Overview

Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, Betsy L. Howell spent her childhood exploring and thriving in old-growth coniferous forests. In the summer of 1986, she volunteered in Mt. Hood National Forest, surveying northern spotted owls. That summer position turned into three decades as a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Forest Service during a time of tremendous change within the agency. The twenty-five essays in Wild Forest Home chronicle Howell’s career and personal experiences studying the wildlife of the Pacific Northwest during the litigious listing of the northern spotted owl and marbled murrelet under the Endangered Species Act and the Clinton administration’s adoption of the seminal 1994 Northwest Forest Plan. Meanwhile, Howell toiled on fire crews, searched for rare species, helped to monitor fishers reintroduced to the Olympic Peninsula, tested amphibians for deadly diseases, became a writer, and mourned the deaths of her parents. This captivating memoir seamlessly blends story and science to reveal a unique portrait of the struggles and joys of one wildlife biologist.

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9781647691943

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Reviews

“Essential reading for anyone interested in field-based biological research.”—Jerry F. Franklin, College of Forest Resources, University of Washington “A unique account of a wildlife biologist in the Pacific Northwest during a revolution of changes to forestry science and management. I have never read anything like it before.”—Deanna (Dede) H. Olson, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Forest Service

Author Information

Betsy L. Howell is a wildlife biologist and author living on Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula. Her writing has appeared in American Forests, Earth Island Journal, The Wildlife Professional, Women in Natural Resources, and more. She is the author of a memoir, Acoustic Shadows, and a novel, The Marvelous Orange Tree.

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