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Nature Noir: A Park Ranger's Patrol in the Sierra – An Honest 14-Year Memoir of Violence and Danger in Wilderness Protection
A nature book unlike any other, Jordan Fisher Smith's startling account of fourteen years as a park ranger thoroughly dispels our idealized visions of life in the great outdoors. Instead of scout troops and placid birdwatchers, Smith's beat -- a stretch of land that has been officially condemned to be flooded -- brings him into contact with drug users tweaked out to the point of violence, obsessed miners, and other dangerous creatures. In unflinchingly honest prose, he reveals the unexpectedly dark underbelly of patrolling and protecting public lands.
224 pages, Paperback
First published February 8, 2005
97 people are currently reading
1420 people want to read
About the author
Jordan Fisher Smith
2 books34 followersJordan Fisher Smith spent 21 years as a park and wilderness ranger in California, Wyoming, Idaho, and Alaska. His nonfiction book, ENGINEERING EDEN won a 2017 California Book Award and was longlisted for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. The Wall Street Journal calls it "an intensely reported, rousingly readable and ambitiously envisioned book."
Jordan's previous book, NATURE NOIR, is a memoir of his surprisingly strange and dangerous work as a park ranger. NATURE NOIR was a Booksense Bestseller, an Audubon magazine Editor’s Choice, and a San Francisco Chronicle Best Books of 2005 pick.
Jordan has written for The New Yorker, TIME.com, Men’s Journal, Aeon, Discover, and Orion. He appeared in and narrated a documentary film about Lyme disease, “Under Our Skin,” which was shortlisted for the 2010 Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.
He has been a guest on various nationally syndicated radio programs including NPR’s Morning Edition, On Point, Living on Earth, and National Geographic Radio.
Jordan's previous book, NATURE NOIR, is a memoir of his surprisingly strange and dangerous work as a park ranger. NATURE NOIR was a Booksense Bestseller, an Audubon magazine Editor’s Choice, and a San Francisco Chronicle Best Books of 2005 pick.
Jordan has written for The New Yorker, TIME.com, Men’s Journal, Aeon, Discover, and Orion. He appeared in and narrated a documentary film about Lyme disease, “Under Our Skin,” which was shortlisted for the 2010 Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.
He has been a guest on various nationally syndicated radio programs including NPR’s Morning Edition, On Point, Living on Earth, and National Geographic Radio.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 136 reviews
March 27, 2020
'Nature Noir' is definitely a suitable pandemic lockdown book, as it transports the reader away from their claustrophobic reality to an incredible landscape in the Sierra Nevada. I very much enjoyed the laconic and insightful tone of Elmore Leonard applied to crimes taking place in a spectacular state park. I hadn't realised that in America park rangers carry guns and make arrests. (Oh, America.) Fisher Smith is a thoughtful and deliberate writer, giving equal weight to the landscapes and wildlife as the humans that visit them. Each chapter centres upon a particular episode in his career as a park ranger, placed within wider context that informed me about the gold rush and rise of public environmental concern in California, among other things. Recounted incidents include unsolved murders, suicides, drug overdoses, and 20th century gold prospecting. The criminal activity is tragic, squalid, and embedded in poverty. In tone and content this recalled Justified, the excellent TV series adapted from Elmore Leonard's work.
Hanging over the whole narrative and Fisher Smith's job is the fact that his park was for decades slated to be submerged by a massive new dam. Incidentally, I did not previously realise that dams can cause such significant pressure on local geology that they cause earthquakes. Fisher Smith discusses notions of wildness, nature, and human impact on the environment in a considered and nuanced fashion that I really appreciated:
'Nature Noir' is a unique, diverting, and informative read. Although the title suggested that its appeal would be stylistic, I was delighted to find it has a great deal of substance.
Hanging over the whole narrative and Fisher Smith's job is the fact that his park was for decades slated to be submerged by a massive new dam. Incidentally, I did not previously realise that dams can cause such significant pressure on local geology that they cause earthquakes. Fisher Smith discusses notions of wildness, nature, and human impact on the environment in a considered and nuanced fashion that I really appreciated:
We rangers have a fair amount of time to read and I'd been aware of these [postmodern] ideas for a while. They are merely a more fashionable version of traditional human-centred technological optimism. But seen from a boat on a regulated river that night, the claims of these postmodernists looked faulty. However poorly managed that day, the job of metering a single river to generate power without killing any whitewater rafters was far simpler than managing the climate that provided the river's water. If dams had many beneficial effects for civilisation - our late summer white water rafting season being one of them - they also had many unintentional outcomes. Coastal beaches were now deprived of their sand, for centuries replenished by rivers wearing down mountains. Some of the beaches would now grow rocky - and that change might have an effect on, say, the economy of a beach town or the nesting of plovers, and that change still another effect. [...] We humans were reductionists, and neither our brains nor our most powerful computers can begin to account for the complex web of interrelationships in a global ecosystem.
In the end much of what is seemingly known and tamed is in fact unknown, and untamed.
