The Forest for the Trees: How Humans Shaped the North Woods

Rating:
Summary: A Must-Read for Anyone Who Loves the Woods
Review: Every time I've been camping, fishing, hunting or hiking in the woods, I've had a hankering to see them the way they looked when the pioneers first got to this country--you know, Laura Ingalls Wilder envy. And this book really helped me visualize the virgin landscape while understanding how the forests came to look as they do now.
I don't typically read non-fiction, but Forester (the author, not some guy in tan khakis & cap) really has a personal, close up and easy-to-read perspective on the North Woods and the book flows like a novel. Laura Ingalls couldn't have described the changing forest management models any more descriptively: from the fire-setting Indians and small-time pioneer loggers to the huge lumber barons and the birth of environmentalism. The book ends with great food for thought on the current land management practices and restoration forestry (trying to make the woods look like it used to using fire, as the Indians did).
Fascinating story. Incredible photographs.