Nature Noir

Nature Noir: A Park Ranger's Patrol in the Sierra by Jordan Fisher Smith

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


"A nature book unlike any other, Jordan Fisher Smith's startling account of fourteen years as a park ranger thoroughly dispels our idealized visions of life in the great outdoors. Instead of scout troops and placid birdwatchers, Smith's beat -- a stretch of land that has been officially condemned to be flooded -- brings him into contact with drug users tweaked out to the point of violence, obsessed miners, and other dangerous creatures. In unflinchingly honest prose, he reveals the unexpectedly dark underbelly of patrolling and protecting public lands."
~~back cover

I loved this book! Perhaps because the land patrolled by the author is just up the road from me, so I'm familiar with the terrain and the sort of people who are drawn to it. Perhaps because I've worked for the Forest Service, and so am familiar with the other side of public land stewardship -- it's definitely not all scout troops and birdwatchers! It's marijuana gardens, meth lab residue, illegal hunting, etc.

The author tells the story of these lands and these people with convincing and compelling honesty. I could hardly put the book down.



View all my reviews