During the late 1800s and early 1900s, much of America was a wasteland.  Farmers had overworked the land – resulting eventually in the 1930s Dust Bowl.  And loggers had cut forests across vast regions without sustainability in mind.  But these forests and lands did come back.  An incredible collection of conservationists, politicians and planners helped to recreate sustainable forests and farm lands.

I am fascinated by these efforts.  And, in fact, I part company with many environmentalists in believing strongly that there is very little environmental damage that cannot be undone with enough time, planning and effort.

So, I listened with interest to Terry Gross’ program Fresh Air this past weekend.  An episode focused on a new book by Timothy Egan about the largest forest fire in American history.  The fire swept across Washington, Idaho and Montana in 1910.  It wreaked havoc, but eventually brought massive popular support for the National Forest Service.  The National Forests were in a weak political position at the time and the fire can be said to have saved the forests by completely changing public opinion.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114248029

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