The Jefferson Land Trust Natural History Society book club will discuss Jack Nisbet’s latest book, Ancient Places: People and Landscape in the Emerging Northwest on Monday, June 27. We will meet at the Ilahee Preserve shelter from 3:30-5:00. For directions to the Ilahee Preserve, contact Jean at jltnature@saveland.org.

This is the second title by Jack Nisbet the book club has read.  We previously read his biography of David Douglas, The Collector.

Jack Nisbet has proven himself to be an astute interpreter of Pacific Northwest history, an insightful naturalist, and an excellent storyteller.  His newest book of essays engages both the past and the present of the Inland Northwest.  He combines historic research with field work, personal interviews, and local knowledge gained through decades of living in a place.  He relates stories told by longtime residents and tribal people, as well as geologists, paleontologists, anthropologists, and university researchers.

The Natural History Society Book Club’s choice for the month of May is The Triumph of Seeds by Thor Hanson. We will meet on Monday, May 23, 3:30 – 5:00 at the Ilahee Preserve shelter.  E-mail Jean at jltnatural@saveland.org if you need directions.

We live in a world of seeds. From our morning coffee to the cotton in our clothes, seeds support diets, economies, lifestyles, and civilizations around the globe. In The Triumph of Seeds, award-winning author and biologist Thor Hanson explores both the natural and cultural history of seeds – why they are so dominant in nature, and why we are so utterly dependent upon them. Spanning locations ranging from the Raccoon Shack—Hanson’s backyard writing hideout-cum-laboratory—to the rainforests of Costa Rica and Nicaragua, from our flower patches and backyard gardens to the spice routes of Kerala, The Triumph of the Seeds is a book of knowledge, adventure, and wonder. Essential reading for anyone who loves who loves plants, or who may have wondered how the chili got its spice, what puts the buzz in coffee, or how seeds have influenced everything from the voyages of Christopher Columbus to the Industrial Revolution to the shape of the human face.

Jefferson Land Trust Natural History Society’s book club selection for April is The Sea Runners by Ivan Doig.  We will meet on Monday, April 25, 2016, from 3:30-5:00.  E-mail Jean at jltnatural@saveland.org to RSVP and for location.

The Sea Runners is based on an actual incident in 1853.  It is the gripping survival tale of four indentured servants who escape their Russian Alaska work camp in a stolen canoe, only to face a harrowing journey down the Pacific Northwest coast.  The men battle high seas and fierce weather from New Archangel (Sitka), Alaska, to Astoria, Oregon, struggling to avoid hostile Indians, fending off starvation and exhaustion.  This is master storyteller Doig’s first novel.

 Jefferson Land Trust Natural History Society ‘s book club selection for March 2016 is Rosalie Edge, Hawk of Mercy: The Activist Who Saved Nature from the Conservationists by Dyana Z. Furmansky. We will meet on Monday, March 28, from 3:30 – 5:00.  Email Jean at jltnatural@saveland.org to RSVP and for the location.

Rosalie Edge (1877-1962) was the first American woman to achieve national renown as a conservationist.  She was a suffragist, an amateur birdwatcher, and a champion of the establishment of Olympic National Park.  She was an early voice against the indiscriminate use of toxins and pesticides, reporting the evidence about the dangers of DDT fourteen years before Carson’s Silent Spring was published.

In spite of her legacy of achievements (called “widespread and monumental” by the New Yorker), her name is not widely known.  Dyana Furmansky’s book will enlighten readers about the indomitable personality of Edge and her many accomplishments in the arena today known as “environmentalism.”

February’s Natural History Book Club selection is Feathers: The Evolution of a Natural Miracle by Thor Hanson.  We will meet on Monday, February 22, from 3:30-5:00.  Contact Jean at jltnatural@saveland.org to RSVP and for location.

Feathers are an evolutionary marvel, dating back more than 100 million years.  This expansive natural history looks at feathers from many viewpoints–as insulation, as enabling flight, as protection, as adornment and beauty.  Thor Hanson’s book is based on the research of ornithologists, paleontologists, biologists, engineers, and art historians.  He combines personal storytelling with scientific information in a most entertaining manner.  Hanson resides in the San Juan Islands.  He spoke at the Port Townsend library recently about his latest book Seeds.