Dispatches from the Deep Woods

From Mitchell's perspective, that of an unabashed tree-hugger, there is a war going on in the land of the green: the American forest, besieged by various economic sectors, faces destruction. In this collection of 13 beautifully crafted articles published between 1981 and 1990, mostly in Audubon, Mitchell defines the enemy--be it timberman, developer, energy company, federal agency, etc.--and reports on forest protection strategies. But not all is voiced from the pulpit. ``Papa Country,'' for example, revisits the Michigan woods of the youthful Ernest Hemingway, and ``In Wildness Was Preservation of a Smile'' offers an admirer's glimpse of Bob Marshall, the so-called Father of Wilderness. To save the forest, Mitchell, former editor of Sierra Club Books, urges that legions of tree-lovers take action. And this assemblage of lyric and fact should help politicize them. (Apr.)