American Indians and National Forests [Paperback]

Winner of the Forest History Society's 2017 Charles A. Weyerhaeuser Book Award

American Indians and National Foreststells the story of how the U.S. Forest Service and tribal nations dealt with sweeping changes in forest use, ownership, and management over the last century and a half. Indians and U.S. foresters came together over a shared conservation ethic on many cooperative endeavors; yet, they often clashed over how the nation’s forests ought to be valued and cared for on matters ranging from huckleberry picking and vision quests to road building and recreation development.

Marginalized in American society and long denied a seat at the table of public land stewardship, American Indian tribes have at last taken their rightful place and are making themselves heard. Weighing indigenous perspectives on the environment is an emerging trend in public land management in the United States and around the world. The Forest Service has been a strong partner in that movement over the past quarter century.

Winner of the Forest History Society's Charles A. Weyerhaeuser Book Award,American Indians and National Forestsshows how tribal nations and the U.S. Forest Service have dealt with important changes in forest ownership and forest use. Author Theodore Catton expertly covers two centuries of interplay to offer the first-ever look at the changing relationships between these two important groups of forest stewards.

Theodore Catton is a historian and co-proprietor of Environmental History Workshop in Missoula, Montana. He is an associate research professor of history at the University of Montana. He is the author ofInhabited Wilderness: Indians, Eskimos, and National Parks in AlaskaandNational Park, City Playground: Mount Rainier in the Twentieth Century.

“Catton covers a range of important issues, from specific case studies of tribal and USFS failures and succeslÃG