Tending the Wild By M. Kat Anderson

Full title: Tending the Wild: Native American Knowledge and the Management of California's Natural Resources.

I'm so glad that this book exists. When I was studying in England I was blown away to learn about semi-natural ecosystems. In my mind there was only wilderness and not wilderness and wilderness was what we needed to conserve at all costs. Learning that there where rich, amazingly diverse ecosystems in which human interaction was necessary changed that. I now believe certain human actives need to be maintained maxim biodiversity.

However I still didn't know anything about semi-natural ecosystems here in California. Tending the Wild really filled that gap, with detailed descriptions of various harvesting techniques used by Native Californians. I found parts of this book heavy going -- especially the chapter about the history of how whites treated California Indians. (I wanted to cry) Some of the other parts where a bit dense.

Tending the Wild is well researched (with a huge bibliography) and uses many types of sources. It is hugely useful to have all this information in one book. This book should be read by everyone interested in conservation and restoration in California.