American Canopy: Trees, Forests, and the Making of a Nation

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American Canopy: Trees, Forests, and the Making of a Nation

4.12 of 5 stars 4.12 · rating details · 125 ratings · 35 reviews

This fascinating and groundbreaking work tells the remarkable story of the relationship between Americans and their trees across the entire span of our nation’s history. Like many of us, historians have long been guilty of taking trees for granted. Yet the history of trees in America is no less remarkable than the history of the United States itself—from the majestic white...more This fascinating and groundbreaking work tells the remarkable story of the relationship between Americans and their trees across the entire span of our nation’s history. Like many of us, historians have long been guilty of taking trees for granted. Yet the history of trees in America is no less remarkable than the history of the United States itself—from the majestic white pines of New England, which were coveted by the British Crown for use as masts in navy warships, to the orange groves of California, which lured settlers west. In fact, without the country’s vast forests and the hundreds of tree species they contained, there would have been no ships, docks, railroads, stockyards, wagons, barrels, furniture, newspapers, rifles, or firewood. No shingled villages or whaling vessels in New England. No New York City, Miami, or Chicago. No Johnny Appleseed, Paul Bunyan, or Daniel Boone. No Allied planes in World War I, and no suburban sprawl in the middle of the twentieth century. America—if indeed it existed—would be a very different place without its millions of acres of trees.

As Eric Rutkow’s brilliant, epic account shows, trees were essential to the early years of the republic and indivisible from the country’s rise as both an empire and a civilization. Among American Canopy’s many fascinating stories: the Liberty Trees, where colonists gathered to plot rebellion against the British; Henry David Thoreau’s famous retreat into the woods; the creation of New York City’s Central Park; the great fire of 1871 that killed a thousand people in the lumber town of Peshtigo, Wisconsin; the fevered attempts to save the American chestnut and the American elm from extinction; and the controversy over spotted owls and the old-growth forests they inhabited. Rutkow also explains how trees were of deep interest to such figures as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Teddy Roosevelt, and FDR, who oversaw the planting of more than three billion trees nationally in his time as president.

As symbols of liberty, community, and civilization, trees are perhaps the loudest silent figures in our country’s history. America started as a nation of people frightened of the deep, seemingly infinite woods; we then grew to rely on our forests for progress and profit; by the end of the twentieth century we came to understand that the globe’s climate is dependent on the preservation of trees. Today, few people think about where timber comes from, but most of us share a sense that to destroy trees is to destroy part of ourselves and endanger the future.

Never before has anyone treated our country’s trees and forests as the subject of a broad historical study, and the result is an accessible, informative, and thoroughly entertaining read. Audacious in its four-hundred-year scope, authoritative in its detail, and elegant in its execution, American Canopy is perfect for history buffs and nature lovers alike and announces Eric Rutkow as a major new author of popular history.(less)

Hardcover, 416 pages

Published April 24th 2012 by Scribner (first published April 17th 2012)

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Nov 26, 2012 Gary Brecht rated it 4 of 5 stars

Not being a “tree hugger” by nature, I was a bit reluctant to pluck this one off the library shelf. However, Eric Rutkow’s history of America, told through our nation’s relationship with trees and forests, managed to enkindle within me a spark of concern over the fate of our planet. The author traces the evolution of our nation’s attitude towards woodlands; from the early colonists’ view of forests as an obstacle to be tamed, to a resource for survival, to a restorative place for the human soul....more

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Oct 22, 2012 Tuck rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: natural-history, western-rural-with-tractors-horse

a bit of a conundrum here. while this is a very adequate book, and even looks at a few things new to me like board feet of railroad ties used per year and why usa still uses wooden ties (instead of stone/concrete/metal like france) i already know all about all his topics, the cutting over of usa trees, the cutting down of old old trees, the diseases and invasive species, the great wealth extracted from usa tress, with very little returned back, the abnegation of our responsibilities to care for...more

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May 04, 2013 Joyce rated it 4 of 5 stars

I am a sucker for history told through examination of the quotidian: cod, salt, houses -- now trees. The arc of this story is pretty simple: first we Americans cut down all the trees we could find, then we learned to grow them.

