For a Kinder, Gentler Society
Who Saved the Redwoods
The Unsung Heroines of the 1920s Who Fought for Our Redwood Forests
  • Laura and James Wasserman
Reviews Table of Contents Introduction «Back
Who Saved the Redwoods. The Unsung Heroines of the 1920s Who Fought for Our Redwood Forests
Sound Bite
Powerful lumber interests stood in the way of the first campaigns to save the redwood trees of Humboldt County, California, but they were boldly opposed and pushed back. This history of the early 1900s recalls the Progressive Era crusades of women and men who prevailed against great odds, protecting the best of California's northern redwood forests.

About the Author

Laura Wasserman is a long-time institutional researcher and research coordinator in the private and public sectors. Her professional experience includes extensive business market analysis and polling for national opinion research, political campaigns and environmental issues. She has experience in evaluation of local, state and federal government programs and comprehensive report writing in California and Alaska.

James Wasserman has worked 33 years as a newspaper and wire service reporter, columnist and television commentator in California and Alaska. His specialties include land use and environmental issues. He also worked as a California state government policy analyst, authoring investigative and environmental public policy reports.

About the Book
This book tells the forgotten, dramatic story of early 20th-century Californians and other Americans who were the first group to preserve an important span of California's northern redwood forests, a story never told before in one place. Numerous...
This book tells the forgotten, dramatic story of early 20th-century Californians and other Americans who were the first group to preserve an important span of California's northern redwood forests, a story never told before in one place. Numerous books have been published about battles to save the redwoods, particularly during the California redwood wars of the 1960s, 1970s and 1990s. But no book exclusively details the first fights during the 1920s and 1930s and portrays the significant role of women. By successfully fending off the logging industry, they paved the way for the modern environmental movement. The book, incorporating archived material that highlights for the first time the prominent role of women, covers the most formative period of early efforts to save the redwoods, the 21 years from 1913 through 1934. The story recounts a colorful moment in time when a paradigm firmly shifted toward preservation and a new generation of native Californians successfully faced down Eastern lumber interests over destruction of their beautiful, ancient forests. The storyline follows a trajectory of initial failure and ridicule, then limited successes, and the determination that overcame the entrenched intransigence of lumber interests. Finally, a historic rush of stunning preservation victories established Humboldt Redwoods State Park as the largest expanse of surviving old-growth redwoods on earth. This book offers a definitive account of a pivotal moment in environmentalism and a new explanation of how forceful, determined people a century ago preserved the great California redwood forests that are now enjoyed by millions of visitors from every corner of earth.
Pages 234
Year: 2019
BISAC: BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Women
BISAC: BIO030000 BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Environmentalists & Naturalists
BISAC: NAT011000 NATURE / Environmental Conservation & Protection
Soft Cover
ISBN: 978-1-62894-374-0
Price: USD 22.95
Hard Cover
ISBN: 978-1-62894-381-8
Price: USD 32.95
eBook
ISBN: 978-1-62894-375-7
Price: USD 22.95
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Reader's Comments

  • Noel-Marie Fletcher, journalist and editor  

    Masterfully well-written, this detailed and compelling tale by the Wassermans brings to light untold struggles fought by heroic women whose determination lives on today in the natural beauty of ancient American woodlands we still enjoy.

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