'Nature Noir' is a unique, diverting, and informative read. Although the title suggested that its appeal would be stylistic, I was delighted to find it has a great deal of substance.
July 31, 2014
I read this when it came out, around 2007, so didn't think I would ever write a review. But this book has stayed with me over the past 8 years primarily because of the description of what it really means to be a forest ranger(a description I could never have predicted), and because the author sadly and tragically contracted Lyme Disease as a result of his work. It was the first time I had ever heard of such devastating symptoms. Sadly, it is not the last time I heard of such a thing.
September 27, 2009
The title and cover may be good marketing, but are misleading. Although crime (and murder) investigation enter into Smith's story, the book is not really about police and thieves. Although the cover picture is the high Sierra, the book does not really take place in remote wilderness.
Smith worked as a California park ranger for a decade plus in the foothills of the Sierras, at the Auburn State Recreation Area. During that time, from 1986 to 1998, this was a no man's land in the state bureaucracy, much of it slated to be (and mapped as) a large lake held in by a dam that was never built. The area was used by blue collar types from the Central Valley on their days off, drifters and oddballs who saw a chance to live off the grid by dredging for gold, city dwellers looking for whitewater excitement on river rafting espeditions, and daredevils who risked suicide and hopeless cases who committed it off the Foresthill Bridge.
Rangers like Smith who patrolled this area got little respect or remuneration, but were able to see close up an ecosystem where wilderness and development were continually colliding. Smith documents this collision in masterful essays framed in poetic language that really make you think about our relationship to the land.
At the same time that El Dorado County population tripled, for example, Smith was involved in the investigation of the first modern-day fatality due to a mountain lion. "If you drive up into these foothills," he tells us, "and allow yourself to wander, you will end up on dusty roads, off other unmarked roads, which are in turn off other roads. At the end of each of them sits a relatively new house with no economic relationship, as a ranch or a miner's cabin would have had, to the land around it. Everything that gets up there, from the next quart of milk to the next stick of lumber for a fence, arrives in an automobile, a pick-up truck, or a sport-utility vehicle. It is a way of life unprecedented in history...."
"After a century and a half of condemnation to usefulness," he continues later, "there was a great longing back toward wilderness in these canyons." In addition to the return of pine forests and wildflower meadows, there were more sightings of bears and cougars. "It was desire; it was the force behind everything that happens without human permission or design."
One of my most memorable river rafting experiences was capsizing on the Middle Fork of the American River. I will never think of that experience, or all the other ones I've had in the foothills so near to Interstate 80, in the same way again after reading this book. Smith's book is meaningful for anyone interested in the intersection of civilization and nature, but it will be especially valued by Californians like me trying to understand their state.
Smith worked as a California park ranger for a decade plus in the foothills of the Sierras, at the Auburn State Recreation Area. During that time, from 1986 to 1998, this was a no man's land in the state bureaucracy, much of it slated to be (and mapped as) a large lake held in by a dam that was never built. The area was used by blue collar types from the Central Valley on their days off, drifters and oddballs who saw a chance to live off the grid by dredging for gold, city dwellers looking for whitewater excitement on river rafting espeditions, and daredevils who risked suicide and hopeless cases who committed it off the Foresthill Bridge.
Rangers like Smith who patrolled this area got little respect or remuneration, but were able to see close up an ecosystem where wilderness and development were continually colliding. Smith documents this collision in masterful essays framed in poetic language that really make you think about our relationship to the land.
At the same time that El Dorado County population tripled, for example, Smith was involved in the investigation of the first modern-day fatality due to a mountain lion. "If you drive up into these foothills," he tells us, "and allow yourself to wander, you will end up on dusty roads, off other unmarked roads, which are in turn off other roads. At the end of each of them sits a relatively new house with no economic relationship, as a ranch or a miner's cabin would have had, to the land around it. Everything that gets up there, from the next quart of milk to the next stick of lumber for a fence, arrives in an automobile, a pick-up truck, or a sport-utility vehicle. It is a way of life unprecedented in history...."
"After a century and a half of condemnation to usefulness," he continues later, "there was a great longing back toward wilderness in these canyons." In addition to the return of pine forests and wildflower meadows, there were more sightings of bears and cougars. "It was desire; it was the force behind everything that happens without human permission or design."
One of my most memorable river rafting experiences was capsizing on the Middle Fork of the American River. I will never think of that experience, or all the other ones I've had in the foothills so near to Interstate 80, in the same way again after reading this book. Smith's book is meaningful for anyone interested in the intersection of civilization and nature, but it will be especially valued by Californians like me trying to understand their state.
