The Northern Forest is one of the most resilient and valuable forests in the world. This huge, still largely unspoiled ecosystem lies within a day's drive of a third of the nation's population. Intense pressures are now disrupting centuries-old patterns of land ownership and use, causing economic, ecological, and social upheaval. Dobbs and Ober closely focus on the lives of Northern Forest residents--a mill worker, a forester, several loggers, a fishing guide, and a Christmas tree-farming family--and discover an extraordinary sense of place that arises in those who have a continuous, working relationship with the land. The relationships of these people with the forest are too often misunderstood by those hoping to preserve the region. The authors assert that environmentalists must finally reinvent their approach to land conservation by creating meaningful, respectful alliances with residents of the special areas they would save.