read the book.
Dietrich does an exemplary job of getting into the real stories and intimate details of those affected by the "Timber Wars", yet being able to elucidate the big picture at the same time. He interviews with compassion the loggers, businessmen, townspeople, politicians, scientists, environmentalists, activists, etc. on all sides of the issue and seamlessly works their stories into the greater narrative of how the great forests of the coastal Northwest were managed from the moment they were first encountered by White men to the mid-90s when the Timber Wars reached their peak. As someone who considers himself decently well-informed on the relevant topics, there was an incredible wealth of new information I learned and I certainly have a fuller picture of the saga than I did before.
I can't come up with a single flaw. If you are interested enough in the subject to have read this review, then you should really read the book.
August 27, 2008
This is an excellent account of the logging wars that went on in the Pacific Northwest. Dietrich does a nice job interviewing the main characters and showing the issue from multiple angles. It would be interesting if there was a followup as it was written in 92.
March 14, 2024
Such an interesting way to discuss the topic of forests. Every perspective has you siding with them and it shifts perspectives without the opinion of the author
March 4, 2023
This is, for me, a magnificent book. My wife (a retired USFS forester) first encountered it in a used book store this year. Neither of us had heard of it. Neither could believe how many ways it intersected our own interests and experiences.
I studied forestry and forest ecology in the 1980s and worked briefly in the field for a period after that. I remember reading descriptions of old growth forest in the east and saw pictures of it in the west. Like everyone, I suppose, I'd been aware of the sequoias and redwoods, but the ancient temperate rain forest of the Pacific Northwest was something new to me. Seeing pictures of Douglas-fir bark plates as wide as the man in the picture for scale was unimaginable to a Kentucky boy, as were the close spacing, heavy moss, and tall ferns. It staked a claim on some small place in my imagination.
I always try to see examples of forest remnants that, for whatever reason, escaped logging. The first was at the head of a hollow in Red River Gorge where there was a stand of huge-to-me yellow-poplar and eastern hemlock. I visited Lilly Cornett Woods in KY, Joyce Kilmer in NC, and Heart's Content in PA. I wasn't sure I'd ever make it to the Pacific Northwest, but the trees in the pictures always stayed in my mind. I developed a preservationist mindset toward virgin forest; there was so little of it left.
So, of course, I paid attention when the spotted owl exploded into national news at the end of G.H.W. Bush's and early in the Clinton administration. When my wife asked me to choose a destination (besides Yellowstone) for a vacation, I thought back to the big trees and we settled on the Olympic Peninsula and the Cascades. Just off the plane in Seattle, we drove to a campsite not far from the Hoh River and Forks, which became a base for exploring that corner of the Olympic.
Forks! It made a huge impression on us. So to find this book and for it to bring such reason and compassion to an issue so ethically, economically, and socially complex felt something just a little short of miraculous. How did we never know of this book? It connects so many dots and fills in so much missing information for me about what was going on as the conflict between harvest and preservation developed and evolved in Washington and Oregon. I learned more about New Forestry from it than I did in forestry school, which in my particular case still emphasized traditional silviculture and timber management.
Further, I think William Dietrich is a great writer--in his structuring of the book, which alternates perspectives from industry to environmentalist while telling the chronological story of how the spotted owl controversy resulted in drawing no-cut lines around most of the remaining old growth, to the quality and clarity of his prose and thinking. His treatment is so nuanced that a reader can't identify villains just by which side of the issue they're on: There are sensitive, ethical people on both sides. While it's clear where Dietrich stands, he reaches beyond the issue of what's right in America's temperate rain forest, to imagining a "what's right" land use ethic that could have averted the crisis in the first place.
I studied forestry and forest ecology in the 1980s and worked briefly in the field for a period after that. I remember reading descriptions of old growth forest in the east and saw pictures of it in the west. Like everyone, I suppose, I'd been aware of the sequoias and redwoods, but the ancient temperate rain forest of the Pacific Northwest was something new to me. Seeing pictures of Douglas-fir bark plates as wide as the man in the picture for scale was unimaginable to a Kentucky boy, as were the close spacing, heavy moss, and tall ferns. It staked a claim on some small place in my imagination.
