37 b/w photos & 6 x 9. Unique combination of natural and cultural history.& Eloquent account of Appalachia's past and future Advance praise for The Appalachian Forest: Thoroughly researched and engagingly written, this important book offers a comprehensive overview of the past, present, and future of the southern Appalachian forest . . . a compelling blend of natural and cultural history . . . surveying everything from the traditions of the Cherokee to the effects of acid rain. --Daniel J. Philippon coeditor of The Height of Our Mountains: Nature Writing from Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah Valley Chris Bolgiano has written an informed, pointed and lyrically personal book about one of America's most beautiful and most ravaged areas. --Philip Shabecoff, author of A Fierce Green Fire: The American Environmental Movement A volume that belongs on the shelves of all those who live in and love Appalachia and wish to know more about this place (as she puts it) of "heartbreak and hope." --Charles E. Little, author, In Search of Eden, The Dying of the Trees, editor, An Appalachian Tragedy Since European settlement, Appalachia's natural history has been profoundly impacted by the people who have lived, worked, and traveled there. Beginning with the geological events that formed the mountains, Bolgiano's journey explores the influx of settlers, Native American displacement, lumber and coal exploitation, the birth of forestry, and conservation efforts. Her research concludes that rich natural habitat and a growing interest in tourism and outdoor recreation prove the urgency in preserving connected, mature forests for the benefit of all living things in the Appalachian wilderness--including people. Historical information, forestry issues, and conservation efforts extend well beyond an Appalachian readership. Chris Bolgiano is the author of Mountain Lion: An Unnatural History of Pumas and People . She lives in the Shenandoah Valley. Steeped in history, the Appalachian wilderness has been profoundly affected by the people who have lived and worked there. This volume traces the natural history of the Appalachian forest while taking into account the people and politics that have shaped its development. Bolgiano (Mountain Lion, LJ 9/1/95) is well qualified to write about this area, as she and her husband make their home on 100 acres of the old-growth forest. She has done her research thoroughly, consulting experts from several area universities for information about forest growth, logging practices, fires, geology, Native American history, bird and animal life, conservation issues, and acid rain. The result is a comprehensive study, personalized with anecdotes of the author's own experiences living and working in Appalachia. The distinct, unique personalities of the mountain people enhance discussions of issues and politics, and the reader gets a feel for the reality of Appalachian life. Interest in this volume should not be limited to the geographic area in question, as it addresses the broader issues of ecology, conservation, and recreational use of public lands.?Deborah Emerson, Monroe Community Coll. Lib., Rochester, NY Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. Like a skipping stone flung across an ocean, Bolgiano's 280 pages of well-researched and meticulously compiled facts about the forest glancingly hit almost every character and episode in the mountins' history, from the mastodons and ground sloths that roamed the ancient balds to the turn-of-the-century bears so gorged on pre- blight chestnuts that they could barely run. . . . Bolgiano does a fine job of converying the ecological, environmental and cultural intricacies of the once-primeval forest, and finding in them, as she rightly puts it, "the greatest of Appalachian paradoxes: attachment to place and complicity in its destruction." It's a theme that hits home, both as an explanation of the past and a warning for the future. -- The Washington Post, December 16, 1998 Chris Bolgiano is the author of Mountain Lion: An Unnatural History of Pumas and People, also published by Stackpole, and has written for such publications as The New York Times, Audubon, Wilderness, and The Washington Post. She lives on one hundred wooded acres in the mountains of Virginia, on the border of the George Washington National Forest. From Roots: Tossing rocks from North Creek to a low place in the road, I catch myself in midthrow. Lying heavy in my hands is a rectangular block of shale. One smooth, flat side is scored in small circles by shells of lives lived three hundred million years ago. I am stunned by this evidence of unquenchable time. Only the air I'm breathing and the water seeping into my sneakers are older. Faint signals from an atrophied survival instinct move my feet out of the chilling water, while I stare and stare at the rock. Everything has a history. My hundred acres of woods in the central Appalachians are full of chronicles, and the rock reminds