In fact the country was settled in part because of the wood supply it represented to the Old World, and western expansion especially was driven by the need for timber. Railroads were primarily wooden -- the cross ties, the cars, the fuel, even the iron wheels (which were f...more

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Jan 20, 2013 Paula rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: history

Interesting, but insufficient. Perhaps all histories are notable as much for what they leave out as for what they put in. Retelling American history by looking to the trees is a worthwhile endeavor, however. It skews our perspective just enough to make us look at what we already know in a fresh way. That said, Rutkow doesn't deviate from the traditional approach of viewing history as the consequence of the acts of Great (or at least infamous) White Men. Most of the actors in the drama here have...more Interesting, but insufficient. Perhaps all histories are notable as much for what they leave out as for what they put in. Retelling American history by looking to the trees is a worthwhile endeavor, however. It skews our perspective just enough to make us look at what we already know in a fresh way. That said, Rutkow doesn't deviate from the traditional approach of viewing history as the consequence of the acts of Great (or at least infamous) White Men. Most of the actors in the drama here have names that will be familiar to most readers: Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, George Washington,Thomas Jefferson, the Presidents Roosevelt, Gifford Pinchot, Frederick Law Olmstead, Al Gore, Henry Ford, William Levitt, etc. I do have to give the author credit for, particularly where the earlier figures are concerned, telling stories that we probably haven't heard before. This is the advantage of choosing a fresh point of view. One glaring omission in Rutkow's survey of the impact of the trees upon & their relationship to American history is any mention of the lynching tree, powerful both as symbol & site; another is any serious consideration of the relationship of indigenous peoples to the forests (granted, that might be the subject of another book entirely; nevertheless, even if the author's focus is strictly upon post-Columbian North America, he is delinquent in not mentioning, for example, how the colonists' encounter with American Indian modes of battle impacted how their own Revolution was fought and won). The author has also by and large omitted women from his narrative except for a few nods to women here and there, of foot-note quality in their brevity. How, for example, in a tome already diminished by its lack of inclusion of women, blacks, Mexicans, Indians, etc. could he not have told the story of at least one female activist. Julia Butterfly Hill, for example, whose name became synonymous with preservation of Old Growth Coastal Redwoods in the 1990s. This is, in sum, mostly a top-down telling of the story of Americans & the trees. I would have liked some alternative telling as well. (less)

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May 29, 2012 Joe Zagrodnik rated it 4 of 5 stars

The best history books bring long deceased historical figures back to life, instilling the same hopes, fears, and passions in the reader that the characters experienced themselves. Usually, these figures are known for their role in major events or for having a positive influence that radiates far beyond their physical lives. Historian Eric Rutkow illuminates one of these under-appreciated participants in the American history narrative, but Rutkow’s main character is not a person but rather an ea...more The best history books bring long deceased historical figures back to life, instilling the same hopes, fears, and passions in the reader that the characters experienced themselves. Usually, these figures are known for their role in major events or for having a positive influence that radiates far beyond their physical lives. Historian Eric Rutkow illuminates one of these under-appreciated participants in the American history narrative, but Rutkow’s main character is not a person but rather an easily ignored plant: a tree! As Rutkow notes, “trees are the loudest silent figures in America’s complicated history.”

American Canopy begins with a highly engaging prologue about Prometheus, a tree that stood seemingly unchanged for over Nevada for over 5,000 years. The tragic yet redeeming story introduces Rutkow’s premise but differs in one important aspect. Most other trees in America were not frozen, passive observers as civilization expanded around them. As America evolved, its forests changed in tandem. In colonial times, trees were an obstacle to overcome, concealing Indians in the forest and blocking the plow as stumps. As industrialism proliferated in the 19th Century, wood became the “stalwart of American development”—and the conservation movement subsequently responded by curtailing the carelessness and waste that caused forest fires and ecosystem destruction. The automobile and highway building by the CCC made camping and outdoor recreation in national forests accessible to almost all Americans—and Aldo Leopold responded by spearheading a movement to preserve the remaining pristine wilderness.

