Wild Forest Home

Stories of Conservation in the Pacific Northwest

By Betsy L. Howell

Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, Betsy L. Howell spent her childhood exploring and thriving in old-growth coniferous forests. In the summer of 1986, she volunteered in Mt. Hood National Forest, surveying northern spotted owls. That summer position turned into three decades as a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Forest Service during a time of tremendous change within the agency.

The twenty-five essays in Wild Forest Home chronicle Howell’s career and personal experiences studying the wildlife of the Pacific Northwest during the litigious listing of the northern spotted owl and marbled murrelet under the Endangered Species Act and the Clinton administration’s adoption of the seminal 1994 Northwest Forest Plan. Meanwhile, Howell toiled on fire crews, searched for rare species, helped to monitor fishers reintroduced to the Olympic Peninsula, tested amphibians for deadly diseases, became a writer, and mourned the deaths of her parents. This captivating memoir seamlessly blends story and science to reveal a unique portrait of the struggles and joys of one wildlife biologist.

Betsy L. Howell is a wildlife biologist and author living on Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula. Her writing has appeared in American Forests, Earth Island Journal, The Wildlife Professional, Women in Natural Resources, and more. She is the author of a memoir, Acoustic Shadows, and a novel, The Marvelous Orange Tree.

Praise and Reviews:“Essential reading for anyone interested in field-based biological research.”—Jerry F. Franklin, College of Forest Resources, University of Washington

“A unique account of a wildlife biologist in the Pacific Northwest during a revolution of changes to forestry science and management. I have never read anything like it before.”—Deanna (Dede) H. Olson, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Forest Service

“This unique and entertaining book provides a vivid portrait of the day-to-day activities of a professional wildlife biologist working for the U.S. Forest Service after the northern spotted owl forever changed forest management objectives in the Pacific Northwest. Howell’s predecessors were focused primarily on providing healthy populations of hunted wildlife species in national forests; in contrast, she collects data on invasive species, screens for wildlife diseases, protects sensitive wildlife during fire-suppression activities, and conducts field surveys for spotted owls, marbled murrelets, bumblebees, mollusks, amphibians, bats, forest carnivores, and many other species of concern. But this book is much more than a professional history—it is also a very personal and uplifting memoir in which Howell describes the many ways that her strong spiritual connection to Pacific Northwest forests has helped her to overcome various challenges in her personal life”.—Keith B. Aubry, Emeritus Scientist, U.S. Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station