Description
Book SynopsisOffers a biography of a person and a place. The book describes how Nancy Russell, a woman with no political, fundraising, or organising experience, mounted a national campaign to overcome eighty years of conflict - some of it later directed at her through slashed tires and death threats - to protect the Columbia River Gorge.
Trade Review“Author Bowen Blair had a front-row seat at one of the late 20th century’s most protracted, unlikely, and ultimately successful conservation stories, and his telling of it reads like a whodunnit. He compellingly traces his protagonist’s journey from self-described ‘small and provincial’ housewife to one of the country’s most admired public lands advocates as she goes toe-to-toe with US senators and overcomes myriad reversals, even death threats."—Bonnie Henderson, author of
The Next Tsunami and
Hiking the Oregon Coast Trail"In a time when the world feels tilting towards despair, read this book. Learn from the example of one courageous woman who didn't know how to give up and overcame what seemed insurmountable odds to give us, and future generations, a national treasure--the unspoiled beauty of the Columbia River Gorge. This sweeping story, meticulously researched, affords us much needed hope that values such as integrity, idealism and altruism still exist."—Marcy Houle, author of
A Generous Nature and
The Prairie Keepers"The Columbia River Gorge was the nation’s first proposed national scenic area, and certainly its most controversial. Now, forty years after I held the first of several contentious hearings for the National Scenic Area Act, it protects one of the country’s most scenic and historic landscapes, as well as its cultural and recreational values. The Gorge’s economy and population thrive. We should look to the National Scenic Area as a model for protecting other nationally significant, complex areas, and to Nancy Russell and
A Force for Nature for inspiration."—;Bob Packwood, former U.S. Senator, sponsor of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Act.
“As a former Oregon Governor, a former Gorge commissioner, and especially as a woman, I always admired Nancy Russell for the monumental challenges she overcame to protect the Columbia Gorge.
A Force for Nature describes Russell’s against-all-odds campaign in a way that entertains and inspires readers. And readers can draw insights into protecting their own treasured landscapes—even if those landscapes don’t span 85 miles, two states, a major river, and a mountain range."—Barbara Roberts, former Governor, State of Oregon
"A Force for Nature: Nancy Russell’s Fight to Save the Columbia Gorge is great reading for anyone who has played a role, big or small, or wants to, in the battles to conserve the lands, landscapes and wildlife of Greater Yellowstone and the wider West."—Robert Liberty,
Mountain Journal"[A] fast-paced and gripping narrative.... An inspirational tale that embodies the best of American grit and determination."—Paul Krause,
Merion West
