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The Earth Said Remember Me: How to Revive Our Memories and Restore the Planet
A rallying cry and resistance manual from one of the leaders breathing new life into the environmental movement.
As the climate emergency worsens and biodiversity shrinks, we somehow get used to it. We struggle to remember what summers were like before the unrelenting heat, in those years before wildfires became an annual routine. We adapt, we normalize. Scientists call this “shifting baseline syndrome,” and they warn that it’s why we are increasingly sleepwalking toward disaster.
In this inspiring manifesto, environmental advocate and longtime editor-in-chief of Sierra magazine Jason Dove Mark offers antidotes that everyone can use to resist ecological amnesia and make lasting progress to repair and revive a livable planet. He puts forth four simple but powerful rules for a life lived in communion with the Earth:
Go outside
Bear witness
Make a record
Pass it on
From the mountains of California to the lakes of Wisconsin and across the lush forests of his beloved Pacific Northwest, Mark shares moving examples of citizen scientists, birdwatchers, mountain climbers, and fishermen who are putting these remedies into practice. And he makes the case for easy, everyday practices that can help us “remember the earth” and support environmental conservation, restoration, and rewilding. The Earth Said Remember Me is a hopeful, achievable prescription for protecting the planet, one citizen at a time.
As the climate emergency worsens and biodiversity shrinks, we somehow get used to it. We struggle to remember what summers were like before the unrelenting heat, in those years before wildfires became an annual routine. We adapt, we normalize. Scientists call this “shifting baseline syndrome,” and they warn that it’s why we are increasingly sleepwalking toward disaster.
In this inspiring manifesto, environmental advocate and longtime editor-in-chief of Sierra magazine Jason Dove Mark offers antidotes that everyone can use to resist ecological amnesia and make lasting progress to repair and revive a livable planet. He puts forth four simple but powerful rules for a life lived in communion with the Earth:
Go outside
Bear witness
Make a record
Pass it on
From the mountains of California to the lakes of Wisconsin and across the lush forests of his beloved Pacific Northwest, Mark shares moving examples of citizen scientists, birdwatchers, mountain climbers, and fishermen who are putting these remedies into practice. And he makes the case for easy, everyday practices that can help us “remember the earth” and support environmental conservation, restoration, and rewilding. The Earth Said Remember Me is a hopeful, achievable prescription for protecting the planet, one citizen at a time.
224 pages, Hardcover
Published July 14, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 31, 2026
Read this because I met the author in Moab! A short, accessible listen about protecting the earth around us via memory making and keeping 🌎🌎🌎
July 14, 2026
A sweetly short and imaginatively written book about planting the seedbeds of hopes in the midst of the climate crisis. I'd have liked to explore restorative efforts across a wider range of geographic areas and species---although the Monarch, salmon, Mount Shasta, and northern lake stories were emotionally charged and intriguing. I think it might owe to Jason Dove Mark's captivating writing style, more so than anything lacking in the content of the book, that I was left wanting more. Regardless, I'd encourage anyone to read this. Even for those who are already eco-activists, Dove Mark's book is a much-needed rallying call for collective memory and activism.
September 22, 2026
This is a short, inspirational book. I say inspirational, but there are many topics in this book that may get you down. But that's just climate change for you. There are many great concepts related to awareness and the collective memory of the natural world. Shifting baselines are described with examples. I really appreciated the many specific and often personal stories shared in this book.
If you're in the climate action field, I suggest this book.
If you're in the climate action field, I suggest this book.
October 19, 2026
One of the main topics of the book is shifting baseline syndrome. The human aptitude for adaptability can be a good thing, but it often exacerbates environmental amnesia. Normal becomes a moving target. We have to relearn how to remember!
The author disspells the frog in hot water myth, the frog in fact becomes more active and attempts to escape the water. Can we be at least as smart as the frog?
The four main steps we can take: 1. go outside 2. bear witness 3. make a record 4. pass it on.
Some of his points are: Pay attention. Take the earbuds out. All of us are capable of being good observers. Adaptiveness, but not acceptance. Notetaking is important. There’s a responsibility to pass on the stories. The continuity of stories can be a survivor technique.
Stories of recovery and resilience: for example, after the Clear Water Act and other legislation, the bald eagle was removed from the endangered species list.
The better we remember, the greater the possibilities.
Unlike other books that cover a lot of topics, this one was more focused. This helped me to remember and be encouraged. I can connect to nature wherever I am, make memories, and record them.
The author disspells the frog in hot water myth, the frog in fact becomes more active and attempts to escape the water. Can we be at least as smart as the frog?
The four main steps we can take: 1. go outside 2. bear witness 3. make a record 4. pass it on.
Some of his points are: Pay attention. Take the earbuds out. All of us are capable of being good observers. Adaptiveness, but not acceptance. Notetaking is important. There’s a responsibility to pass on the stories. The continuity of stories can be a survivor technique.
Stories of recovery and resilience: for example, after the Clear Water Act and other legislation, the bald eagle was removed from the endangered species list.
The better we remember, the greater the possibilities.
Unlike other books that cover a lot of topics, this one was more focused. This helped me to remember and be encouraged. I can connect to nature wherever I am, make memories, and record them.
August 22, 2026
A story of the decimation of monarch butterflies from thousands to singles frames the book. By "remember me" Mark means readers to remember the lost abundance of the monarchs as well as a number of other creatures we could lose. The book offers some ways to counter the normalization of loss that happens when people forget or are never aware of the what gets lost . Memory of the lost tis more than looking back at the past; It is a catalysts for action to create a richer future. One point that stood out to me was the his faith in the power of storytelling to pass on these future-changing memories.
August 21, 2026
A gentle and uplifting read. I have already shared some of the tips and experiences described in the book with friends in positions to use them.
Dinged my rating one star for the lame excuse for not footnoting.
Dinged my rating one star for the lame excuse for not footnoting.
August 22, 2026
This is a thought provoking and emotional look at climate change. The has some great suggestions for small but meaningful things we can all do in order to recognize the changes around happening around us.
August 24, 2026
I loved this book. Read it in about two days. Very hopeful and inspiring. Stories have the potential to save us. Memory is the missing link connecting the past and the future, but it is also a blueprint of what’s possible. Thanks for writing it.
August 8, 2026
Inspiring, beautiful, thought provoking read!
September 7, 2026
If you want less climate chaos, try the easy tips in this uplifting book (and even more entertaining audiobook)!
October 6, 2026
While it's not a bad book, and the core idea is wonderful, I feel the material is stretched thin over the full page length. This should have been an essay.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews