The Natural History Society Book Club will discuss Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer on Monday, January 25, 2016, from 3:30 – 5:00. We will meet at Wendy Feltham’s house.  E-mail Jean at jltnatural@saveland.org for directions, if needed.

Gathering Moss  is a beautifully written mix of science and personal reflection, inviting readers to explore and learn from the simple lives of mosses.  It is not an identification guide, nor is it a scientific treatise.  It is a series of personal essays that leads readers to an understanding of how mosses live and are intertwined with the lives of countless other beings–from salmon and hummingbirds to redwoods.  Kimmerer explains the biology of mosses, at the same time reflecting on what these largely unnoticed organisms have to teach us.

In order to accommodate holiday activities, the Natural History Society book club will have one meeting, rather than two, for the months of November and December.  We will meet on Monday, December 7, from 3:30 – 5:00, at Oma Landstra’s house. Contact Jean at jltnatural@saveland.org for directions, if needed.

We will discuss Carl Safina’s book, Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel. Amazon describes this book as weaving decades of field observations with new discoveries about the brain.  Safina writes about animal behaviors that challenge the fixed boundary between humans and nonhuman animals.  We will read stories of animal joy, grief, jealousy, anger, and love in various locations–in Africa, in Yellowstone National Park, in the Pacific Northwest. The similarity between human and nonhuman consciousness, self-awareness, and empathy prompts us to re-evaluate how we interact with animals.  It is a “graceful examination of humanity’s place in the world.”

The JLT Natural History Society book club selection for October 2015 is The Wild Trees by Richard Preston.

The club will meet on Monday, October 26, from 3:30-5:00. Please RSVP to Jean at jltnatural@saveland.org  for information on the location of the meeting.

Richard Preston’s nonfiction story of exploration of the canopy of tall trees (mostly Sequoia sempervirens in Northern California) is both an adventure story and a description of a new field of botanical research.  The explorers are young, college-age students who share a passion for the trees. These amateur botanists ignore the common wisdom that “there is nothing left to discover in North America.”  They master tree-climbing skills, and enter a world where humans have not been before.

Preston’s tale of some of the world’s tallest trees includes chapters on tall trees in Washington State and in Australia.

The JLT Natural History Society book club selection for September 2015 is The Northwest Coast by James G. Swan.  The book club will meet on Monday, September 28, 3:30-5:00, at the Ilahee Preserve shelter.  If you need directions, contact Jean at jltnatural@saveland.org.

James Swan emigrated to Shoalwater Bay (now Willapa Bay) north of the Columbia River in Washington Territory after leaving the gold fields in California.  He enjoyed the company of both white settlers and friendly Indians in the area.  First published in 1857, this book about “Three Years’ Residence in Washington Territory” (the subtitle of the book) is Swan’s account as both an observer and a participant in the white settlers’ invasion of the Indians’ lands. He presents a detailed view of the ecology of the area, as well as the people in the early days of Washington Territory.

On Monday, August 24, 2015 from 3:30-5:00, the JLT Natural History Society Book Club will discuss The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness, and Greed by John Vaillant. We will meet at the Ilahee Preserve shelter.  Contact Jean at jltnatural@saveland.org to RSVP and for directions, if needed.

This is the tale of logger-turned-activist Grant Hadwin’s act of protest that resulted in the death of a rare golden spruce tree in the woods of Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands).   In addition to the details of this stranger-than-fiction story, the book presents a wealth of information on the logging industry in the Pacific Northwest.

Vaillant’s writing is often compared to that of Jon Krakauer.