April 30, 2008
This was written by a guy who worked as a park ranger at Auburn State Park just east of Sacramento. At the time that the guy was working, there was a big dam project and the part of the park that he was to “police” was supposed to be flooded when the dam was completed. The dam project was later shut down because of seismic activity at another site. If a dam broke, it would flood Sacramento. The ranger tells his stories about the park and who and what he finds there
February 6, 2025
Jordan Fisher Smith’s first book “Nature Noir” at times reads like what you would expect from a park ranger turned first time author. The general clunkiness in his writing style and regular deviations from the storyline made it difficult to read at times; however, the pure love and sentiment Smith feels towards nature is palpable and refreshing in this undiluted account of his time as a ranger. “Sentiment - call it love - for the wild is ultimately why I became a ranger. Sentiment is why any of us bother to raise children, why we care tenderly for elderly parents after age has deprived them of the memory of our names. It is why we try to salvage the juvenile delinquent, the alcoholic, the drug addict. Without it we are not human”. While I may question his proficiency as an author, there is certainly no questioning his humanity.
February 28, 2018
The parts of this book that are good are REALLY good. On the flip side, the parts that are boring are REALLY boring. The writing style is ok, and it’s not too bad, but in a way, it’s hard to get to know the writer. I feel like I finished the book without learning anything about who this guy was and why he felt so passionately about his job. And it seems he’s passionate. But I don’t feel it in the writing or very much in the stories told.
Bogged down by statistics and historical facts and laws about dams, etc, it was difficult to get to the content that was great. The stories like the murdered woman, the woman eaten by a cougar, how he handled suicides and stunt jumpers from bridges, and other tales like that were the most interesting. I was interested in his job and what he did, not in the history of the laws surrounding xyz in nature.
Maybe for people who like learning about the fine details, this book is a 5 Star for them, but for me, unfortunately, it’s a 3 Star as I would’ve liked to feel more of a personal connection with the writer and with his co-workers who make only tiny cameos in between details about the law.
Bogged down by statistics and historical facts and laws about dams, etc, it was difficult to get to the content that was great. The stories like the murdered woman, the woman eaten by a cougar, how he handled suicides and stunt jumpers from bridges, and other tales like that were the most interesting. I was interested in his job and what he did, not in the history of the laws surrounding xyz in nature.
Maybe for people who like learning about the fine details, this book is a 5 Star for them, but for me, unfortunately, it’s a 3 Star as I would’ve liked to feel more of a personal connection with the writer and with his co-workers who make only tiny cameos in between details about the law.
January 4, 2020
I've recently become quite interested in the natural world in general, but parks, gardens, and zoos in specific. The video game Planet Zoo has consumed a lot of my free time of late, and along with that a lot of research and generally learning more.
Probably heavily related to that, I've recently made a very good friend who is very knowledgable about nature, ecology, and so on, so speaking to them and listening to their little lectures about various things has spurred my interest as well.
Happy coincidence then that just weeks prior, I ordered this book on the recommendation of one of my favourite YouTubers, during a video he made about simulated wildernesses in games like Firewatch and the Long Dark - and coincidentally, the state park this book is about, the Auburn State Recreation Area, is within an hour of where my friend lives!
Nature Noir is, in theory, some selected anecdotes from Smith's time as a permanent park ranger at the Auburn State Recreation Area. In fact, a history of state and federal parks in America, a history of Auburn State in particular, and a series of short essays about various subjects from how water erodes mountains to create beaches up to the conservation and proliferation of cougars.
Each chapter is centered around a particular story, which Smith uses as an excuse to explore another subject - A Natural Death, for example, jumps back and forth between the investigation and discovery of a woman's body in the park, killed by a mountain lion - to the status of the mountain lion in Northern California, and its history as a game animal.
It honestly felt too short. I would have gladly read another 200 pages of Smith's stories and discourse on various nature things - the anecdotes themselves fluctuate wildly from bizarre, to heartwarming, to downright sad. The final chapter, involving Smith's diagnosis with Lyme disease, in particular isn't exactly uplifting.
A very interesting read, and I'm very interested to read Smith's other book Engineering Eden: The True Story of a Violent Death, a Trial, and the Fight over Controlling Nature, regarding Yellowstone.
A good start to 2020!
Probably heavily related to that, I've recently made a very good friend who is very knowledgable about nature, ecology, and so on, so speaking to them and listening to their little lectures about various things has spurred my interest as well.
Happy coincidence then that just weeks prior, I ordered this book on the recommendation of one of my favourite YouTubers, during a video he made about simulated wildernesses in games like Firewatch and the Long Dark - and coincidentally, the state park this book is about, the Auburn State Recreation Area, is within an hour of where my friend lives!
Nature Noir is, in theory, some selected anecdotes from Smith's time as a permanent park ranger at the Auburn State Recreation Area. In fact, a history of state and federal parks in America, a history of Auburn State in particular, and a series of short essays about various subjects from how water erodes mountains to create beaches up to the conservation and proliferation of cougars.
Each chapter is centered around a particular story, which Smith uses as an excuse to explore another subject - A Natural Death, for example, jumps back and forth between the investigation and discovery of a woman's body in the park, killed by a mountain lion - to the status of the mountain lion in Northern California, and its history as a game animal.
It honestly felt too short. I would have gladly read another 200 pages of Smith's stories and discourse on various nature things - the anecdotes themselves fluctuate wildly from bizarre, to heartwarming, to downright sad. The final chapter, involving Smith's diagnosis with Lyme disease, in particular isn't exactly uplifting.
