Trail Work: Restoring the Paths and Stories of America’s Public Lands

Geologist and environmental advocate Osleger debuts with a passionate call for investing in the maintenance of trails in public lands across the U.S., “not to boost economic opportunity but to provide equitable access to what is ours and to what we should seek to protect and conserve.” Noting the U.S. once had “the greatest infrastructure of trails and connectivity in history,” he demonstrates how shifting priorities—dwindling federal investment and the privatizing of land for settlement, mining, and logging—have led to the erasure of more than two-thirds of such paths. He pairs scenes from his journeys on neglected trails in California, often “fighting through thickets of brush for miles,” with historical asides, explaining, for example, how the Forest Reserve Act of 1891 led to the establishment of thousands of miles of trails, many across Native American territory. Though many trails are now earmarked for recreation, others have been used by lumber and mining industries, practices that not only harm the environment but limit public access, Osleger explains. Through deep research and eloquent depictions of natural landscapes, Osleger reveals America’s complicated relationship with preserving the outdoors. This deserves a place in every wilderness explorer’s backpack. (May)