I always try to see examples of forest remnants that, for whatever reason, escaped logging. The first was at the head of a hollow in Red River Gorge where there was a stand of huge-to-me yellow-poplar and eastern hemlock. I visited Lilly Cornett Woods in KY, Joyce Kilmer in NC, and Heart's Content in PA. I wasn't sure I'd ever make it to the Pacific Northwest, but the trees in the pictures always stayed in my mind. I developed a preservationist mindset toward virgin forest; there was so little of it left.
So, of course, I paid attention when the spotted owl exploded into national news at the end of G.H.W. Bush's and early in the Clinton administration. When my wife asked me to choose a destination (besides Yellowstone) for a vacation, I thought back to the big trees and we settled on the Olympic Peninsula and the Cascades. Just off the plane in Seattle, we drove to a campsite not far from the Hoh River and Forks, which became a base for exploring that corner of the Olympic.
Forks! It made a huge impression on us. So to find this book and for it to bring such reason and compassion to an issue so ethically, economically, and socially complex felt something just a little short of miraculous. How did we never know of this book? It connects so many dots and fills in so much missing information for me about what was going on as the conflict between harvest and preservation developed and evolved in Washington and Oregon. I learned more about New Forestry from it than I did in forestry school, which in my particular case still emphasized traditional silviculture and timber management.
Further, I think William Dietrich is a great writer--in his structuring of the book, which alternates perspectives from industry to environmentalist while telling the chronological story of how the spotted owl controversy resulted in drawing no-cut lines around most of the remaining old growth, to the quality and clarity of his prose and thinking. His treatment is so nuanced that a reader can't identify villains just by which side of the issue they're on: There are sensitive, ethical people on both sides. While it's clear where Dietrich stands, he reaches beyond the issue of what's right in America's temperate rain forest, to imagining a "what's right" land use ethic that could have averted the crisis in the first place.
July 4, 2021
Ironically, I finished this about an hour before heading out of Seattle in my Prius and Yale Forestry hoodie to hug big trees on the Olympic Peninsula.
In my college 'Issues in American National Politics' class my very conservative professor said that they had found a spotted owl nest in the K of Kmart so there was no need to preserve the forest. My friends said that my face turned three shades of purple before I yelled, "I can live in a cardboard box, but that doesn't mean it's right!" That sort of knee-jerk reaction is exactly what this book warns against. Without economic development or green job alternatives we cannot expect loggers, farmers, carmakers etc to embrace conservation and preservation. Dietrich does a fabulous job of profiling the individuals involved in the struggle to preserve Olympic Peninsula forests and the logger way of life in the midst of protecting the spotted owl.
I bookmarked the shade thrown at Chad Oliver, one of my old professors.
I wonder how Forks is doing now in the post-Twilight tourism boom.
The three stars were because, for some reason this book took FOREVER to finish.
In my college 'Issues in American National Politics' class my very conservative professor said that they had found a spotted owl nest in the K of Kmart so there was no need to preserve the forest. My friends said that my face turned three shades of purple before I yelled, "I can live in a cardboard box, but that doesn't mean it's right!" That sort of knee-jerk reaction is exactly what this book warns against. Without economic development or green job alternatives we cannot expect loggers, farmers, carmakers etc to embrace conservation and preservation. Dietrich does a fabulous job of profiling the individuals involved in the struggle to preserve Olympic Peninsula forests and the logger way of life in the midst of protecting the spotted owl.
I bookmarked the shade thrown at Chad Oliver, one of my old professors.
I wonder how Forks is doing now in the post-Twilight tourism boom.
The three stars were because, for some reason this book took FOREVER to finish.
October 14, 2020
This is a good retelling of the logging wars that took place in the PNW in the late 20th century, with emphasis on the perspective of the Forks community (which almost exclusively relied on logging at the time this was written). Nearly 30 years after its publication, it's not as up-to-date, but still has a great history of that particular period. However, I think it's a rather glaring error to not discuss or include the perspective of any native people. The Quileute tribe is very active in the greater Forks area (as it's their home), and their perspective on the trees, logging, and their land being stolen from them is never discussed, and rarely referenced. They, and the other tribes that currently and once lived on the Peninsula, are integral to the culture and managed to live with the old-growth for years without logging it to extinction. That's a key perspective in this battle, and it's disappointing that the author did not discuss it.
January 6, 2021
Wow this book, I want to make everyone in the Pacific Northwest read it. I grew up in Oregon after the timber wars of the early 1990s and the issues of preservation versus logging had been decided. This issue pits the two identities of the NW against each other, environmentalists and resource extraction. The story of The Final Forest brings out the individual stories and personalities on all sides of the issue, humanizing the cost of preservation and logging is a real way. The update for the 2010 printing describes how Forks has continued to change since 1992 and what the people have been up to since. The book is beautiful and heartbreaking and immensely readable, could not recommend it enough.