A very interesting read, and I'm very interested to read Smith's other book Engineering Eden: The True Story of a Violent Death, a Trial, and the Fight over Controlling Nature, regarding Yellowstone.
A good start to 2020!
September 14, 2021
not interesting or well-written, love Sierras too much to finish
January 26, 2020
I feel like the word nature in the title is misleading. This book was primarily about dealings with drunk river goer's, illegal mining, and mostly a dam. I was somewhat forewarned by other reviews, I just hoped it wasn't as bad as they were making it out to be. I should of listened.
January 24, 2010
First book, but very readable, learned about the frustration of the Forest Service along with the rewards. At times some very good writing, other times kind of clunky.
November 26, 2012
Nature Noir is the first book written by Jordan Fisher Smith. For a first book, he did a fine job as a wordsmith. The content of the book is quite personal to me since it is about an area that I have always loved from my first glance. I have much in common with the author and his experiences. It is a detriment that the book is contaminated and with a radical environmental view which was injected with an energy similar to the Salem Witch hunts.
Of course this book is about the “dark side”. It would be wonderful if his next book was Nature Blanc, the bright side. Although at times I too suffered experiences of the ‘noir’ some of the best times and most wonderful people of my life were connected to the not only this narrow river canyon but places nearby of a similar make up. There are so many amazing and good things in these areas including the wildlife, water, views, and people that a book should also be written about them.
Perhaps the darkness of the text was intentional? I think the negative most likely could have been foretold based on the author’s fundamental attitude toward his career and the nature of his job. To be blunt, the areas he patrolled were “industrial areas” that still retained some nature and an attractive draw for recreational visitation. Being near but not “too near” populated areas, what I call the “fringe people”, also were there in droves as well.
Even though I think that the author was not in a job well suited for him, I a grateful for his service. In my time in the outdoors in this same area I have had many incidents that were caused by “squatters” or “people of the fringe.” While exploring, fishing, mountain biking, kayaking, motorcycling, Jeeping, etc., I have run into people such as he described in his book. Most are not too difficult to work with as long as I gave them the respect they did not deserve and was agreeable in general. If I had acted tough or expressed animosity, the bullets my have been redirected to me rather than over my head. There is something to be said for “getting along.”
The author’s fanatical views predestined the author to not only misunderstand his job but how he interacted with the land, and most importantly, the people. Vigorously pursuing the law enforcement portion of his job with the attitude and zeal of the Inquisition was certain to create a life of conflict and offense rather than a life of public service and positive influence. As I said, I share a great deal of commonality with the author and although I do not understand the irrational radical environmentalism, I do understand public service and trying to do a good job in a poor or hopeless situation. I understand falling short in that goal despite providing my best effort to be excellent. I thank Jordan Fisher Smith for attempting to do his best.
Among the things that I have in common with Jordan, is an incident on Mammoth Bar when I am certain that he and I met. After a short ride, my motorcycle began running poorly. I was nursing my ill running motorcycle back to my trailer and a State Ranger waved me over. Even though I was struggling to keep my motorcycle running I veered over to the ranger. I paused and explained that I needed to go “Just over there to my car because I would not be able to restart the motorcycle” which was clearly running poorly. He instantly became belligerent and unfastened to strap lock on his pistol. I shut my bike off simply by taking my hand off the throttle. Once my bike was silent, the ranger instantly became the super polite in the most offensive manner possible. He began talking down to me with all the smugness he could muster.... and that was quite a bit. It turns out that this random and needless stop was not for anything more than checking to see if my bike was legal with the proper spark arrestor and registration. There was not behavior that provoked the stop, indeed my bike had a current license plate and valid functioning spark arrestor that could be verified at a glace from 100 yards away. My sick motorcycle would not restart. The State Ranger went away with a smirk. I was forced to push my motorcycle the quarter mile through the sand and rocks to my vehicle. I had been successfully harassed by this ranger. This incident was just as Jordan Fisher Smith bragged in his book. He bragged of harassing people doing legal and sanctioned activities of which he did not approve. In the end, it was just as Jordan Fisher Smith also says in his book, “most often the crimes that took place in the canyons were not reported.” This abuse of power and public trust was not reported.
Overall, I would recommend this book to people who want some insights into the area near where I live and where I like to recreate. Just be aware and warned that the book is tainted with fanatic and self serving views. I can’t help but notice it is ironic that the most recognized sight for this area is the man made structure from the times of resource exploitation, “No Hands Bridge”. I think it verifies that there is something special about the mixing of nature and mankind. Indeed Nature Noir book is about a State Recreation Area, not a national park nor wilderness. I wonder if the author has realized that yet?
Of course this book is about the “dark side”. It would be wonderful if his next book was Nature Blanc, the bright side. Although at times I too suffered experiences of the ‘noir’ some of the best times and most wonderful people of my life were connected to the not only this narrow river canyon but places nearby of a similar make up. There are so many amazing and good things in these areas including the wildlife, water, views, and people that a book should also be written about them.
