Ponderosa: People, Fire, and the West’s Most Iconic Tree

Here is an extensive book on the most ubiquitous tree of the Western U.S., the ponderosa pine, written by two seasoned foresters, Carl Fiedler and Stephen Arno. The question is, what readership did they have in mind when writing this technical volume, Ponderosa? Certainly foresters and logging companies would benefit from having this book in their libraries. The authors also quoted hikers, nature lovers, ecologists, and others for whom they have written this book, yet few of those would have the interest to read about a single pine species to such an extent. The book is very thorough and profusely illustrated by photos (many historic), each with a good, informative caption. The authors include Native Americans and their reliance on the ponderosa, a history of logging, transportation, and processing of logged trees, and of course such critical aspects as forest fires and their management. “This book, then, chronicles the history, ecology, and allure of the original ponderosa forest.” The second part includes sixty-four outstanding ponderosa-forested areas in sixteen states and British Columbia, described in some detail and how to get there. This is an academic volume with superscript numbers referring to Notes, written more as a reference volume than as interesting reading material.