Trees Provide the Antidote

“It is no surprise that trees would shape America more than other nations. After all, America has some of the most spectacular tree resources on the planet. Forests once covered almost half of the contiguous states, a staggering 950 million acres. The diverse geography across the country gives America ideal soil for almost any type of tree, from the palms of southern California to the pines of New England. The United States is home to the world’s biggest trees (the giant sequoias), the world’s tallest trees (the coastal redwoods), and the world’s oldest trees (the bristlecone pines).” — Eric Rutkow, American Canopy

America would be a very different place without its millions of acres of trees. Our forests shaped how we lived, thrived and expanded as a people, and that’s the unique focus of Eric Rutkow’s American Canopy: Trees, Forests, and the Making of a Nation. S.C. Gwynne, author of Empire of the Summer Moon, writes: “In American Canopy, Eric Rutkow works a wonderful magic. He takes the most obvious of things — trees — and weaves an astounding and complex narrative that ranges across American history, from Johnny Appleseed to Henry David Thoreau, from Franklin Roosevelt to John Muir.”

Other historians have taken on the story of particular North American trees. Taken together, these volumes constitute a forest of stories, and one of the Land Library’s most overflowing sections. One of our favorites is also pictured above: American Chestnut: the Life, Death, and Rebirth of a Perfect Tree by Susan Freinkel.

The trees themselves, intimate to all our lives, comes alive at the end of Eric Rutkow’s American Canopy:

“As we rush headlong into the twenty-first century, the physicality of trees seems more vital than ever. The modern workplace and home are becoming increasingly antiseptic. Americans now spend their days staring into computer screens that receive information as if by magic. Daily life seems alarmingly virtual. Trees provide the antidote. The smell of pine needles, the crunch of autumn leaves, the roughness of bark are all reminders that we are a part of nature. Tree hugging, in its most literal sense, offers a reconnection with the physical world, the world of our forefathers. The forests and their trees are a sanctuary for the spirit. To enter them is to seek renewal.“

Scanning the Land Library’s shelves, here’s two wonderfully illustrated books that will reconnect you to the physical world of trees; a world full of wonder, from seed and root, to rough bark, and leaves thirsty for the sun:

Seeing Trees: Discover the Extraordinary Secrets of Everyday Trees by Nancy Hugo, with photographs by Robert Llewellyn — an in-depth look at 10 common trees — their leaves, flowers, fruits, buds, leaf scars, twigs, and bark; and another image-rich collection: Trees: A Visual Guide by Tony Rodd and Jennifer Stackhouse.

And here’s two of our newest tree books at our Waterton Canyon Kids Nature Library!

The Tree Book for Kids and Their Grown Ups by Gina Ingoglia (another wonderful volume from the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens!), and The Family Tree, a warmly illustrated picture book by David McPhail. A fun, empowering story for kids!

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See the World as a Bird would See it

“David Lindo is the ultimate Urban Birder. This is a life affirming tale with a simple message; wherever you live, regardless of circumstances, a lifetime’s fulfillment through enjoyment of the natural world is right on your doorstep.” — Wildlife Matters

Here’s one of our favorite books of the season! Few people know the bird life of London as well as David Lindo. His new book, The Urban Birder, tells his personal journey of discovery, how birds first captured his imagination, and how he pursued his childhood passion through London’s neighborhoods and parks. His book is an inspiration for urban naturalists everywhere, and offers lots of practical advice on finding birds in the city:

“When birding in a city try to see the world as how a bird would see it. Ignore people, see buildings as craggy lumps of rock and imagine that the bush you are looking at is filled with food and on a remote headland. That is Urban Birding.”

David Lindo has been called a one-man ornithological phenomenon. He regularly appears on BBC, and writes a column for BBC Wildlife and Bird Watching.

Here’s David in his “local patch”, London’s Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens:

“I didn’t meet another birder until I was around 9, by which time I had developed an encyclopaedic knowledge of the birds of Britain, Europe & North Africa. I was taking my fellow primary schoolmates out on guided birding walks in the school woods!
I’ve crossed a lot of rivers and seen a lot of land since those infant days and I have now decided to dedicate my life to extolling the virtues of urban birding to all and sundry. I never cease to be amazed by the variety of birdlife to found in our urban centres and it’s my mission to tell you about it. When not traversing the world studying urban wildlife I can be found looking for birds in west London at my beloved local patch, Wormwood Scrubs.” — David Lindo

For more on David Lindo and urban birding be sure to check out his website!

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Lion Land

“In the end the survival of the Mara will depend upon the outcome of an ancient struggle between the world’s two top predators — lions and humans.” — Brian Jackman

We’re excited to see this new updated edition of Brian Jackman’s 1982 wildlife classic, The Marsh Lions: The Story of an African Tribe. For five years Jackman, and photographer Jonathan Scott, followed the Marsh pride through the Masai Mara region of Kenya, along the Tanzania border. With time they came to know each lion as the distinct individuals they are. This is a extremely well-told, and complex story of the African plains, full of encounters with cheetahs, wild dogs, hyena, giraffe, topi, eland, impala, zebra, buffalo, and gazelle. It’s such a rich tapestry of life, you might want to have Richard Despard Estes’ The Behavoir Guide to African Mammals (also pictured above) on hand for quick reference!

