The Tanoak Tree: An Environmental History of a Pacific Coast Hardwood

by Frederica Bowcutt

Tanoak ( Notholithocarpus densiflorus ) is a resilient and common hardwood tree native to California and southwestern Oregon. People's radically different perceptions of it have ranged from treasured food plant to cash crop to trash tree. Having studied the patterns of tanoak use and abuse for nearly twenty years, botanist Frederica Bowcutt uncovers a complex history of cultural, sociopolitical, and economic factors affecting the tree's fate.

Still valued by indigenous communities for its nutritious acorn nut, the tree has also been a source of raw resources for a variety of industries since white settlement of western North America. Despite ongoing protests, tanoaks are now commonly killed with herbicides in industrial forests in favor of more commercially valuable coast redwood and Douglas-fir. As one nontoxic alternative, many foresters and communities promote locally controlled, third-party certified sustainable hardwood production using tanoak, which doesn't depend on clearcutting and herbicide use.

Today tanoaks are experiencing massive die-offs due to sudden oak death, an introduced disease. Bowcutt examines the complex set of factors that set the stage for the tree's current ecological crisis. The end of the book focuses on hopeful changes including reintroduction of low-intensity burning to reduce conifer competition for tanoaks, emerging disease resistance in some trees, and new partnerships among tanoak defenders, including botanists, foresters, Native Americans, and plant pathologists.

Genres: Nature, Nonfiction, Science, History

240 pages, Hardcover

First published May 5, 2015

Reviews

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look at a now endangered tree that I was not familiar with. There is a lot of detail in the book and much of the time the author cannot lose her academic voice. But, occasionally, the book leaves academia and allowed me to be fascinated. My favorite chapters were Acorns – about the importance of tanoak as a food source for native populations of California and Oregon; Bark – about the use of tanoak in the tanning industry; and Partnerships – about acknowledging the cultural and social importance of the tanoak. Our treatment of the tanoak is a history of how Americans treat our natural environment. The academic prose is worth wading through.

[Mireille Discart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book, very informative and well written!