Ghosts of an Old Forest

In the Ohio counties of the Alleghany Plateau, 19th-century barns hewn from old-growth wood rest near remnant forests, reminders of the state’s deep agricultural roots and rich ecological past. Through fourteen linked, meditative essays, Deborah Fleming, author of the award-winning Resurrection of the Wild: Meditations on Ohio’s Natural Landscape, persuasively and passionately argues for protecting these vestiges of the region’s natural and rural history.

Fleming describes domesticated and wild nature on her farm; delves into Ohio’s rich history of agriculture; tackles the issues of litter and pollution; decries the practice of hydraulic fracturing (or “fracking”); and reflects on changes in communities bordering rivers, which are often the most exploited by extraction industries.

The result is an evocative collection, which traces Ohio’s natural and cultural history—and serves as an urgent call to preserve its splendor.