That Wild Country: An Epic Journey Through the Past, Present, and Future of America’s Public Lands

Wilderness blogger and podcaster Kenyon documents a historically and environmentally aware road trip in his inspiring debut. Reacting against a new conservative movement to transfer federally owned wilderness into private hands, Kenyon decided to “literally ground [him]self in” the U.S.’s public land system, embarking on a grand tour in which he made time for, among other things, backpacking in Yellowstone, antler collecting in Missouri, and fishing in the Lewis and Clark National Forest. Kenyon’s writing and traveling style are equally companionable; accompanied at various points by his wife, father, and friends, he evokes in his prose an appealing sense of shared experience. These more experiential sections alternate with historically centered ones that detail how the American wilderness first came under federal protection. Though the legislative details are rather dry, Kenyon successfully communicates his deep admiration for the visionaries responsible, among them Bob Marshall, John Muir, and Theodore Roosevelt. He also makes a strong argument for why two often politically opposed factions, hunters and environmentalists, should come together under the #KeepItPublic banner. Jumping between memoir and government history makes Kenyon’s book somewhat sprawling, but it succeeds in making the political simultaneously personal and universal. Agent: Farley Chase, Chase Literary. (Dec.)