Jim Robbins
The Man Who Planted Trees, is the inspiring story of David Milarchâ€™s quest to clone the biggest trees on the planet in order to save our forests and ecosystemâ€”as well as a hopeful lesson about how each of us has the ability to make a difference.,â€œWhen is the best time to plant a tree? Twenty years ago. The second best time? Today.â€â€”Chinese proverb, Â , Twenty years ago, David Milarch, a northern Michigan nurseryman with a penchant for hard living, had a vision: angels came to tell him that the earth was in trouble. Its trees were dying, and without them, human life was in jeopardy. The solution, they told him, was to clone the champion trees of the worldâ€”the largest, the hardiest, the ones that had survived millennia and were most resilient to climate changeâ€”and create a kind of Noahâ€™s ark of tree genetics. Without knowing if the message had any basis in science, or why heâ€™d been chosen for this task, Milarch began his mission of cloning the worldâ€™s great trees. Many scientists and tree experts told him it couldnâ€™t be done, but, twenty years later, his team has successfully cloned some of the worldâ€™s oldest treesâ€”among them giant redwoods and sequoias. They have also grown seedlings from the oldest tree in the world, the bristlecone pine Methuselah., Â , When ,New York Times, journalist Jim Robbins came upon Milarchâ€™s story, he was fascinated but had his doubts. Yet over several years, listening to Milarch and talking to scientists, he came to realize that there is so much we do not yet know about trees: how they die, how they communicate, the myriad crucial ways they filter water and air and otherwise support life on Earth. It became clear that as the planet changes, trees and forest are essential to assuring its survival.,Praise for ,The Man Who Planted Trees,â€œAbsorbing, eloquent and loving . . . While Robbinsâ€™s tone is urgent, it doesnâ€™t compromise his crystal-clear science. . . . Even the smallest details here are fascinating.â€,â€”,The New York Times Book Review, Â , â€œThis is a story of miracles and obsession and love and survival. Told with Jim Robbinsâ€™s signature clarity and eye for telling detail, ,The Man Who Planted Trees, is also the most hopeful book Iâ€™ve read in years. I kept thinking of the end of Saint Francisâ€™s wonderful prayer, â€˜And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in the world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.â€™ â€,â€”Alexandra Fuller, author of ,Donâ€™t Letâ€™s Go to the Dogs Tonight,Â , â€œScientists can be confined by their own thinkingâ€”they know what they know. Itâ€™s amazing for one layman to come up with the idea of saving champion trees as a meaningful way to address the issues of biodiversity and climate change. This could be a grassroots solution to a global problem. A few million people selecting and planting the right trees for the right places could really make a difference.â€,â€”Ramakrishna Nemani, earth scientist,â€œThe great poet W. S. Merwin once wrote, â€˜On the last day of the world I would want to plant a tree.â€™ Itâ€™s good to see, in this lovely volume, that some folks are getting a head start!â€,â€”Bill McKibben, author of ,Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet,This book was printed in the United States of America on Rolland Enviroâ„¢ 100 Book, which is manufactured using FSC-certified 100% postconsumer fiber and meets permanent paper standards.
Nonfiction,Environment,Nature,Environment,Science,Nature,Plants,Biology,Ecology,Biography,Environment,Green,Gardening,History
The Man Who Planted Trees: Lost Groves, Champion Trees, and an Urgent Plan to Save the Planet