Individual forests experienced dynamic changes, as uses were discovered for different species, imported diseases wiped out the American Chestnut and Elm, and deciduous trees filled in the white pine forests. Old growth forests were clear cut, converted to farmland, and then later restored into commercial tree plantations. Americans’ attitude toward trees changed as well. Within a short period of time, Americans went from cutting trees for firewood to planting trees for fruit and later for shade, drought prevention, and finally to counteract global warming. Rutkow shows that trees are as American as apple pie—or maybe as American as the hard apple cider that sustained countless homesteads in the colonial period.

The best aspect of this work is the way Rutkow brings in anecdotes from all sorts of American history themes and relates them to trees. It turns out that quite often trees are not just a side story, but a prominent contributor to more widely known events. For example, Englishman Richard Hakylut advocated colonial exploration in the late 1500s primarily as a means to acquire ship masts from New England pine trees to counteract supply shortages and keep pace with the Spanish Navy. It was also interesting to learn that a major reason why George Washington ceded power so easily after the Revolutionary War was that he longed to cultivate his tree collection at Mount Vernon. Virtually all aspects of American politics, society, and culture are somehow influenced by trees. Central Park was even envisioned partially as a way to refine the lower rungs of society in New York.

For those familiar with American history, especially environmental history, some of the book’s material (especially from the progressive era onward) will be a review. American Canopy is in the same vein as environmental history works such as Nature’s Metropolis, which first brought to light the intricate connections between Chicago and its hinterlands, including the Great Lakes logging industry. American Canopy is unique for bringing together themes from the entirety of American history and for using trees as the common denominator to connect different eras. As an overview of hundreds of years, some of the stories lack depth, and Rutkow spends very little space connecting the themes between the sometimes disparate sections. Prominent figures like Gifford Pinchot are described in detail, but other important minds get glossed over to an extent. Women were also noticeably absent, perhaps that is the case in the primary source material also (I can only remember Lady Bird Johnson being mentioned).

The most amazing facts are the sheer magnitude of uses for forest products and the statistics for the tremendous volume of wood that was extracted. A single English ship required an astonishing two thousand oak trees. Railroads were known as the “iron horse” but they were initially comprised almost entirely of wood—including the bridges, cars, fuel, ties, and even the rails themselves. Each species of tree had specific uses and Rutkow explains in detail why White Pine was preferred for ship masts, longleaf pines for turpentine, and Sitka spruce for WWI airplanes. The various descriptions (by Rutkow and his sources) make it especially sad to read about the American Elm, “the most magnificent vegetable in the temperate zone,” succumbing to disease. After finishing this book, one will almost certainly advocate for increased concern and protection for trees. American Canopy will definitely go down as one of the better history books of the year, but it falls short of the top tier of American history works.
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Apr 10, 2013 Eddy Allen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arts-and-historical

This fascinating and groundbreaking work tells the remarkable story of the relationship between Americans and their trees across the entire span of our nation’s history. Like many of us, historians have long been guilty of taking trees for granted. Yet the history of trees in America is no less remarkable than the history of the United States itself—from the majestic white pines of New England, which were coveted by the British Crown for use as masts in navy warships, to the orange groves of Cal...more This fascinating and groundbreaking work tells the remarkable story of the relationship between Americans and their trees across the entire span of our nation’s history. Like many of us, historians have long been guilty of taking trees for granted. Yet the history of trees in America is no less remarkable than the history of the United States itself—from the majestic white pines of New England, which were coveted by the British Crown for use as masts in navy warships, to the orange groves of California, which lured settlers west. In fact, without the country’s vast forests and the hundreds of tree species they contained, there would have been no ships, docks, railroads, stockyards, wagons, barrels, furniture, newspapers, rifles, or firewood. No shingled villages or whaling vessels in New England. No New York City, Miami, or Chicago. No Johnny Appleseed, Paul Bunyan, or Daniel Boone. No Allied planes in World War I, and no suburban sprawl in the middle of the twentieth century. America—if indeed it existed—would be a very different place without its millions of acres of trees.

