Trees in Paradise: A California History Author: | Language: English | ISBN:
B00HF68D60 | Format: PDF
Trees in Paradise: A California History Description
From roots to canopy, a lush, verdant history of the making of California.
California now has more trees than at any time since the late Pleistocene. This green landscape, however, is not the work of nature. It?s the work of history. In the years after the Gold Rush, American settlers remade the California landscape, harnessing nature to their vision of the good life. Horticulturists, boosters, and civic reformers began to "improve" the bare, brown countryside, planting millions of trees to create groves, wooded suburbs, and landscaped cities. They imported the blue-green eucalypts whose tangy fragrance was thought to cure malaria. They built the lucrative "Orange Empire" on the sweet juice and thick skin of the Washington navel, an industrial fruit. They lined their streets with graceful palms to announce that they were not in the Midwest anymore. To the north the majestic coastal redwoods inspired awe and invited exploitation. A resource in the state, the durable heartwood of these timeless giants became infrastructure, transformed by the saw teeth of American enterprise. By 1900 timber firms owned the entire redwood forest; by 1950 they had clear-cut almost all of the old-growth trees.
In time California?s new landscape proved to be no paradise: The eucalypts in the Berkeley hills exploded in fire; the orange groves near Riverside froze on cold nights; Los Angeles?s palms harbored rats and dropped heavy fronds on the streets below. Disease, infestation, and development all spelled decline for these nonnative evergreens. In the north, however, a new forest of second-growth redwood took root, nurtured by protective laws and sustainable harvesting. Today there are more California redwoods than there were a century ago.
Rich in character and story, Trees in Paradise is a dazzling narrative that offers an insightful, new perspective on the history of the Golden State and the American West.
- Audible Audio Edition
- Listening Length: 19 hours and 12 minutes
- Program Type: Audiobook
- Version: Unabridged
- Publisher: Audible, Inc.
- Audible.com Release Date: December 19, 2013
- Language: English
- ASIN: B00HF68D60
I am a 15-year veteran of the tree wars of the San Francisco Bay Area. I consider myself well-informed about the many projects that have destroyed and plan to destroy non-native trees. Yet, I learned a few things from Mr. Farmer’s chapters about eucalyptus.
This is a serious history of eucalyptus in California. It’s a complex story that requires an understanding of scientific as well as historical documents. Although I would quibble about some details, it is also a fair treatment of a controversial subject. Mr. Farmer is an historian, not a tree or native plant advocate.
Mr. Farmer tells the story in an engaging way and he puts it into a social context that deserves respect from both tree and native plant advocates. I am grateful to Mr. Farmer for bringing some solid information to an otherwise emotional debate. If it is widely read it could contribute to the resolution of a conflict that has been intractable.
By Million Trees
Jared Farmer's book on how trees shaped California history is a good attempt. Often, it reads as a textbook. Farmer uses a lot of citation, which is fine, but his writing style comes off more as a dissertation rather than prose. It lacks the "emotion" or vividness in the writings of historical writers like David McCullough, or Doris Kerns Goodwin. But the topic are trees, and well, I suppose the writing can be a little wooden (pardon the pun). Farmer's book seems to feel more of a collection of articles and less a smooth cohesion. I've already read a lot of what he describes. Nevertheless, the detail in which he compiles the information is excellent. As a historian, he does his well. The book concentrates on three major threes: the redwoods, the eucalyptus and the palms. I suppose there are enough stories to tell with those tree groups. I do wish the author talked more about a few other species. California's floral landscape is much more diverse than simply palms, redwoods etc. The author doesn't draw any conclusions, it just ends with the final section on palms. Somehow, I feel Farmer should have written a final chapter to wrap up these stories. He did not. When you lay out a thesis, then you need to conclude it. Another thing the author could have done, was include detailed maps of certain historical trees.
By David Toyoshima
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