The Southern Forest: A Chronicle (review)

Vol. XXXII, No. 2 177 table. Recause I found myself occasionally wanting to restudy a map or an engraving I had seen earlier, I had to perform an annoying page-bypage search in order to locate those documents. This was not an easy book to write. The topic is a sensitive one, and before he could begin the daunting task of producing an unbiased account of the cultural encounter between Europeans and Native Americans , De Vorsey first had to master the vast Age of Discovery holdings in the Library of Congress. The result is a first-class book which undoubtedly will be read by a large audience. Those who do are in for a treat. Sanford H. Bederman is Professor Emeritus of Geography at Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30303. The Southern Forest: A Chronicle. Laurence C. Walker. Austin, University of Texas Press, 1991. xii & 322 p., maps, photographs, notes, appendices , index. $29.95 cloth (ISRN 0-292-77648-9). Laurence Walker adds his perspective as a professional and academic forester to the emerging examination of southern environmental history with The Southern Forest. Intended to be more a personal interpretation and recollection than an exhaustive treatise, this book presents an anecdotal history of the imprint wrought on southeastern forests by the changing needs and desires ofthose who have confronted them over the past four centuries. Walker subdivides his chronicle into five episodes of forest utilization , from the earliest European excursions to the most recent period of industrial timber management. The first, "The Explorers' Forest," sets out the general environmental and geographic context of the region through the traverses of the first white observers. Although briefly noting the wildlife De Soto and other conquistadores were likely to have encountered, this chapter bases nearly all of its discussion on William Rartram's botanical expeditions throughout many of the physiographic provinces ofthe Southeast. Walker quotes and retells numerous passages of Rartram's Travels, augmenting them with the natural histories and ecological relationships ofparticular species. The final paragraphs ofthis chapter speculate on the likely environmental impacts of American In- 178Southeastern Geographer dians as well as the dynamics and probable (board foot) volume of the "primeval" forests. "The Pioneers' Forest" describes some of the reasons for and consequences of the monumental clearing away of the southern forest by the wave of agricultural immigrants that moved through the region. Two themes run through this chapter: the conditions facing colonizers, such as forest composition and soil characteristics; and the uses to which the cleared lumber and woodlots were put, such as blackgum shoes, fat pine torches, and buckeye rheumatism cures. Again, discussions are largely framed around physiographic divisions, with stories of peculiar settlers and remnant natural areas for each. Those areas not stripped oftheir trees by farmers became "The Lumbermen 's Forest" ofthe late 19th and early 20th centuries. The focus of this chapter breaks from the previous two by placing primary emphasis on social characteristics and technological aspects of the logging practices from which present-day management evolved. Walker details the personalities, lifestyles, and divisions of labor among those involved in this era, in addition to the influence of railroads, machinery, and burgeoning legislation on the timber barons' operations. As is true of most ofthis book, there is no attempt at critical examination ofhistory; Walker scratches the surface of issues such as the role of women, blacks, and life in company towns, but shies away from delving deeper. Out of the general chronologic flow of the book, Walker next takes a comparatively brief look at "The Roatbuilders' Forest," spanning the years 1608-1950. This section addresses the production of naval stores, the hewing of live oak timber for shipwrights, and finally the transition to pine as the prime material for wooden vessels, which dwindled following World War I. The frequently unbridled exploitation of southern forests culminated early in the 1900s, giving way to concerns for conservation and management , and ushering in "The Foresters' Forest." This chapter reviews the primary achievements offorestry over the decades since the Depression: the production of wood; watershed and wildlife management; fire suppression and prescribed burning; and the use offertilizers and pesticides to enhance silvicultural productivity. The author also highlights the training received by...