Customer Reviews

The Trees in My Forest

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If you love books about wild animals and wish that someone would write about trees, this book is for you. Heinrich takes you to his forest in Maine and explores the trees in it. Some have personalities, and they live as part of a community of trees, animals and sometimes people.

Heinrich writes well, as readers of his other books know. Again, his natural curiosity shines through, as does his storytelling and teaching abilities.

The book includes a wonderful set of drawings by Heinrich. Unfortunately, most of them aren't discussed in the text so it's hard to know what to make of them.

Much as I enjoyed the book, I wish that Heinrich had spent some time on tree identification. It would be much easier for me to observe the trees in my forest -- if I had a forest -- if I knew all their names.

Those criticisms aside, this was a thoroughly enjoyable book. I also came away with an understanding of how a true forest differs from the monoculture tree farms that are taking over parts of our country. While he walks us through his experiences trying to maintain a forest, he also provides lessons in sustainable forestry.

Bernd Heinrich's abilities in acute perception are well portrayed in this book. He possesses extensive scientific training and research in natural conditions - having published on bees, ravens and geese. This account ties much of that research to a wider view of those animals' home territories. It's a study of the patches of woods surrounding his home. What trees are growing there, and why? Which animals and birds are attracted to the area, and what keeps them away? What's the value of a forest fire, and is "machine logging" more destructive to the forest environment than the more traditional felling and dragging? All these and more questions are addressed here with deep insight and related with Heinrich's fine expressive powers. It may not be too much to say that if you own but one book on trees and forest environments, this is the one to have.

Raised in rural Maine, Heinrich returned in 1977 and restored a 122-hectare bush near his early home. Heinrich describes himself as "partly arboreal", but adds to that a weighty talent for patience. As he has demonstrated in other books, he can sit for hours observing birds and insects. Trees require a different sort of patience; one that needs the additional dedication to record changes over lengthy time periods. He studies their growth and how they spread their offspring around the land. Which trees are shade-tolerant and which need extensive sunlight? Which ones encourage certain insects or birds, and how. Which ones attract them and how? He describes the way trees draw water from the ground - a molecule at a time at the leaf end, not "pumped" from below. Consider the evolutionary steps that led a species of pine to retain its seeds until very special conditions ensue. The cone housing them pops open and disperses them only when the temperature reaches 60 degrees - heat that can only be generated by a forest fire.

We all abhor the destructive force of a forest fire, but that's only because we fail to consider the forest from the tree's longer perspective. As trees die and fall, new patches of soil are exposed to the sun, bringing in species competing for resources. Fire is the only way to cleanse the forest floor and eliminate some trees shading others. As recovery species emerge, moose and other browser species again populate the forest. More birds and small mammals also arrive, extending the diversity but also acting as tree predators. Heinrich's account of how trees control predation is enlightening. One is tempted to ask whether a tree "thinks". As he makes clear, however, the control is part of the co-evolutionary process of a tree and its environment.

Logging is another intrusion on forests and Heinrich is scathing at how the industry handles the forest. Centred on the ubiquitous white pine, lumbering his area goes back to the early colonial period. At one time Bangor, Maine, was the greatest lumber shipping port in the world - in thirty years its population jumped from 277 to over fourteen thousand. "Clear-cutting" does more than just remove trees. It destroys the foundation of mycorrhizal fungi that are part of the tree's nutritional network. The replacement of felled trees by plantations of single types denies the development of the proper ecological balance a true forest requires to flourish. The next generation of trees is shorter and less robust than those first taken. On the other hand, Heinrich notes the differing impact on the forest when trees are felled and removed by horse, dragged out on a skid or both felled and removed by a huge mechanism. The giant "cutter-buncher" was the least environmentally damaging!

Heinrich's prose style, which, translated into classroom lectures surely keeps attendance high, gives the reader a sense of being right in company during his wanderings and watchings. Under his deft touch, the word "ecology" rises above the status of "environmentalist" buzzword. Without ever using the term, he demonstrates the importance of understanding the interacting of all the parts of a forest, from microbes to arboreal giants. The reader isn't overwhelmed by technicalities, but the science of his account permeates every page. Add to that expressive ability, the detailed drawings, images of trees and their components, capped by sweeping aerial photographs all provide the panorama a forest requires to tell its story completely. Heinrich provides the narrative, but it's the forest itself dictating the account. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Heinrich is a wonderful writer; while his work may lack the scientific vigor of a true academic text, this is natural science on a personal level. He brings his personal passion for the natural world to his writing, and the result is a really engaging work that will appeal to any lay person interested in the natural world. When I was done with the book, I wanted to run off and buy a dozen acres or so of Maine forest myself.