Here’s a terrific BBC film clip on the marsh lions of Africa:

Here’s another richly illustrated lion tale, set farther south, in Botswana’s Okavango Delta:

Relentless Enemies: Lions and Buffalo by Beverly and Dereck Joubert.

Closer to home, here’s two excellent titles to help your study of one of our very own native cats — the mountain lion:

Cougar: Ecology and Conservation, edited by Maurice Hornocker, Sharon Negri, and Alan Rabinowitz, and Listening to Cougar, edited by Marc Bekoff and Cara Blessley-Lowe, a collection of essays from writers such as J. Frank Dobie and Rick Bass.

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The Wilderness Work of Sigurd Olson

Sigurd F. Olson (1899-1982) was a rare blend of author, naturalist, and wilderness advocate. He devoted his life to the exploration (and protection) of the Boundary Waters region of northern Minnesota. Sigurd Olson wrote over a dozen best-selling books, and we’re happy to report that his 1972 book, Wilderness Days, has just been reprinted in a beautiful new edition, featuring the classic cover art of Francis Lee Jaques.

Olson served as the president of The Wilderness Society from 1963 to 1971, and helped draft the Wilderness Act of 1964. Fortunately, he lived to see President Jimmy Carter sign into law the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Act of 1978.

For much more on the wilderness work of Sigurd Olson, be sure to read David Backes’ A Wilderness Within: The Life of Sigurd Olson. And Olson’s books themselves tell quite a tale!

Sigurd Olson found his special place along a bare glaciated spit of rock, looking out on the waters of northern Minnesota’s Quetico-Superior region:

“I named this place Listening Point because only when one comes to listen, only when is aware and still, can things be seen and heard. Everyone has a listening point somewhere. It does not have to be in the north or close to the wilderness, but some place of quiet where the universe can be contemplated with awe.” — Sigurd F. Olson

Another very important place in Olson’s life was his very modest writing shack. Last year we posted a piece on writers and their writing huts. Here’s one to add to the collection!

Over the years, the University of Minnesota Press has done a wonderful job of keeping Sigurd Olson’s books in print, among them:

The Lonely Land, Of Time and Place, and Open Horizons

And for more on the landscape that most inspired Sigurd Olson, the Land Library strongly recommends two books from our shelves:

Minnesota’s Natural Heritage: An Ecological Perspective by John Tester, and The Boundary Waters Wilderness Ecosystem by Miron Heinselman.

In August 1921, Sigurd married Elizabeth Dorothy Uhrenholdt. The two spent their honeymoon on a canoe trip through the Boundary Waters, and for the next many, many years, they continued their explorations, by foot, canoe, or snowshoe!

For more on the life and work of Sigurd Olson, be sure to visit The Listening Point Foundation site, along with the Sigurd F. Olson Website!

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The Issue for Our Time?

“At the Toronto Film Festival, program director Thom Powers called Last Call at the Oasis a “feel-angry movie,” which he later amended to “feel-smart movie.” I was rather partial to both labels, since they emphasize the “feel” part. We wanted to make Last Call an emotional film as well as an educational one. One hope was for people to connect viscerally and personally to the water crisis. We wanted to bring water problems into the open, to show the impact on the lives of real people — to bring oft-hidden abstractions into the light of day where we can finally see what’s going on.” — Director Jennifer Yu

Less than 1% of the world’s water is fresh and drinkable, and thanks to drought, climate change, waste, and population growth, water is likely to be the most critical global issue for many years to come. On May 4th, a new documentary film from Academy Award winning director Jennifer Yu takes on the complexities of water in our lives. A companion book, Last Call at the Oasis: The Global Water Crisis and Where We Go From Here, has just been released, and features the analysis of scientists, policymakers, and writers such as Peter H. Gleick, Robert Glennon, Alex Prud’homme, and William McDonough. Reading this collection has put Jennifer Yu’s forthcoming film on our must-see list!

Knowing how central water is to our lives and future, the Land Library has slowly build up a considerable collection on this issue. We’ve especially focused on studies of North American watershed and rivers. Books such as these:

River in Ruin: The Story of the Carmel River by Ray A. March (only thirty-six miles long, this California river is also one of the top ten endangered rivers in North America), and The Mightier Hudson: The Spirited Revival of a Treasures Landscape by Roger D. Stone (building a new economy around the health of the river).

And from the Pacific Northwest, Finding the River: An Environmental History of the Elwha by Jeff Crane, and from the Southwest, Reining in the Rio Grande: People, Land, and Water by Fred M. Phillips, G. Emlen Hall, and Mary E. Black.

And here’s the subject of one of our earlier posts, and one of four books selected for the Water 2012 Book Club:

The Colorado River: Flowing Through Conflict by Peter McBride and Jonathan Waterman.

“From the beginning, I was fascinated by the whole psychology behind the water crisis. Problems such as drought, pollution, contamination, competition for resources, and privatization aren’t new; they’ve existed since before civilization….In the movie, we wanted to explore this paradoxical behavior: Why don’t we act in ways that are in our own self-interest, especially when it comes to something as crucial as water?” — Director Jennifer Yu

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