The Tanoak Tree

"Bowcutt's account of the invaluable but imperiled tanoak is comprehensive and well organized. . . . She provides a wealth of detail, citing hundreds of sourcces that enable engaged readers to further explore the tree's remarkable story. . . . Anyone who reads Bowcutt's deeply affecting book will be prompted to add a new call to action: 'Save the Tanoaks.'"—Jerry Rohde, Humboldt Historian

"We may hope that one day a future edition of this nicely written, heavily referenced little book will conclude with a tale of successful restoration."—Wendy L. Applequist, Economic Botany

"The book is an honorable treatment of Indigenous Peoples and accurately portrays their health struggles due to the loss of their ancestral diet, as well as their resilience in recreating their food systems. People with an interest in Native culture and lifeways, history, biodiversity, the environment or just fascinating reading will enjoy this book."—Terri Hansen, Indian Country Today

"Especially good. . . . Through the lens of the tanoak Bowcutt vividly brings home how carelessly and how rapidly our own species has exploited and manipulated nature, and how devastating our impacts have been. . . . [The tanoak], as is so thoroughly documented in the book, should stimulate reflection on the ethics of how we use our power to change the natural world."—Peter Crane, H-Environment

"A fascinating treatment of a tree that remains central to the region's Native American cultures but has little value to the timber industry. . . . This is a model of how histories can deploy visuals as central storytelling tools. . . . This is a fine addition to the literatures of historical ecology and forest history."—Erik Loomis, Environmental History

"This book will be helpful for someone wanting a general overview of tanoak-conifer forest of southwestern Oregon and northern California. It could serve as a basis for, or as part of, a seminar or class on broadening the scope of forest management to include Native American cultural values in contemporary western U.S. forests."—John Tappeiner, Northwest Science

"This book spells out the gravity of human-facilitated spread of pathogens and the limitations in the existing efforts to keep sudden oak death from spreading. The potential loss of this tree, one of California's most common hardwood species, is a presage of the loss of biodiversity all over the world."—M. Kat Anderson, author of Tending the Wild: Native American Knowledge and the Management of California's Resources

"This important book puts into historical context tanoak's current sudden oak death crisis."—Susan Frankel, plant pathologist, Pacific Southwest Research Station, U.S. Forest Service