Perhaps the darkness of the text was intentional? I think the negative most likely could have been foretold based on the author’s fundamental attitude toward his career and the nature of his job. To be blunt, the areas he patrolled were “industrial areas” that still retained some nature and an attractive draw for recreational visitation. Being near but not “too near” populated areas, what I call the “fringe people”, also were there in droves as well.
Even though I think that the author was not in a job well suited for him, I a grateful for his service. In my time in the outdoors in this same area I have had many incidents that were caused by “squatters” or “people of the fringe.” While exploring, fishing, mountain biking, kayaking, motorcycling, Jeeping, etc., I have run into people such as he described in his book. Most are not too difficult to work with as long as I gave them the respect they did not deserve and was agreeable in general. If I had acted tough or expressed animosity, the bullets my have been redirected to me rather than over my head. There is something to be said for “getting along.”
The author’s fanatical views predestined the author to not only misunderstand his job but how he interacted with the land, and most importantly, the people. Vigorously pursuing the law enforcement portion of his job with the attitude and zeal of the Inquisition was certain to create a life of conflict and offense rather than a life of public service and positive influence. As I said, I share a great deal of commonality with the author and although I do not understand the irrational radical environmentalism, I do understand public service and trying to do a good job in a poor or hopeless situation. I understand falling short in that goal despite providing my best effort to be excellent. I thank Jordan Fisher Smith for attempting to do his best.
Among the things that I have in common with Jordan, is an incident on Mammoth Bar when I am certain that he and I met. After a short ride, my motorcycle began running poorly. I was nursing my ill running motorcycle back to my trailer and a State Ranger waved me over. Even though I was struggling to keep my motorcycle running I veered over to the ranger. I paused and explained that I needed to go “Just over there to my car because I would not be able to restart the motorcycle” which was clearly running poorly. He instantly became belligerent and unfastened to strap lock on his pistol. I shut my bike off simply by taking my hand off the throttle. Once my bike was silent, the ranger instantly became the super polite in the most offensive manner possible. He began talking down to me with all the smugness he could muster.... and that was quite a bit. It turns out that this random and needless stop was not for anything more than checking to see if my bike was legal with the proper spark arrestor and registration. There was not behavior that provoked the stop, indeed my bike had a current license plate and valid functioning spark arrestor that could be verified at a glace from 100 yards away. My sick motorcycle would not restart. The State Ranger went away with a smirk. I was forced to push my motorcycle the quarter mile through the sand and rocks to my vehicle. I had been successfully harassed by this ranger. This incident was just as Jordan Fisher Smith bragged in his book. He bragged of harassing people doing legal and sanctioned activities of which he did not approve. In the end, it was just as Jordan Fisher Smith also says in his book, “most often the crimes that took place in the canyons were not reported.” This abuse of power and public trust was not reported.
Overall, I would recommend this book to people who want some insights into the area near where I live and where I like to recreate. Just be aware and warned that the book is tainted with fanatic and self serving views. I can’t help but notice it is ironic that the most recognized sight for this area is the man made structure from the times of resource exploitation, “No Hands Bridge”. I think it verifies that there is something special about the mixing of nature and mankind. Indeed Nature Noir book is about a State Recreation Area, not a national park nor wilderness. I wonder if the author has realized that yet?
September 27, 2019
This was a really good book that reminded me of Kerouac and his time on the mountain in some ways. I haven't read a lot of other books that have given me that vibe which was really cool. Smith writes about his career as a Ranger which is something that when I was younger truthfully never would have interested me, but now interests me a great deal and makes me wish I had a dozen lives to live. One of them would surely have been spent as a park ranger.
Fisher takes the reader through his time as a idealistic youth and leads the reader into his time as a veteran ranger that was perhaps just a little bit jaded, but also more steady and reliable like the ancient wilderness that he worked and lived in. His tale ends in a sad way that I won't give away to to the readers of this review, but overall it left me wanting to have read more and for more of the middle of the story, to have had more tales of how things played out during those middle years.
If you're a fan of books about nature, biographies, wilderness and survival type books, then this is something that I can see you enjoying. It's a good, easy, and enjoyable read.
Fisher takes the reader through his time as a idealistic youth and leads the reader into his time as a veteran ranger that was perhaps just a little bit jaded, but also more steady and reliable like the ancient wilderness that he worked and lived in. His tale ends in a sad way that I won't give away to to the readers of this review, but overall it left me wanting to have read more and for more of the middle of the story, to have had more tales of how things played out during those middle years.
If you're a fan of books about nature, biographies, wilderness and survival type books, then this is something that I can see you enjoying. It's a good, easy, and enjoyable read.
October 29, 2025
This was a 3.5-star read for me, upgrading to 4 because the writing is technically competent and because it’s not the book’s fault that I was expecting more exciting stories from the life of a ranger and not the philosophical and historical tone that this book turned out to have. There were stories, about a woman who was killed by a cougar, about people doing bad things to each other, and about the situations that come up when people try to manipulate nature. Are they saving it or ruining it? Both, of course, because we live in a complicated world. The book was set in and around Auburn, which is very close to where I grew up in the magnificent Sierras, and I don’t really think I’ll ever get tired of reading about those.
