Beloved of the Sky: Essays and Photographs on Clearcutting

Abstract

Review: Beloved of the Sky: Essays and Photographs on Clearcutting Edited by John Ellison Reviewed by Marcia Ostrowski University of Missouri-Rolla BELOVED OF THE SKY: ESSAYS AND PHOTOGRAPHS ON CLEARCUTTING. John Ellison, editor. Seattle: Broken Moon Press, 1993. 262 pp. US $14.95 paper ISBN: 0-913089-38-9. It will take about 200 years for the next generation of trees to produce as much wood as the ancient forests have already produced. Do we have 200 years to wait? What can be done in the meantime to satisfy the loggers, the Forestry Department, the government, and the environmentalists? These and other questions are raised and explored in BELOVED OF THE SKY's 20 essays. The reader is taken to forests in the Northwest, Hawaii, British Columbia, the Grand Canyon, and other areas where clearcutting has taken place. Time is running out for the remaining old-growth forests in North America. Estimates vary on the amount of time left; by most accounts, it is twenty years or less. As the amount of time diminishes, questions increase about the practice of clearcutting. This book is an attempt to raise the consciousness of the reader about clearcutting. To that end, its collection of personal essays and photographs contributed by Edward Abbey, Catherine Caufield, Gary Snyder, and others vividly recounts the destruction of our forests. The essays do not point blame in one specific direction, for as Richard Nelson states There is no refuge in blaming only loggers or their industry or the government... the entire society... holds responsibility for laying this valley bare (250). Those who read BELOVED OF THE SKY will come away with a heightened understanding and conviction that we all need to take an active part in managing our forests. Highly recommended for public, high school, and academic libraries. Marcia Ostrowski is the Library Instruction Coordinator and a Reference Librarian at the Curtis Laws Wilson Library at the University of Missouri-Rolla in Rolla, Missouri, USA.