August 21, 2018
This book was recommended to me for an upcoming outdoor course that I will be doing in the Pacific Northwest. I have never visited this part of North America, and I found the controversy of the final forest to be incredibly fascinating. William Dietrich clearly did a lot of research for the writing of this book, and his presentation of the different parties involved and affected by this battle was wide-ranging and helped to paint a clearer “big” picture. This isn’t a book I normally would have chosen to read, but I am glad that I did. I am looking forward to exploring these lush forests in the next few weeks.
September 3, 2017
Fascinating stuff. Somewhat of a history of the Olympic Peninsula, which I didn't expect but was excited to read. It was fun for me to read about the spotted owl debate of the 80s and 90s while hooting for spotted owls. Was educational and at times upsetting. A few slow parts in the middle (not really interested in the politics of the logging debate). I think this should be required reading for anyone living on the peninsula or who has an opinion about or interest in logging and the spotted owl.
May 20, 2018
Overall, I felt that the viewpoint of each side of the argument was well represented. Although, I felt that the author definitely provided more arguments from the environmentalist viewpoint than the viewpoint of industry. I feel that this book is better suited for those that are unfamiliar with the timber industry and the challenges they face meeting conservation goals as well as timber demand. In full disclosure I work as a forester and this book wasn't entirely new information to me, hence why I didn't give it 5 stars.
May 2, 2024
This book gave a well balanced view of the change in public sentiment regarding the environment. Primarily set in and around Forks, WA and Olympic National Park it gathered views from all sides, loggers, environmentalists, government agencies and politicians to see things from their perspectives. Focuses on the early 90’s efforts to protect the spotted owl - but more importantly in trying to save the spotted owl it helped to also save old growth forests from being logged - something that we now are all able to enjoy.
March 14, 2019
This was a wonderful and balanced look at the controversies surrounding forestry and the timber industry in the last quarter of the 20th century. There were so many interesting characters, and the updates he added in 2010 addressing Twilight and where everyone is now were intriguing. I highly recommend reading this if you love the outdoors. It will give you something to think about as a consumer of high quality wood products.
January 31, 2019
Loved this book! An experienced newspaper reporter, the author interviewed people on all sides of the very complex logging & spotted owl issues. He wisely wove all of this into an intricate and compelling book. As an outsider who only recently visited the region for the first time, I found this book enlightening, helping me understand what I saw and why. I wish I could return to the area; my appreciation would go much deeper.
March 21, 2022
One of the best examples of unbiased journalism I have ever read. I went in knowing what "side" I was on, and very quickly was corrected out of my dualistic thinking that comes so easily these days...
I have not quoted and underlined so much of a book in years. I recommend to everyone, as this topic only becomes more timely.
"The forest is represented most eloquently when it speaks for itself" yes, but reading Dietrich's book might be the next best thing.
I have not quoted and underlined so much of a book in years. I recommend to everyone, as this topic only becomes more timely.
"The forest is represented most eloquently when it speaks for itself" yes, but reading Dietrich's book might be the next best thing.
November 6, 2024
This dragged fro me, but mostly becasue the material wasn't new to me. I liked the focus on people but think the plotline suffered a little becasue of this. Dietrich really adeptly navigates an incredibly complicated issue. Ultimatly there is a lot to learn form the chair of the special committee who was very clear about their role to be perscriptivein their findings.
"We do too many studies to prove the problem and not enough time looking for a solution"
"We do too many studies to prove the problem and not enough time looking for a solution"
January 26, 2021
A great piece of investigative journalism telling the story of logging, environmentalists, and the town of Forks Washington. So many lessons that are relevant today on the politics of science and how we tackle big complicated issues.
November 18, 2020
Quite well written and insightful, but reaches some conclusions I could not agree with.
December 6, 2022
Gave a good overview of the timber industry from all different perspectives (biologist, logger, timber industry, and environmentalist) so it was unbiased
February 26, 2024
Dated in its language and articulation of community and some political such and such but still a compelling look into the machine of the timber industry and how the region responded to the arrival of the 21st Century.
July 11, 2023
Super niche topic but very well explored. Surprisingly unbiased. All tree huggers or PNW residents should read.
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