How about a book review to kick off the Fall season?! I did not know that the art of tree climbing existed before reading Richard Preston’s The Wild Trees,1 and what an intriguing and mysterious art it is! In this nonfiction narration, Preston delves into the history of tree climbing in the redwood trees of Northern California, weaving together the personal lives of the climbers with information about these ancient titan trees. In a little under 300 pages, Preston opens the reader’s eyes to this redwood canopy ecosystem that is only just beginning to be understood by humans.
Redwoods are fascinating specimens, and it is no wonder that so many people have dedicated their lives to studying them. There are three types of redwoods. First, there are coastal redwoods, which are the tallest trees in the world and grow within 10 miles of the coast in California. They grow in temperate rain forests, which get at least 80 inches of rain per year. Additionally, they flourish in the fog but don’t like salt air.2 Second, there are giant sequoias. Giant sequoias are the most massive trees in the world and once grew throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Now, however, the giant sequoias can only be found scattered throughout the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California.3 Lastly, there are the dawn redwoods, which are native to China and were once thought to be extinct. The dawn redwood is different than the other two types because it is deciduous, meaning its leaves shed in the fall.4 Some redwoods living today were alive during the Roman Empire, since many live to be over 2,000 years old!5
Preston himself lives in New Jersey and has been a writer for The New Yorker since 1985. However, the story begins with three college boys in the late 1980s that decide to go backpacking in a small state park in Northern California during a fall break. None of them had ever seen a coastal redwood before, but while they’re hiking, two of them – Steve Sillett and Marwood Harris – decide to climb a redwood without ropes or experience. Steve reaches the top of the canopy and realizes how diverse and undiscovered the redwood canopy is, thus beginning his passion for redwood canopy science and tree climbing. The narration continues, beginning with other climbers’ life stories, before they knew what tree climbing was or even knew one another. While Preston jumps around in these life stories quite a bit, some transitions being more abrupt than ideal, he is able to make every character clear and distinct so that the reader does not confuse storylines.
What is remarkable about this field of science is that the foremost experts on redwood canopies and tree climbing never set out to have Ph.Ds. For instance, Michael Taylor, arguably one of the people who knows the redwood forests of Northern California best, was a grocery clerk when he first started trekking around searching for the tallest redwood he could find. Thus, just as interesting as learning about the redwoods and their canopy ecosystems was learning about the quirky lives of those who have explored and climbed in the redwood forests. The success of the story relies on the fact that it is a story not purely about science and not purely about human relationships but rather is the exploration of both. It is humbling to learn about humans interacting with such an archaic species, especially since in these interactions the humans are at the full mercy of the redwood. Despite ropes and safety precautions, Preston shows the reader how dangerous climbing redwoods can be – one false step can be a climber’s undoing.
The Wild Trees is an inspiring story about human perseverance, human relationships with one another, and human relationships with nature. This book is also a wonderful addition to the redwood conservation movement, as anyone who reads this book will want to keep these titans protected forever. As Preston states in his Author’s Note: “So many incredible things happen in our world that are never noticed, so many stories never get told. My goal is to reveal people and realms that nobody had ever imagined.” In my opinion, Preston certainly achieved this goal. I highly recommend this book to anyone with a love of adventure, a thirst for scientific knowledge, and an appreciation for nature.
