From the Redwood Forest: Ancient Trees, the Bottom Line, and a Headwaters Journey

by Joan Dunning

A passionate account of the struggle to save an area of northern California from logging. Describes how it was logged sustainably for decades by a family-owned business, but was subjected to liquidation logging by the Texas corporation that took over the company in 1985. Augmenting the narrative are

Genres: Nonfiction, Ecology, Environment

272 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1998

Reviews

[Bea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful photographs, good history of the entire Headwaters Forest conflict. Reading this clarified the issues surrounding the Headwaters deal for me. I especially liked the map, which I referred to over and over again. I did find some parts a little touchy feely, but it didn't bother me too much. I liked the illustrations.

It was published in 1998 and life has marched on since then. I know where the current headwaters forest is and what the BLM management is like. I would like to know what has happened to the other groves - Allen, Shaw, Owl Creek, and All-species. I would also love to know what the outcomes of some of the lawsuits were. I looked online, but a preliminary search did not turn up much. I feel like there probably is an update somewhere...

[Dayna · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a luminous read!
From the words on the page to the lovely black and white drawings, this is a beautifully written telling of the fight to save Headwaters. I enjoyed this much more than Defending Giants, but they would be good to read together as Speece's book is much more recent.

[Andy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much of a hippie leaning for me to really get into this book. The actual information provided about Headwaters and the various sides is well presented, but there isn't a lot of it. The author writes about initially being a bit put off or maybe uncomfortable about the Earth First! ers and their ilk but doesn't consider that her crunchy, granola like personality wouldn't be off-putting to others. I don't want to pray to "gaia" and hug trees. I dig trees and whole ecosystems but giving thanks and bowing my head to grandmother tree and all of that is goofy to me. Bringing in Julia "Butterfly" also put me off. Heard her speak, she sounds like a flake. What she did was tremendous, in terms of her tree sit, but more hippie-ness! Ugh!

[Stephanie Teek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written book about the Pacific Northwest redwood groves that are continually under threat by logging companies. Contains information about the species (some endangered) that call the redwoods home, the people who cut them down and the people who are struggling to save them.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Feel all the feelings. Hug all the trees.