Wars in the Woods: The Rise of Ecological Forestry in America.

• Position: Brief article - Book review

Samuel P. Hays. 3400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15260: University of Pittsburgh Press, December 2006. (412) 383-2456. upress.pitt.edu/upressindex.aspx. ISBN 0-8229-5940-2. 296 pp. $27.95 Paperback.

Wars in the Woods examines the conflicts that have developed over the preservation of forests in America, and how government agencies and advocacy groups have influenced the management of forests and their resources for more than a century. Samuel Hays provides an astute analysis of manipulations of conservation law that have touched off a battle between what he terms "ecological forestry" and "commodity forestry." Hays also reveals the pervading influence of the wood products industry and the training of U.S. Forest Service to value tree species marketable as wood products as the primary forces behind forestry policy since the Forest Management Act of 1897. Wars in the Woods gives a comprehensive account of the many grassroots and scientific organizations that have emerged...