In Service of the Wild: Restoring and Reinhabiting Damaged Land

Stephanie Mills has written a well thought philosophy of restoring the land. This is not a guide, what to plant, how to burn a prairie or eradicate invasive species. This is a motivational piece exploring what we need to do to bring the wild back to whichever land we are part of. Mills examines our history of land ethic and looks at several examples of land restoration including Aldo Leopold's Sand County farm, projects in India (Auroville) to restore devastated landscapes, and NGO projects here in the US from the prairies of Illinois and Wisconsin to the mountain streams of the Pacific Northwest. In Mill's own words: "This is hope, not a theory: if increasing numbers of us participate in ecological restoration where we live, we will learn with our flesh the difference between natural and artificial. Through positive engagement in ecosystems, we will come to revere evolution's fine and canny design process so greatly that we will stop at nothing to preserve all remaining species and the habitats they need. " Mills resides in my native Michigan and I particularly enjoyed hearing about her thoughts on her Leelanau County land and her vivid descriptions of Great Lakes forests and wild country. I think anyone attached to any 1 acre yard, 40 acre farm or local conservation project would enjoy and be inspired by this book.