A Good Forest for Dying

"A Good Forest for Dying traces the long history of bitter clashes between environmental concerns and economic interests in the American West and shows why these tensions came to a head in northern California in the 1990s. It tells the story of how Pacific Lumber, once an environmentally friendly, family-owned business, became part of a conglomerate whose business practices made it a ripe target for environmental activists. Patrick Beach explores the blue-collar community of lumbermen, several generations old, thrust into irreconcilable conflict with an environmental activist community whose ideals and passions were no less powerful. A Good Forest for Dying is also the story of Gypsy Chain, a troubled young man raised in a loving family. In a great forest, far from his small Texas hometown, he died before he had a chance to come to terms with himself and his family. But his mother never lost faith in her sometimes wayward, idealistic son. After his death, helped by a team of astute lawyers, she mounted a fight for justice in his name - and the cause of saving the redwoods."--BOOK JACKET.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.