This book is a good place to start with Heinrich's overall works--he takes a similar, personal approach to the natural sciences with his "Mind of the Raven" and "One Man's Owl."

This is probably the best book on woodlot management I've read in the past 20 years. It is fascinating reading. Bernd Heinrich, a biology professor at the University of Vermont, knows his stuff, makes it interesting and yet doesn't talk down to the average reader. He manages to combine sound forestry with sustainable ecological practices and does so with humor, anecdotes and personal observations. Anyone who enjoys the outdoors will find this book hard to put down.

The Trees in My Forest is an excellent book for anyone interested in the woods. If you have ever wandered down a wooded path and wondered about the trees that you see, this is the book that will explain their roles in the ecology of the forest. In addition, Heinrich's experience inspires the reader; ever since I read this book, I've had a burning desire to grab a plot of deforested land somewhere up north and nurse it back to healh as he did.

This book is an informal introduction to the science of trees. Heinrich, known for his studies on animal behavior, originally trained in forest ecology. In this book, he provides a general introduction to many aspects of forest ecology. Starting from the acreage surrounding his cabin in Northern Maine, Heinrich considers many different aspects of the trees he encounters there, from the overgrown apple orchards to oaks and pines, from tree evolution to tree geometry and tree reproduction. In addition to the trees, he also examines other elements of the forest ecosystem, including fungi, birds, and insects. End material includes a checklist of trees found in Northern Maine and an extensive list of references. The book is illustrated with black-and-white drawings and a set of color plates, all drawn by Heinrich. This is an excellent introduction to forest ecology suitable for general readers and beginning naturalists alike.

This thoughtfully entertaining volume reports a close look at three hundred acres of Maine -- a forest ecosystem and the many lives it contains and impacts. Just over two decades before this writing, Heinrich returned to his native state and bought an old farm near his boyhood home. The grown scientist revisits childhood memories, seeing the whole and the parts with deeper understanding. He shares profound insights into biology and interdependence, evolution and population dynamics. Each essay follows a different strand of the web of lives: mice, mushrooms, sapsuckers, giant trees and tiny clubmosses each held up for a closer look. Heinrich seems more resigned to "progress" than I will ever be, and more optimistic about the future of our forests, but his lucid observations deepened my appreciation of the subtlety of natural systems and their ability to adapt. I could not agree more with his observation that "a vision of eco-system as life is a common thread that, if taught and encouraged, could unite all of mankind."

Okay, if you are a plant lover as I am, you have to read this book. But anyone can read it and enjoy it. It tells of this man's experiences in the woods around his property. Also, don't skip over the introduction. It is extremely interesting.

Heinrich has devoted an entire book to the acres of forest surrounding his home, examining them from a variety of different viewpoints and extrapolating from them in order to impart information about trees and forests everywhere.
Writing:
I found this to be a very interesting book, with Heinrich's ongoing experiments and insightful observations taking center stage. His insertion of self into the story of the woods is distracting, except for when he relates his actual activities impacting the forest. To clarify: I want to hear how he makes his forest an economically beneficial entity by planting and culling trees, but I don't want to hear about a moonlit trek through the forest on snowshoes for the sole purpose of stringing together a bunch of pretty adjectives on the off chance that he will engender compliments as to his literary talents.
What I learned:
A lot about trees, of course. One thing that was of particular interest was the way that trees grow to cope with their immediate environs. For example, a tree will point its branches upward so that ice won't form near the tips, and thereby rip the branch from the tree through sheer weight. The tree doesn't do this on purpose, of course, but any poorly-designed branches are ripped out over time, so you wind up with a tree perfectly suited for its particular locale. Another interesting bit of news was the way that trees develop a symbiotic relationship with certain species of insects, such as ants. The ants can eat a minimal amount of foliage without really hurting the tree, and the tree in turn is guarded by the ants from other, more harmful browsers.

Even though it's been several years since I've read this book, I still think of it often and treasure Bernd Heinrich's gentle lessons about the lives of trees. The thought that trees actively pursue life - and even move - was a novel idea for me. This and many of the other observations Mr. Heinrich makes in this book have made a lasting difference to me not only in the way that I see the natural world but also the way that I approach issues in my every day life.

This book would make a thoughtful gift for anyone who has a love of the outdoors. It's not just about ecology or forestry - it's not even a statement about conservation. You don't need a scientific background or an agenda to enjoy this book. You just need a love of nature and the willingness to consider life as it grows around you.