June 30, 2020
I heard this author give a talk on his second book a couple of years ago, but picked this one up out of curiosity. I’m so glad I did! It is a really interesting look at the job of park ranger, and many of their job duties are not things I ever thought much about. I highly recommend this for non-fiction fans and outdoor enthusiasts alike.
September 16, 2020
This is an excellent look at the unique life of a patrol ranger in a "condemned" environment - the American River Canyons - which were supposed to be underwater.
January 18, 2025
Not quite the part of the Sierra I was expecting, but it’s good writing and he has some good stories to share, interspersed with interesting political backstory on the region.
September 6, 2025
A must read collection of stories for those who love norcal’s foothills, especially those along I-80. For the others, a bitter sweet probe into the work of park rangers. Books is entertaining as well as educational.
November 25, 2024
I had to stop reading this book for many reasons. The name is misleading…”A Park Ranger Patrol in the Sierra” even though the book is based in Auburn State Recreation Area…those are not the Sierras. This book was very insensitive about other people’s traumatic experiences. It was gut wrenching to read. This book was also all over the place, it was hard to keep up. Also the stories were pretty boring. I tried to finish this book but after the chapter “The Bridge over Purgatory” I had to stop. Unfortunately, a lot of people commit suicide at the Foresthill Bridge, a topic close to my heart, and he captured it in the worst way. Honestly shame on this book and awful for only writing about the underbelly of this beautiful area.
Read
November 25, 2009Interesting take on the job of a park ranger.
May 15, 2017
*3.5 stars*
A rather short book describing some of the author's experiences working as a park ranger in the American River State Natural Area north of Sacramento, CA. This wilderness area came with a particular challenge, that it was a condemned landscape because of the Auburn Dam, which had been in the works for a few decades. Smith's working days consisted of dealing with drunken campers, drifters trying to mine the river for gold, people wanting to commit suicide by jumping off a high bridge, and tons and tons of paperwork. Honestly, this book did not make me want to be a park ranger.
What I liked about it:
1. The descriptions of the natural settings, which were vivid an imbued with a sense of Smith's love for the area
2. Some of the anecdotes were weird and interesting
3. Some of Smith's musings about human life and our relationship to nature were poignant and thoughtful
4. The "nuggets" of history about the Gold Rush and its impact on the region were quite interesting. Have you ever heard of hydraulic mining? Let's just say...yikes! (Although doubtless positively benign compared to things we can do today.)
5.
What made the book bog down on occasions:
1. Way too much about the politics and engineering surrounding the proposed Auburn Dam. Obviously it was completely relevant to the park and everyone's mentality, but one or two in depth descriptions should have been enough.
2. The organization was rather disjointed, and some of the anecdotes seemed pointless and rambling
3. The author's musing occasionally seemed trite or self-indulgent.
But really, the pluses were stronger than the minus column, and so I am rounding up to four stars. An interesting and unusual addition to the nature memoir genre.
A rather short book describing some of the author's experiences working as a park ranger in the American River State Natural Area north of Sacramento, CA. This wilderness area came with a particular challenge, that it was a condemned landscape because of the Auburn Dam, which had been in the works for a few decades. Smith's working days consisted of dealing with drunken campers, drifters trying to mine the river for gold, people wanting to commit suicide by jumping off a high bridge, and tons and tons of paperwork. Honestly, this book did not make me want to be a park ranger.
What I liked about it:
1. The descriptions of the natural settings, which were vivid an imbued with a sense of Smith's love for the area
2. Some of the anecdotes were weird and interesting
3. Some of Smith's musings about human life and our relationship to nature were poignant and thoughtful
4. The "nuggets" of history about the Gold Rush and its impact on the region were quite interesting. Have you ever heard of hydraulic mining? Let's just say...yikes! (Although doubtless positively benign compared to things we can do today.)
5.
What made the book bog down on occasions:
1. Way too much about the politics and engineering surrounding the proposed Auburn Dam. Obviously it was completely relevant to the park and everyone's mentality, but one or two in depth descriptions should have been enough.
2. The organization was rather disjointed, and some of the anecdotes seemed pointless and rambling
3. The author's musing occasionally seemed trite or self-indulgent.
But really, the pluses were stronger than the minus column, and so I am rounding up to four stars. An interesting and unusual addition to the nature memoir genre.
April 8, 2024
I read Nature Noir after finding out about Jordan Fisher Smith through reading the excellent Engineering Eden. Nature Noir did not disappoint - it features a similar well-researched backdrop that is woven into the main parts of the narrative, which feels like a cohesive journey through a park ranger’s career even though it’s organized into chapters that could stand alone as short investigative stories.
I have read a lot more nature/conservation books than crime/investigation books but this book made me want to read some of the law/crime/investigation authors mentioned in the book jacket reviews. And the nature/conservation/geology aspects I felt could stand next to giants like McPhee, Muir, Leopold, etc. - there were some truly moving and deeply philosophical sentences about conservation specifically.
