A couple of years ago while browsing in my local bookstore, Broadside Bookshop, I came across Reading the Forested Landscape by Antioch University New England faculty-member Tom Wessels. Intrigued by its concept, and always eager to add to my small library of natural history and ecology books, I picked up a copy.

What at first seemed liked just another nature-y book turned out to be so much more. Rather than take the more conventional and microcosmic approach of identifying a single tree, track, or species, Wessels seeks to understand the macrocosmic view of landscapes and ecosystems as a whole, and also through time.

Put another way, Tom Wessels tracks landscapes.

This book is a must have for any nature enthusiast, tracker, hiker or backpacker, birder, hunter, forester, etc. If you pick up a copy, it will almost certainly change the way you look at the woods and world around you forever.

And, if you’re interested in an introduction to tracking, or in honing your skills, check out our program The First Science: The Art of Animal Track and Sign.

Tom Wessels

This video has been making the rounds recently, and for good reason. Reminiscent of Aldo Leopold’s Thinking Like a Mountain, it presents a convincing argument for the presence of large predators in ecosystems.

It’s beautiful, and I can almost guarantee that it will expand the way you view landscape.