Testimonials
“The Weeks Act of 1911 is one of the twentieth century’s most significant environmental laws. Few recall its powerful impact on once-cutover eastern forests, though their flourishing condition today is compelling evidence of its significance. Forests for the People probes this remarkable recovery and offers an engaging account of the Weeks Act’s complex legacy; it rightly warns that we are not yet out of the woods.”
—Char Miller, W. M. Keck Professor of Environmental Analysis, Pomona College
“Forests for the People both deepened and broadened my understanding of and appreciation for the eastern national forests and the struggle to create and manage them. By providing the first comprehensive history of the Weeks Act and then, through case studies, carefully examining the challenges of implementing the law over the last century, the authors have helped frame the discussion for managing all our national forests in its second century.”
—James G. Lewis, Forest History Society
This Grand &
Magnificent Place
Forests for the People
I’m a writer, an editor, and a teacher. But most of all, I love being on the hiking trail, somewhere in wilderness. Or on trails here in northern Illinois, where I live. Or in Bryce Canyon. Or in the White Mountains in New Hampshire, where the photo above was taken. Or in Rocky Mountain National Park.
I’ve been fortunate enough to explore the outdoors and write about them in articles, essays, and two books. The book shown here is a new one—Forests for the People: The Story of America’s Eastern National Forests. It was published in 2013 by Island Press, and the co-author is David Govatski.
The book is a unique blend of history and today. It explains how the past continues to affect current issues affecting America’s wonderful forests. Part I tells how heavy logging and forest fires almost destroyed America’s eastern forests in the early 1900s. Conservationists, including Theodore Roosevelt, called attention to the issue and pushed for the passage of the Weeks Act in 1911. The law was the first one that allowed the federal government to buy forestlands and grasslands for the purpose of protecting them. It was landmark legislation, leading to the creation of national forests in the East, South, and Midwest.
Part II takes a close look at issues on the eastern national forests today, using case studies that explore each issue in depth:
- Timber harvesting on Holly Springs National Forest in Mississippi
- The use of prescribed burns on the Ocala, Osceola, and Apalachicola National Forests in Florida
- Wilderness protection on the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia
- Preservation versus multiple use in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
- Wolf recovery on Michigan’s national forests
- Shale oil drilling on the Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania
- The emerald ash borer and other invasive species on Michigan’s national forests
- Overdevelopment near the Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont and North Carolina’s national forests
You can order the book at Island Press’s Web site. Visit http://islandpress.org/ip/books/book/islandpress/F/bo8208318.html to find out more.
Order Forests For The People from Amazon.com