One Family's Quest to Heal the Land
November 15, 2017
In healing the land, the Freemans heal themselves. That land, purchased in 2004, covers 18 acres of salmon and upland habitat along Tarboo Creek on Washington state's Olympic Peninsula. The spirit of Aldo Leopold, the father of environmental ethics, suffuses this book. First, the family ties: Freeman (biology, Univ. of Washington) is married to Leopold's granddaughter, who illustrates the text. Their work has many parallels to Leopold's A Sand County Almanac; even the place names resonate (the setting for Sand County Almanac was near Baraboo, WI). There is plenty of practical advice here: how to make (for the salmon's sake) a straight stream crooked; which tool to use when slicing heavy turf; or why, when selecting trees for transplantation, restorers must consider climate change. Certain habits of mind need also to be nurtured, first and foremost a keen sense of observation. Freeman demonstrates this throughout, with fine descriptions of the land's flora and fauna. VERDICT Perhaps few readers possess the wherewithal to get their own 20 acres restored, but this book still speaks powerfully to those who have ever dreamt of it, or even to small landowners looking to do something ecologically beneficial. For those seeking verities on leading more fulfilling lives, there's that, too.--Robert Eagan, Windsor P.L., Ont.
Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
November 1, 2017
Freeman comes to land conservation in two ways: he's a biologist with a longstanding devotion to the land and also married into the Leopold legacy. Aldo Leopold, renowned ecologist, was his wife's grandfather, and Carl Leopold, a plant physiologist, was his father-in-law. These giants inform much of the book and the work that Freeman and his family perform as they try to reclaim a creek and a surrounding patch of land in northwest Washington State. Freeman explains in clear, nonjudgmental prose what is lost when farmland and forests are cleared for development, and the losses are great. As soil is disturbed, whole ecosystems are laid waste, and invasive species too often find purchase. To reestablish an ecosystem is not only backbreaking work but it is a guessing game. It's not just development that threatens ecosystems, though. Our tastes and technology drive destruction, too. Readers may never feel good about ordering salmon again after considering the global cost. Thought-provoking and unsettling, this highly readable book is made lovely by homey drawings sprinkled throughout.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)