That Which Roots Us

That Which Roots Us is a work of natural and environmental history that explores the origins of and resolutions to some of our environmental problems. Marion Dresner discusses the roots of Euro-American environmental exploitative action, starting with the environmental consequences of having treated Pacific Northwest forests as commodities, then visiting sites where animal-centered ice age culture changed to a human-centered one with early farming. She also discusses the impact of the romantic philosophical movement, which inspired a preservation movement in the U.S., and America’s progressively modern conservation attitudes. The balance of the book is centered on environmental issues in the Pacific Northwest, contrasting utilitarian views of nature with Native American practices of respect and reciprocity. Her overall discussion discusses aspects of regional natural and environmental history combined with ecological and anthropologically based insights.