"These 12 books capture the wonder, tell the history, and predict the climate-changed future of the trees with which we share the planet."

"Americans first celebrated Arbor Day in 1872. Secretary of the Nebraska Territory J. Sterling Morton persuaded his fellow settlers, many of whom had migrated from thickly forested eastern states, to plant trees for windbreaks, building materials, and comfort. On that first Arbor Day, Nebraskans are reputed to have planted over a million trees.

It’s an impressive number, but only a fraction of the number of trees in the forests razed for farmland during the colonial era, actions that further displaced Indigenous people and severed their relationships with the landscapes they had tended for centuries.

Americans’ relationship with trees is still conflicted. Many unwittingly buy toilet paper made by mills that clear-cut old-growth forests even as they revel in popular tree tales like “Finding the Mother Tree” and “Overstory.”

This relationship is further complicated by climate change. Even the forests we choose to spare may not survive anticipated changes in temperature and water cycles."

Michael Svoboda reports for Yale Climate Connections April 28, 2023. [2]