Nature Noir also invites you into Smith’s life as a ranger - you get an idea of the daily work, what his coworkers were like and their little quirks and what keeps them going. I’ve read a decent number of memoirs as well, some good (Open, Greenlights some of the best I think) and some bad, and it has those little details that make a memoir come alive.
There are also a number of truly gripping and adrenaline pumping sequences in some of the tighter spots that Smith finds himself over his career. Overall it is ambitious in balancing three genres but does it effortlessly and keeps you on the edge of your seat.
I have read a lot more nature/conservation books than crime/investigation books but this book made me want to read some of the law/crime/investigation authors mentioned in the book jacket reviews. And the nature/conservation/geology aspects I felt could stand next to giants like McPhee, Muir, Leopold, etc. - there were some truly moving and deeply philosophical sentences about conservation specifically.
Nature Noir also invites you into Smith’s life as a ranger - you get an idea of the daily work, what his coworkers were like and their little quirks and what keeps them going. I’ve read a decent number of memoirs as well, some good (Open, Greenlights some of the best I think) and some bad, and it has those little details that make a memoir come alive.
There are also a number of truly gripping and adrenaline pumping sequences in some of the tighter spots that Smith finds himself over his career. Overall it is ambitious in balancing three genres but does it effortlessly and keeps you on the edge of your seat.
October 27, 2021
Fascinating behind the scenes look at what it's like to manage our public lands, in an area I'm familiar with. Learned a bit about water politics, ie Auburn Dam. Human behavior and how it collides with our natural world: gold rush and modern day gold panning, drunkenness and violence and poverty, urban planning and development. He grapples with issue of day to day purpose with guarding something with supposedly an infinite life span (well can't we all say the same thing), as the area he might be guarding could be flooded with water within several years.
From musing on the suicide he had to help clean up at Forest Hill bridge:
"Maybe he was just suffering from the same regret we've all known at one time or another, when life hasn't lived up to our expectations. Only his was worse and perhaps his life lacked the sweet little mitigations that get most of us through our days...Everything suffers. Everything has joy. In purgatory you still have a chance; the final judgment on you and everything else has not yet been rendered. So if people are doing something wrong, refuse to cooperate; if the music's too sad, for God's sake change the station or turn the radio off. Stop before the bridge. Get out. Walk down the road. Sniff the air, and if it smells good, breathe deep."
From musing on the suicide he had to help clean up at Forest Hill bridge:
"Maybe he was just suffering from the same regret we've all known at one time or another, when life hasn't lived up to our expectations. Only his was worse and perhaps his life lacked the sweet little mitigations that get most of us through our days...Everything suffers. Everything has joy. In purgatory you still have a chance; the final judgment on you and everything else has not yet been rendered. So if people are doing something wrong, refuse to cooperate; if the music's too sad, for God's sake change the station or turn the radio off. Stop before the bridge. Get out. Walk down the road. Sniff the air, and if it smells good, breathe deep."
June 21, 2018
Essays written by a ranger at Auburn State Recreation Area, which was expected to be flooded by the Auburn Dam. Good Book! // Jordan Smith worked as a seasonal ranger in several famous parks before taking a full-time job at Auburn State Recreation Area, where the North and Middle Forks of the American River were planned to be flooded by the Auburn Dam. The area was something of a no-man's (or every man's) land due to the doom awaiting it. He writes of the natural wonders and the problematic people who come to the river: wood cutters, gold miners, drunks and druggies, suicides (the high bridge built in anticipation of the dam provides an easy out and is also used by people with parachutes). A runner is killed by a cougar. A miner is scared off by a bear. Wild water rafting companies sometimes are foiled when the people in charge of weekend water releases turn off the water early. Finally, he writes of his Lyme disease, made worse by the first doctor telling him it's not worth testing the tick because so few of them carry it (WRONG!). // I loved reading this book.
September 13, 2023
Very interesting approach to being a ranger in California. The author takes his readers through a 14-year stint in a park that was doomed to be decommissioned for flooding needs. There is a lot of stories in the book, and a mix of political negotiations, history, crime, mining, hunting, and a different perspective on natural resources. I was fascinated and pleasantly surprised at the twists and turns in the story and was happy to be able to relate to the ranger because he explains things in a way that appeals to everyday people. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in California history, politics, true crime, and anything about the outdoors. Things I learn from the book follow:
1. There are a good number of vagrants who choose to live in secluded areas where law enforcement presence is scarce.
2. Animal attacks are rare.
3. People attacks happen with much more regularity.
4. People will always try to beat the system.
Happy reading.
1. There are a good number of vagrants who choose to live in secluded areas where law enforcement presence is scarce.
2. Animal attacks are rare.
3. People attacks happen with much more regularity.
4. People will always try to beat the system.
Happy reading.