As Eric Rutkow’s brilliant, epic account shows, trees were essential to the early years of the republic and indivisible from the country’s rise as both an empire and a civilization. Among American Canopy’s many fascinating stories: the Liberty Trees, where colonists gathered to plot rebellion against the British; Henry David Thoreau’s famous retreat into the woods; the creation of New York City’s Central Park; the great fire of 1871 that killed a thousand people in the lumber town of Peshtigo, Wisconsin; the fevered attempts to save the American chestnut and the American elm from extinction; and the controversy over spotted owls and the old-growth forests they inhabited. Rutkow also explains how trees were of deep interest to such figures as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Teddy Roosevelt, and FDR, who oversaw the planting of more than three billion trees nationally in his time as president.

As symbols of liberty, community, and civilization, trees are perhaps the loudest silent figures in our country’s history. America started as a nation of people frightened of the deep, seemingly infinite woods; we then grew to rely on our forests for progress and profit; by the end of the twentieth century we came to understand that the globe’s climate is dependent on the preservation of trees. Today, few people think about where timber comes from, but most of us share a sense that to destroy trees is to destroy part of ourselves and endanger the future.

Never before has anyone treated our country’s trees and forests as the subject of a broad historical study, and the result is an accessible, informative, and thoroughly entertaining read. Audacious in its four-hundred-year scope, authoritative in its detail, and elegant in its execution, American Canopy is perfect for history buffs and nature lovers alike and announces Eric Rutkow as a major new author of popular history.(less)

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Feb 12, 2013 Brandon rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, political

American Canopy is by far one of my favorite books I have ever read. Not knowing much about the forestry practices of the United States in the past and present, this book does a wonderful job of outlining the history and importance of trees in America. No book has had as much of an impact on my way of thinking as this one because it broadened my limited knowledge of trees, proponents of tree conservationists, and the history of conservation in America. Also, it has a wonderful bibliography to lo...more

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Aug 23, 2012 Dayna rated it 5 of 5 stars

I finally got this back from the library and am digging back into it. Stupid work that ruins my reading schedule.

Great read about the importance of forests to humans.

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Aug 17, 2012 Lori rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is about the role trees have played in american history. how our huge amount of natural resources were an advantage in both world wars and helped build our navy when masts were made out of wood (england had depleted their forests and were forced to buy ours). many important figures like franklin, FDR, TR, frederic law olmsted, gifford pinchot, johnny appleseed. sounds boring to read about trees but it was not. there was even an effort to plant trees from canada to texas during the Dust...more

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Mar 30, 2013 Howard Cincotta rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction, history-biography

American Canopy is a fascinating exploration of U.S. history through the prism of its forests, and evolution of our perceptions of them as a howling terrifying wilderness, an inexhaustible resource to be clear cut and sawn into lumber without restraint, and today, a precious environmental legacy to be managed and preserved.

An informative deeply researched book that ranges from descriptions of how the wood pulp industry grew to the invention of urban parks and Arbor Day, the unknown story of our...more

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Jul 22, 2012 Keeley added it

This is a very clever history of the US, based on one of our most prolific natural resources, lumber and lumber products. It is peopled by many public characters, and by many unrecognized figures who changed how we view out public wild spaces. Anyone who is interested in conservation and/or environmental quality will be delighted with this well accomplished history, which will add many pertinent facts to a sympathetic reader's digest of pertinent information.

