Greenzone Online

As a lover of nearly anything and everything having to do with the environment, I’m extremely fascinated by stories about nature. Most recently, I started reading an interesting, thoughtful book–Richard Preston’s The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring. As the title suggests, it is a book full of passionate pursuit and adventure. In a word, I’m most definitely digging it.

Preston tells the story of a group of botanists and naturalists who venture into the California redwoods, taking risks to climb and discover the secrets of the redwood forest. As an adventure story, the book is highly readable as well as a fascinating look at why we should strive to preserve nature. In reading the book, I found myself wanting to climb the redwood trees…

Preston, however, in a note before the first chapter reminds his readers that “Botanists have the tradition of never revealing the exact location of a rare plant,” which is, yes, something to be admired. The preservation of the redwood trees is as important as the study of them, true. At the same time, it’s hard to not want to follow in Preston’s footsteps after reading such eloquent descriptions of the mysterious forest.

Because of its exciting story and poetic descriptions, The Wild Trees may be a good book to recommend to someone hesitant about environmental issues. It is not solely an environmental book but a fascinating, well-written read.

All in all, of course, the book is a reminder as to why we should strive to preserve nature. Preston, for instance, reminds his readers of the saddening estimate that nearly 95% of the coast redwoods have disappeared since humans began their quest to, well, get rid of them. This book is just further proof of the importance of preservation. The redwoods are a magnificent example of our planet’s natural beauty–something, in my opinion, that is very much worth preserving.