In the midst of environmental-policy gloom and global-warming doom, Weidensaul's poetic account of his travels to several scattered wilderness oases of North America is an unexpected tonic. The naturalist and author (Living on the Wind
) certainly waxes caustic about the current administration's ecological evils; bemoans the impact of Earth's warming trend on northern ice packs and southern wetlands; decries the near (sometimes total) extinction of a multitude of fauna and flora; and laments the incursion of "invasive exotics"—foreign plants, insects, animals and fish that are crowding out native species. But in retracing the steps of American birding guru Roger Tory Peterson and British naturalist James Fisher's legendary 1953 trek—from Newfoundland's craggy coastline, down the East Coast, into Mexico and up the West Coast to Alaska—Weidensaul time and again celebrates pockets of species survival, optimistically hailing "the resiliency of wild America." His brief excerpts from and steady references to Wild America
, the classic wilderness account penned by his predecessors, ought to renew deserved interest in the original book. But this engrossing state-of-nature memoir, making a vibrant case for preserving America's wild past for future Americans, promises to become a classic in its own right. 8 pages of illus., 6 maps not seen by PW
. Agent, Peter Matson
. (Nov.)
