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Whether in a city or the wilderness, near or far, there’s joy to be had in a journey where the destination doesn’t matter (READ MORE)
A maverick ecologist went to court against the National Park Service. Behind his lawsuit is a larger question: Is it appropriate to use unnatural means such as chainsaws and logging equipment to save ancient sequoias and protect public lands? (READ MORE)
Rafting the Grand Canyon seemed the perfect wilderness escape until we found we’d brought a deadly virus with us (READ MORE)
In a December 25th story on Outside Online by Los Angeles writer Shawnté Salabert, Outside Magazine named Jordan Fisher Smith’s Engineering Eden as one of ten books that shaped the outdoor world in the last decade. Among others named were Cheryl Strayed’s Wild, Elizabeth Kolbert’s The Sixth Extinction, Naomi Klein’s This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs Climate, and David James Haskell’s The Forest Unseen. At least one book editor had two books in the list, Crown Publishing’s Kevin Doughten, who edited Haskell and Smith’s books.
“Here are ten books from the past ten years that sparked debate, changed discourse, and spawned movements in the outdoor world. These stories made us marvel at the seemingly impossible limits of the human body and feel enthralled with the wonders of nature. They mobilized us to stand up against environmental injustice, taught us about climate change, and inspired us to take our ideas out into the world,” wrote Salabert. (read the full article)
The Experiment Publishing, a boutique publisher of nonfiction distributed by Workman, will publish a new paperback edition of Engineering Eden. Expected publication date is February 2019.
May 8, 2017: The Commonwealth Club of California has awarded Jordan Fisher Smith’s Engineering Eden the Silver Medal for nonfiction in the 2017 California Book Awards. The Commonwealth Club is the nation’s oldest and largest public affairs forum, bringing over 400 annual events on topics ranging across politics, culture, society and the economy to more than 20,000 members. The club’s California Book Awards strive to annually recognize the state’s best writers and illuminate the wealth and diversity of California-based literature.
The award ceremony will take place at June 12 at 6:00 PM, at the Commonwealth Club 555 Post Street, San Francisco. The program will be followed by a book signing at 7:15. For further information and tickets, click here.
Listen here to a podcast of Jordan and author John Hart in conversation with host Greg Dalton in a broadcast from the Commonwealth Club in July of 2016.
In December 2016, Engineering Eden was nominated and longlisted for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Award, which celebrates writing that exemplifies literary excellence on the subject of physical and biological sciences.
Should We Control Nature to Make It Nicer? Death by grizzly, a trial, and the fight over controlling nature
By Michael Engelhard | Jan 20 2017
Former California park ranger Jordan Fisher Smith knows the dark side of the outdoors. He wrote Nature Noir–an account of crazed miners, violent drug users, and other backcountry dangers–and suffered for years from undiagnosed Lyme disease, which he contracted while on patrol. His new book, Engineering Eden: The True Story of a Violent Death, a Trial, and the Fight Over Controlling Nature (Crown, 2016), tackles the issue of managing wildness.