The Bittersweet Work of Tending a Changing World”
By Ethan Tapper
Broadleaf Books, 2024
229 pages, hardcover, $28.99
MOFGA has been glad to host Ethan Tapper of Vermont for talks at the Common Ground Country Fair and webinars as part of our low-impact forestry program — and you might also recognize his name from an excerpt of “How to Love a Forest: The Bittersweet Work of Tending a Changing World” in the fall 2024 issue of The MOF&G. When I saw he had written a book, I was excited for the chance to learn from his wisdom and experiences in this new format. It explores his relationship with a place he calls “Bear Island” — a parcel of forest that he is stewarding. Throughout, Tapper notes the many ways that climate change and past events in the forest are impacting the landscape today. Yet the message overall is one of hope and responsibility. He writes, “I dream that my future children and grandchildren will know Bear Island not as an expression of dysfunction but as a beacon of hope, vibrant and abundant.”
The forest Tapper cares for has been severely impacted, as are many of the woodlands that we all know and love. The book is an exploration of some of the actions that Tapper is taking to help the forest heal and grow stronger in the future, and they may be especially relevant to others who might be considering the best ways to manage land under their stewardship. These specific examples can serve as inspiration, but the book isn’t prescriptive. Rather, it explores a broader relationship of responsibility for and caretaking of the forest and how that might manifest itself in specific forest management practices.
The book also weaves together some of the history of the landscape, current ecology, and hopes for the future. There are explorations on passenger pigeons, changing land management practices, invasive species, and wolf trees, just to name a few of the journeys Tapper takes us on as he weaves his personal narrative with broader historical and ecological topics. This timely exploration may inspire you to consider ways in which you are interacting with the land around you. Tapper writes, “I wish not for a perfect relationship with this forest but for a good one; that we may both become a small piece of a better world.”
– Anna Libby
This review was originally published in the spring 2025 issue of The Maine Organic Farmer & Gardener. Browse the archives for free content on organic agriculture and sustainable living practices.
