... this book by British Columbia–based ecology writer Bourgon delves into the complexities of the illegal timber market in an evenhanded manner. Focusing primarily on forestry in the Pacific Northwest, the author explains how timber poaching—although difficult to prosecute—is an offense with significant long-term ramifications to the global economy and the well-being of all living creatures. At the same time, Bourgon’s interviews with poachers (and with police, former loggers, Indigenous communities, and international timber cartels) help readers to be sympathetic to the circumstances. The book is grounded in these interviews and research, but it also dips into narrative nonfiction that puts readers in the mindset of its subjects (e.g., the anxious moment of stumbling onto a recently abandoned poaching site). It might be hard to sell readers on the unsexy crime of stealing trees, but there’s much of interest in this book (high-tech efforts to catch poachers and identify stolen trees; the supply chain by which illegal timber from around the world finds its way into U.S. stores and homes) ... Fascinating for motivated readers.
Bourgon puts herself in the poacher’s shoes, and the result is a refreshing and compassionate warning about the perils of well-intentioned but overzealous environmentalism ... Bourgon paints both sides in sympathetic hues, and she takes a largely neutral stance on who’s right and who’s wrong in the cat-and-mouse game she details. She sees — and does her best to convey — the poachers and their pursuers in an evenhanded manner ... The problem is that the stakes are far from even. On the one hand, unemployed loggers and others who are suffering economically because of stringent enforcement of conservation laws are facing poverty. On the other hand, the damage that poachers are inflicting on forests appears to be, in the grand scheme of things, modest.
Bourgon, who’s written on the topic for National Geographic and Smithsonian, brings a nuanced understanding to an important, overlooked environmental issue.
Through extensive research, interviews, and diligent boots-on-the-ground reporting, Bourgon evenhandedly examines the many factors involved, including the effects of unemployment on timber communities, including substance abuse and increased crime rates; the ravages of timber poaching on the environment; and the challenges, fears, and dangers faced by law enforcement agencies attempting to capture and prosecute timber poachers. Bourgon also discusses timber poaching in other regions of the world, particularly the Amazon, noting the many similarities to the plight of the Pacific Northwest ... An enlightening and well-balanced account of the potential effects of environmental protections on local communities.
Poaching timber from public lands has a long history, which Bourgon outlines adeptly ... In supple, thoughtful prose that may remind you of Rebecca Solnit, Bourgon argues that however well-intentioned these policies are — even how essential they are to the health of the planet — they 'disregard and marginalize the working-class people who not only live among the trees but rely on them to survive' ... The subtitle of Tree Thieves' promises a North American focus, but some of its strongest chapters take place in the Amazon Basin, where an estimated 80% of all Amazonian wood harvested is poached. Here Bourgon finds a bit of good news: Along Peru’s Rio Tambopata, a 15,000-acre Indigenous-run conservation concession is attempting to manage the forest sustainably.
Bourgon explores the lucrative and complex crime of timber poaching in her fascinating debut ... Bourgon’s thoughtful approach and sharp investigative reporting will give environmentalists, policymakers, and park lovers a new perspective on the consequences of prioritizing endangered environments at the expense of the people who live in them. Nature lovers, take note.