June 14, 2025
Fisher Smith describes his time as a ranger in the Sierra mountains on the American river. He underscores the conflicts between the parks agency, commercial interests, miners, recreational interests and a dam to protect downstream towns from flooding. There were many interesting vignettes that felt choppy, I think his editor did him a huge disservice. The epilogue was useful for tying some things back together but many people would give up on the epilogue when he seems to go off on a tangent. For instance, there is a missing woman, he breaks down the case for you and explains why investigators think the body is somewhere in the canyon where the dam is to be, but he never actually takes us to look for the poor woman or tells us what happens to her besides her husband eventually has her declared dead. This story and others felt unfinished.
April 16, 2018
Smith's career as a ranger in the American River canyons yields two distinct depictions: the ecological debate whether or not to dam the American River at Auburn- and doom the canyons under his jurisdiction to being buried under hundreds of feet of water- and the rough clientele who likewise enjoy these rugged canyons, from hopeful gold miners still hoping to strike gold, to the weekend partiers to murders to animal attacks.
Through the meshing of these two lines, the reader comes to appreciate the landscape- and the challenges that it presents to those who also love it.
Smith's rich life experiences strike are well conveyed with some poignant reflections on humanity that are well written. An easy read overall that will allow you to appreciate this rugged landscape.
Through the meshing of these two lines, the reader comes to appreciate the landscape- and the challenges that it presents to those who also love it.
Smith's rich life experiences strike are well conveyed with some poignant reflections on humanity that are well written. An easy read overall that will allow you to appreciate this rugged landscape.
November 22, 2020
In reality, this is more of a 3.5 star book, but I felt it rounded up to 4 stars easier than down to 3 stars, so here we are.
Jordan Smith's recounting of his time as a ranger in the Sierra Nevada river canyons has everything from murder to bear attacks to gold diggers. Rangering an area condemned to be flooded by a dam is odd enough without the addition of squatters, rafters and drug dealers, all of whom were present in the canyons under the ranger's domain. Historical background, a bit of geology and earthquake information and weather all play a part.
As someone who has never been to California, I honestly had to look up the region and learn a bit more before delving too deeply into this book. It helped me understand a bit better the 'lay of the land' discussed in the story.
Jordan Smith's recounting of his time as a ranger in the Sierra Nevada river canyons has everything from murder to bear attacks to gold diggers. Rangering an area condemned to be flooded by a dam is odd enough without the addition of squatters, rafters and drug dealers, all of whom were present in the canyons under the ranger's domain. Historical background, a bit of geology and earthquake information and weather all play a part.
As someone who has never been to California, I honestly had to look up the region and learn a bit more before delving too deeply into this book. It helped me understand a bit better the 'lay of the land' discussed in the story.
January 12, 2017
Quotable:
She wore no makeup. Her face was weathered and plain, and bore an expression of blank-faced sadness you see in women whose main talent in life is getting mixed up with the wrong men.
"Passing on the river, a boat leaves no trace on the waves." - Chia Tao
Sentiment - call it love - for the wild is ultimately why Will and I became Rangers. Sentiment is why any of us bother to raise children, who sometimes don't appreciate what we do; why we care tenderly for elderly parents after age has deprived them of the memory of our names. It is why we try to salvage the juvenile delinquent, the alcoholic, the drug addict. Without it we are not human.
She wore no makeup. Her face was weathered and plain, and bore an expression of blank-faced sadness you see in women whose main talent in life is getting mixed up with the wrong men.
"Passing on the river, a boat leaves no trace on the waves." - Chia Tao
Sentiment - call it love - for the wild is ultimately why Will and I became Rangers. Sentiment is why any of us bother to raise children, who sometimes don't appreciate what we do; why we care tenderly for elderly parents after age has deprived them of the memory of our names. It is why we try to salvage the juvenile delinquent, the alcoholic, the drug addict. Without it we are not human.
January 22, 2019
This book is really not 'noir', and that sets you up to expect a different kind of book. I think I would have enjoyed this more with a different title, setting up the expectation of more of a historical personal perspective of a ranger's patrol in the Auburn area. Gifting an extra half-star to the rating because I'd probably have liked it more with another name.
This has several short experiences of a park ranger, with historical setting and background provided. I like the idea, but I keep waiting for the noir. However, the history and saga of a ranger in an under-appreciated area near to my home was interesting, and I'm going to pass this along to others who might appreciate that as well.
This has several short experiences of a park ranger, with historical setting and background provided. I like the idea, but I keep waiting for the noir. However, the history and saga of a ranger in an under-appreciated area near to my home was interesting, and I'm going to pass this along to others who might appreciate that as well.
November 23, 2019
Right time, right place. Found this book at a friend’s home, asked to borrow, couldn’t put it down. Interesting account of an area with which I am familiar, and have hiked here often in the last seven years or so, having first visited the area around 2004. From a park ranger’s perspective, the Auburn Recreation Area is parsed through animal, vegetable and mineral, geological, political to the mundane details of daily tasks, rumination, ambition and a kind of acquiescence through the evolution of a ranger to writer. I recommend this to any outdoors person, and especially someone local to the American River, Gold Country and water lovers everywhere.
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