Michigan's State Forests: A Century of Stewardship by William B. Botti, Michael D. Moore

Abstract

Book Reviews 133 William B. Botti and Michael D. Moore. Michigan's State Forests: A Century of Stewardship. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2006. Pp. 256. Bibliography. Illustrations. Index. Notes. Paper, $29.95. This history of Michigan's state forests is actually two histories. The first and better-known one traces the events and people that gave rise to the Great Lakes states' "cutover" of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This history, which has been chronicled a number of times and encompasses Wisconsin and Minnesota as well as Michigan, involves consequences within all three states and even features some of the same people, such as Filibert Roth and Gifford Pinchot, whose warnings about forest loss largely went unheeded. Michigan's State Forests briefly recounts the legacy of that era of exploitation, fires, tax delinquencies, and the pains of rebu?ding a once great forest in chapters 1 to 3. This is a relatively impersonal history because Botti and Moore have learned about these events from reading the accounts and biographies ava?able in various archives and libraries. The second history, and the one that the authors are in the best position to tell, concerns the events that followed the "cutover." This is amore personal account of the men who garnered public support and enthusiasm for rebu?ding the state's forests. The story of Michigan's state forests really begins in 1910 with the hiring of Marcus Schaaf, a graduate of the B?tmore Forestry School, to be Michigan's State Forester. For the next thirty-nine years, Schaaf would oversee the technical, political, and spiritual regrowth of lands that would come to include more than 3.5 million acres. The authors have gleaned the remarkable history of this rebirth from the pages of three sources: the proceedings of theMichigan Public Domain Commission between 1921 and 1967, the various proceedings and biennial reports of the Michigan Department of Conservation, and after 1967, the reports of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Drawing from these rather formal (and probably very dry) documents, Botti and Moore provide a rich account of the people and conflicts that shaped the state-forest recovery efforts. The description of the give and take among the forestry, recreation and wildlife interests that periodically dominated the debates is especially well done. Their account is at times highly quantitative in terms of acres of land, cords of roundwood, and related products, but this does not detract from what is a highly readable and engrossing history of the work of many dedicated public servants. 134 Michigan Historical Rxview Perhaps the best part of the book, and the part that will attract the most readers, covers the period from 1975 to 2005. This is the era that Botti and Moore know best, so their recall of people and events is both personal and provocative. Like all histories, "facts" are subject to interpretations that vary with the point of view of the narrator. I can easily imagine that others may view the actions and events recounted in this work from a different perspective, but this is part of the fascination that we all have with histories (and why one history never suffices). The history that Botti and Moore deta? inMichigan's State Forests is highly focused, especially for more recent years, and this is both a strength and a weakness. The authors know their subject matter and do not deviate from it. However, at times, some readers may wish for just a few more connections to the people and events that indirecdy shaped public policy and Michigan's landscapes outside these state lands. To their credit, Botti and Moore stay "on task" and provide a concise history of only the state-owned lands. The authors have provided an excellent introduction into the workings of an important part of Michigan's state government, but the task of connecting this important effort to the larger body of people and events that shaped Michigan's lands and culture during the twentieth century remains to be accomplished. Raymond P. Gur?es University ofWisconsin-Madison E. N. Brandt. Chairman of theBoard:A Biography ofCarl A. Gerstacker. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2003. Pp...