Women and Wilderness

by Anne LaBastille

Wildlife ecologist Anne LaBastille is a pioneer in the growing movement of women into wilderness-oriented careers. In this groundbreaking book, she documents this phenomenon, profiling fifteen remarkable women ranging in age from twenty-one to seventy whose lives and professions center on the outdoors. Some are field scientists or hold technical jobs--a zoologist, a speleologist (cave explorer), a builder of log houses--others have forged unique, self-reliant lifestyles in wilderness homesteads. These women, LaBastille herself among them, constitute a new and important category of role models for young women.

LaBastille also looks at the complex web of social and psychosexual factors that have alienated women from wilderness in the past and shows how feminism and the rise of environmental consciousness have allowed the "wilderness within women" to emerge. Updated with a new Afterword for this edition, Women and Wilderness offers exciting career ideas and inspiration for women everywhere.

Finding the Way --
The Background --
Frontier Women-Case Studies --
Frontier Women in Fiction --
Changing Times --
The Making of Professionals --
The Wilderness Women --
Elaine Rhode: Freelancer in the Aleutians --
Jeanne Gurnee: Explorer Underground --
Krissa Johnson: Architect with a Chainsaw --
Margaret Owings: An Artist in Activism --
Diana Cohen: A School without Walls --
Eugenie Clark: Scientist in a Wetsuit --
Peggy Eckel Duke: Monitoring the Olympics --
Sheila Link: A Modern Diana --
Carol Ruckdeschel: Island Naturalist --
Margaret Stewart: The Frog Professor --
Rebecca Lawton: Crusader for Whitewater --
Margaret Murie: A Long Life in the Wilderness --
Maggie Nichols: Outdoor Journalism in the Urban Jungle --
Nicole Duplaix: The Peripatetic Zoologist --
Joan Daniels: Homesteading on the Alaskan Frontier --
Women and Wilderness

Genres: Nonfiction, Womens, Womens Studies, Biography, Outdoors, Nature, Environment

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Anne LaBastille was an American author and ecologist. She was the author of more than a dozen books, including Woodswoman, Beyond Black Bear Lake, Woodswoman III, Woodswoman IIII, Assignment:Wildlife, and Women of the Wilderness. She also wrote more than 150 popular articles and over 25 scientific papers. She received her doctorate degree in Wildlife Ecology from Cornell University in 1969. She also had an M.S. in Wildlife Management from Colorado State University (1961), and a B.S. in Conservation of Natural Resources from Cornell (1955).[2][3] She was honored by the World Wildlife Fund and the Explorers Club for her pioneering work in wildlife ecology both in the United States and in Guatemala. She was a contributing writer to the Sierra Club, and National Geographic as well as many other magazines. LaBastille became a licensed New York State Guide in the 1970s and offered guide services for backpacking and canoe trips into the Adirondacks. She gave wilderness workshops and lectures for over forty years and served on many conservation organizations in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, including 17 years on the Board of Commissioners of the Adirondack Park Agency. She traveled around the world and worked with many non-profit organizations to study and alleviate the destructive effects of acid rain and pollution on lakes and wildlife. LaBastille was also a noted wildlife photographer and her work appeared in many nature publications.
LaBastille was born in Montclair, New Jersey, and died at a nursing home in Plattsburgh, New York.

Reviews

[Jessaka · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I enjoyed most about this book was the list of all the best books on women and in the wilderness, all the way from pioneer women to women of today. She wrote about fifteen women in all. The four books that stood out for me were, “The Trees,” “Giants in the Earth, “The Way West,” and Willa Cather’s books, “My Antonia” and “O’ Pioneers.” She had even grouped them as being the best. There were others, and while I was able to purchase some, many did not come on Kindle. I also enjoyed each story of these women’s lives, even Calamity Jane’s, who was said to have had a daughter, one that she wrote letters to since she didn’t take her with her. Father unknown.

A certain section of this book bugged me though. It was about Ashley Montague, an anthropologist who studied the sexes and determined that women wwere the superior sex. Now, why did this bug me? I am tired of hearing it, although I have only heard it once before. I believe that you can’t generalize things, and that there are more exceptions to the rule than what one would think. I have no proof of this, I just know that it is true and this from my own observations. Out of all the 70 books that she digested internally, so she could put them in this book, she had to include Montague’s.

While LaBastille talked about the Native American women being used to the wilderness, and this in spite of having children, she believes that American women were afraid of the wild west because they had children. What? I never had children, and yet, I am afraid of the wild, that is, if there are bears and other wild beasties out there that eat people. Maybe you they had to be raised in the wilderness to not be afraid, and to only have respect for the beasts, and maybe a person just needs to be trained in survival skills. Give me a grenade, and I will live in the wilderness. But she rather says these things, but while she does, it feels like contradictions. She should have left Montague on the bookshelf.

I can understand women not wanting to take a wagon train out West. It wasn’t just that they didn’t want to leave their family and friends, but that was a big part of it, it was because they knew what was out there. While their husbands considered it an adventure, they knew it could mean death. It is too bad, even as LaBastille wrote, that they had no place to stay and no job, but why couldn’t they find some lonely unadventurous man in town?

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love reading Anne LaBastille's books -- she writes in a way that you feel as though you're sitting down to a cup of coffee with her . . . in this book the tables were turned; she interviewed other outdoorwomen that she wanted to have coffee with. The book is 25+ years old and it's interesting to read about what LaBastille thought was important to note at that time like what sign of the zodiac they were, if they were married, and how their family and friends came to accept their non-conventional careers. Many of these women were pioneers in the naturalist-track and met with some resistance along the way by their male counterparts -- mmmm, some things just don't change with time.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty inspiring book. Combining the outdoors with some of the women who pioneered their way into the fields of science and nature, it's not surprising that you'd get a book filled with strong women and interesting careers. And while it's a little outdated, the general theme and the stories of these women are timeless.

