One person’s curse can be another’s blessing: floods and fire are among the extreme climate conditions ravaging our country right now. But it was the wildfires (ablaze in seven states as of last week), rather than the downpours, that triggered my thoughts:
Imagine those raging forest fires without an organized forestry service or forest rangers to help tame them. Imagine no national forests at all. (To me, those scenarios sound like something normally found creeping about in a Stephen King horror story.)
“The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America,” describes another type of horror that was narrowly averted―the grim devastation of our national forest. The thanks for this belong to our former President Theodore Roosevelt, his chief forester, Gifford Pinchot, and a handful of other brave and dedicated individuals, who were natural conservationists before it was even a coined term.
Written by former Pulitzer-prize winner, Timothy Egan, “The Big Burn” is a captivating blend of politics, nature, history, public policy, friendship and it even includes a romance or two.
Whether you know a little or a lot about the indomitable spirit of our 26th President Teddy Roosevelt, and his activist role in establishing a National Parks System and the U.S. Forest Service, “The Big Burn” is still sure to hold a few surprises. I wondered how I knew so little of this great tale in American history.
If you are among the record number of four million visitors expected to visit Yellowstone this year, or any of our other numerous other national forests and parks, or if you are simply someone who appreciates nature, take “The Big Burn” along.
You won’t be disappointed.
“A people without children would face a hopeless future; a country without trees is almost as helpless.”
-Theodore Roosevelt