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Sep 06, 2012 Erica rated it 4 of 5 stars

Just skimmed for now, but this book looks incredibly promising as an addition to my Environmental History course. As a survey text on the role of trees throughout American history, it'll be a nice piece to return to at different weeks to ground students in the physical destruction and conservation of trees in the US as connected to larger political events and cultural moments.

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Aug 11, 2012 Julianne rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

If I could give this book 3 1/2 stars, I would. Exhaustively researched, it's still very readable. I thought I knew quite a bit about John Muir, Daniel Boone, Gifford Pinchot, and United States natural history before I picked it up. Ha! I know a lot more now. I could probably bore the pants off the entire cast of Jersey Shore right here, right now.

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Jan 20, 2013 Kim rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book was not as focused as I had wished. But it was interesting to learn that the original definition of pip was for an apple tree that is grown by seed.

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Oct 02, 2012 Cinnie rated it 5 of 5 stars

A book about trees -- what could be better? And it solves one of modern life's greatest mysteries: Why in the world is there a holiday called Arbor Day.
Fun read.

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Dec 27, 2012 Nancy Wagner marked it as to-read

Wow! A book about trees! Combining 2 of my favorite things!! Reading and trees! Actually THREE of my favorite things - reading, trees, and history!!

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May 17, 2012 Georgia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: trees-plants

One of my favorite history of trees/forests books. If I were to teach a course about American forests, this book would be included on the syllabus.

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Jul 11, 2012 Mary Ronan Drew rated it 4 of 5 stars

To read my review go to my blog at:

http://maryslibrary.typepad.com/my_we...

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Dec 18, 2012 Lisa N rated it 5 of 5 stars

If you love history and have an affinity for trees, you will probably enjoy this book. Highly recommend.

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Dec 10, 2012 Ann rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: history, outdoors-and-environment, science

What makes this book so good is not that it's a fabulous environmental history (which it is) but that it's a fabulous history of the United States in its own right. Labor history? Military history? Civil rights? Foreign affairs? It's all here.

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Sep 22, 2012 Saswallmsn.com rated it 4 of 5 stars

Good for a first book but there are some slow areas. Lots of neat info. Not a quick read but I liked it.

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Oct 01, 2012 David rated it 4 of 5 stars

A really great overview of the history of exploitation and rescue of the American forests.

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Oct 06, 2012 Ruth rated it 4 of 5 stars

A good way to see American history, through the lens of trees.

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Jun 14, 2013 Amy Reed rated it 5 of 5 stars

Well-written book -- really brings the players and events to life. I thoroughly enjoyed Eric Rutkow's book and appreciate his clear, intriguing writing style. This book left me wanting to know more about the events covered, so it's led me to other related books about the significant individuals covered in this book. I would recommend this book for anyone interested in a different take on our natural history in the continental U.S. or interested in the early stages of the conservation and environ...more

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Apr 13, 2013 Alisha marked it as to-read

Recommended by Catherine Weller

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Jul 07, 2012 Sofi rated it 5 of 5 stars

Not your normal history book. This author does a great job at story-telling. I would recommend it to anyone.

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Jan 23, 2013 Eric Feltz rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013

I really don't care to learn about pre-fab suburban houses nor plywood. I was hoping to hear about the forests themselves moreso than the politics of their exploitation.

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May 28, 2012 Pierre rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: history, trees

Very well written and interesting. I stopped reading half way through the book because I got bored.

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Mar 09, 2013 Bronwyn rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was an interesting history of America and its relationship with trees and how it defined so many aspects of our culture and development. The last chapter was a bit too political for my taste, but I really enjoyed this book.

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Nov 04, 2012 Doug rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. It tells the story of US History in a new way, through the role that trees played in the development of the US, including orange trees. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in trees of the US and US History.

I'm wondering why there was no mention of coastal redwoods and the story of Julia Butterfly

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