LaBastille is a well known wilderness women herself, who has written many books about her experiences in the Adirondacks. But in this book, she chooses to focus on others. The first section is a history of women and what brought them to the wilderness. Their stories range from following husbands out West to wanting land of their own. Then she moves into modern day women (or at least modern when the book was written) who have all pursued careers in the fields of nature and science and have really paved the way for other women looking to enter the field. These women range from biologists, herpetologists, log cabin builders and more. And each lady gets her own section in which LaBastille highlights her talents.

In the first part, we get a little sense of each of the historical people in the book. In confess, they weren't as interesting, probably because it was harder to relate to them and their experiences. But the modern women, oh it brought about the want to go off into the woods and do something good for nature. Each woman had such an interesting story and a struggle to get to it in some cases. They all shared a love of wilderness of course, but also an exuberance for life that was very catching. And LaBastille does a good job of getting those emotions across. And even though this book can probably be categorized as feminist, it wasn't degrading to men at all. It was just focused on women and their achievements.

As said before, I wasn't quite as connected to the first part of the book. It read more like a history textbook and was kind of disjointed. But the stories about the women, those are what I really enjoyed. They just seemed to be living and loving their lives and they did such good for the world. It's hard for me to believe that by the time I read this book, many are dead and the others are quite elderly now. They just feel so alive, like they are still out there working and doing what they've always been doing. And aside from just showcasing women in these jobs, it also highlighted the jobs themselves. There were a lot of things, like the women who worked for the Olympics, preserving the area around the ski slopes, that I wouldn't have even imagined could be a job. And really, the list of books on the subject or written by these women, is reason enough to read this book. My to-read list just grew by a mile I think. But I do have to say that you could tell this was written in the seventies. For almost every woman, an astrological sign was somehow mentioned.

This is a well put-together book. Not only does it highlight some important women who were just a bit "wild", it showed that anyone can do any job, as long as they have the passion and want for it.

Women and Wilderness
Copyright 1980
308 pages

Review by M. Reynard 2013

More of my reviews can be found at www.ifithaswords.blogspot.com

[Chana · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning of this book reads like a school paper, "In this chapter I shall describe in a general way the women who participated in the opening of the American wilderness...." I was worried the whole book would have this boring and pedantic tone. However, things improve as she continues to write. The "Frontier Women: Case Studies" was interesting. Then the book has its true merit in the 15 profiles of women who have been involved in wilderness living or research and conversation. The women profiled are very interesting and most have made significant contributions to the conservation of our natural world.

[Krista · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book. I wish I had read it in college, super inspiring. I particularly enjoyed the addition of some unexpected women, like the hunter/housewife/writer and the writer for Field and Stream, who lives in NYC. There were a couple that I found annoying, but even their stories were compelling. The best part: a whole new list of books to read. The lamest part: how the author worked in each women's astrological sign.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was sad to learn that ecologist and author, Anne LaBastille, had passed away in 2011. This is such an inspiring book, profiling fifteen women who chose a life and a career in the wilderness, and at a time when they were forging new paths of exploration for women in the sixties and seventies. It has been interesting to follow the lives of these women today and discover the many contributions that they, like Anne LaBastille, have made to our world. An excellent book.

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great history of women and their role in forging the frontiers -the West and the Wilderness! A bit dated, but still very interesting. The profiles of the women LaBastille has chosen were excellent reminders of those women who pave the way for us through the "man's" wilderness. We've always been there, sometimes quietly working behind the scenes to make lives for ourselves and our families in the wood, deserts and prairies of this great country. #womeninthewilderness #annelabastille

[N Klepacki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been a longtime fan of Anne LaBastille - wish I'd discovered her when I was in my twenties - I firmly believe I'd have had a much different, more self-sufficient life. While her radicalism at times can be off-putting, all in all I find her work to be thought-provoking, deeply insightful and challenging.

[Autumn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not all I hoped it would be. The book itself feels dated, and the profiles of women were not as in-depth as I would have liked. Interesting concept though.

[Rhonda · Rating 3 out of 5]

It did start out like a school paper or thesis, but did improve, nice writing style, even though nearly 40 years ago, women and wilderness has changed as has society, but good read

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anne LaBastille is a great researcher and writer! I recommend to any woman looking to venture out and see new wide open spaces, it'll give you a good push of womanly confidence!

[Joanne · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've enjoyed reading LaBastille's memoirs, but I couldn't really get into this book.

[Xzs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book 40 years after it was first published in 1980 was a unique experience. The fundamental themes examined in this book are timeless. In many ways I considered the women profiled to be contemporaries. Although the book is written from a different societal experience, one that I would not classify as politically correct. But sometimes the politically correct rhetoric takes away from authenticity. That is not the case with this frank and honest examination of the profiled women who revel in their connection to the natural world. I am an established fan of Anne LaBastille’s writings and this was another book worthy of a slow, savored reading experience. I found the references to each women’s zodiac sign to be a welcome dichotomy to the science being profiled. I intend to further explore several of the women profiled in this book through additional readings.

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good read but not as exciting as her other books. It did turn me on to a few other authors I will be checking out. I enjoy her writing style in all her woodswomen books and this one just didn’t flow the same way.

[Kent Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obviously a bit dated since it’s from the 80s, but still an important look at wildlife/land conservation and second-wave feminism.

[Greynomad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just incredible life histories of women

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 1/2 stars