Born of Fire and Rain: Journey into a Pacific Coastal Forest

by M. L. Herring

Go beyond the scenery of the Pacific temperate rainforest to witness how complex ecosystems survive in a world of upheavals
 
If you live on a rapidly changing planet, you’d be wise to learn how it works. The giant old forests on a skinny stretch of land on the far west coast of North America have a lot to say about living in a twitchy world.
 
In this engaging book science writer M. L. Herring takes readers into the Pacific temperate rainforest at the tumultuous edge of a shifting continent in a precarious moment of time. Readers peek behind the magnificent scenery into a forest of ancient trees, exploding mountains, disappearing owls, tsunamis, megafires, and ten million people to learn what it means to be a forest in a world of upheavals.
 
Through Herring’s words and pictures, readers drift into the canopy through masses of ferns and lichens, burrow into soil through hair-thin threads of fungi, and plunge headlong through a watershed flushed with rain and snowmelt. Readers experience the temperate rainforest through science and art as it faces a shifting climate and the shifting priorities of a constantly changing society. The book journeys beyond the grid of latitude and longitude and into places only one’s imagination can fit, to discover what it means to be human in an ecological world.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Nature

372 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 29, 2024

Reviews

[jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

if we hope to do better than give the wreckage of our plunder to the future, then we must be able to see the difference between a forest ecosystem and a tree farm.

m. l. herring's born of fire and rain is a field trip into the world's largest temperate rainforest, "halfway between the equator and the north pole, squeezed between the cascade volcanoes and the pacific ocean." this guided tour spans centuries and cataclysms, old growth and clear cuts, forest floor and canopy above. herring's writing intrigues, enthuses, and inspires — as her adoration, knowledge, and concern make this sylvan sojourn an altogether unforgettable outing. gorgeously illustrated by the author, born of fire and rain is natural history at its very best.

in many ways, we are living now with the tyranny of small decisions. no explicit decision has been made to cut the last old tree, dam the last free-flowing river, or drain the last beaver dam. yet this is the outcome of incremental actions disconnected from larger consequences.

[Mathieu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really excellent, descriptive writing. Wonderfully organized into a journey through a forest, from roots to crown, and including views of geological time and traveling across the landscape. Herring takes the reader with her as she examines the life of a Douglas Fir forest in forest time, not human time. She looks at the human history with this forest, and recent and current conflicting efforts to make the forest usable to the many needs of humans and human industry.

This is a needed perspective of the forest from the eyes of the forest.

[Janka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Artist and retired Oregon fisheries biologist M.L. Herring takes us on an illustrated virtual field trip into the temperate rainforests of the Pacific Northwest, from their volcanic and seismic birth to current issues affecting their survival. On the way, she introduces us to the wondrous creatures and interactions that make up the Pacific coastal forest. Scientifically concise and beautifully written, the book is worth the price for its artwork alone.

[Kushiel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! And you know I live in the PNW and love the beauty but I occasionally do forget about it sometimes....I feel called out by the author. But really amazing book drawing together geology, mycology, volcanology, ecology, marine biology, hydrology, dendrology and zoology to make one hell of a book about our temperate rainforest.

[Fernleaf · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books about PNW forests that I've ever read. Will have to compose a more complete review tomorrow.

[F.E. Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author acknowledges the Pacific Northwest forests were created by fire. Left alone the forests will regenerate after being destroyed by wildfire. Along comes man and clearcuts with a chainsaw. Somehow clearcut by fire is ok but clearcut by chainsaw is wrong. So forest management was stopped to save the Spotted Owl. Harvests dropped to 10% of what it was. Forests destroyed by fire wildfire soared since management was stopped. Spotted Owl population has dropped significantly and may disappear. Now the author says the Spotted Owl decline is caused by climate change. All evidence says the preditory Barred Owl is causing Spotted Owl decline. The reader readily understands why there is so much political push back on climate change when reading the author's recommendation to not manage our National Forests.

[Marina Richie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this book--the author does a brilliant job of synthesizing complex ecology that is seamlessly woven throughout this playful journey into the last ancient forests of the Pacific Northwest. Her art is stunning. You will fall in love with the forests, wildlife, and the art--and emerge wanting to join campaigns to stop the horrific logging that is threatening our last unprotected wild forests.

[James Easterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Discover the forest. It is greater than the sum of its parts. Like the delicate threads of mycelium, the connections are endless and awesome. Protect it.

[Jack Reddan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good overview of a complex ecosystem.

[B. Zelkovich · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely lovely "field trip" into the forests I already know and love. I'm excited to get my hands on a physical copy so I can enjoy the illustrations as well.