Jordan Fisher Smith worked for 21 years as a park ranger in California, Wyoming, Idaho, and Alaska. The author of Nature Noir and narrator of the documentary Under Our Skin, he has written for The New Yorker, Men's Journal, and many other outlets.
"Winner of the California Book Award, Silver Medal for
Nonfiction
Longlisted for the PEN / E.O. Wilson Award for Literary Science
Writing
One of Outside magazine’s 10 Outdoor Books that Shaped the Last
Decade
"An intensely reported, rousingly readable and ambitiously
envisioned book . . . weaves together a dramatic court case in Los
Angeles, a grizzly-bear attack, and a surprisingly fascinating
debate over what constitutes the word ’natural’ when it comes to
national parks. . . a thrilling read. Like the best visions for
parks, it combines the human and the animal, the managed and the
natural, the controlled and the wild."
*The Wall Street Journal*
"Storytelling and historical narrative of the highest caliber . . .
Jordan Fisher Smith digs deeply into the evolving tension at the
heart of the national park idea: Should parks be left untouched or
managed for people’s enjoyment? Clear and compelling, this is a
courtroom drama alive with unforgettable characters and a
contemplation of our relationship with wild nature."
*Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan, authors of The National Parks:
America’s Best Idea*
"Former ranger Jordan Fisher Smith . . . seduces readers with a
public lands parable masquerading as a wildly entertaining
thriller."
*Outside*
"Timely and thoughtful . . . A vivid account of conflicts within
the National Park Service over managing bears and other wild
animals—conflicts that contributed to tragic results . . . Smith’s
book will draw you in with his passion, thoughtfulness, and
first-rate storytelling."
*Seattle Times*
"Engineering Eden is a fascinating book about the relationship
between humankind and nature. Jordan Fisher Smith illuminates the
often embittered arguments what our role in wilderness should be,
and has written a vivid historical account that sheds light on our
place in nature’s complex web of life."
*Andrea Wulf, author of The Invention of Nature*
"[Engineering Eden] is a dramatic, eye-opening chronicle of the
struggle to preserve wilderness while making it accessible to the
public . . . A galvanizing storyteller fluent in the conflict
between environmental science and politics, Smith brings every
player into sharp and indelible focus as he illuminates the urgent
issues national parks grapple with as they struggle to wisely
manage predators, invasive species, wildfires, and people."
*Booklist, starred review*
"A searching study of a tragedy and the legal contest that followed
it, one that shaped the course of national park policy in the
modern age. Is a natural environment modified by humans still
natural? It’s not just a question for philosophers . . . Smith, who
understands that nature is ’a web of complex relations,’ tells this
complicated story clearly and well. Excellent reading for students
of park policy, wildlife management, and other resource
issues."
*Kirkus Reviews*
"Smith has pulled off an amazing feat: He’s made wildlife
management urgent and engrossing, writing about it with clarity,
depth and a storyteller’s pacing . . . an outstanding introduction
to ecological decision-making"
*Shelf Awareness*
"This meticulously investigated history of Yellowstone and its
wildlife management problems should appeal to fans of Jack Olsen’s
classic Night of the Grizzlies, as well as to readers interested in
the broader issue of how much humans should intervene in nature in
order to preserve it."
*Library Journal*
"This is a big, ambitious book about a seemingly small, if horrific
event—a grizzly devouring a young man. And Jordan Fisher Smith has
succeeded in his ambition. He produced a wonderful book,
’wonderful’ not only because of the quality of the writing, but
because the book is filled with wondering; Smith uses that horror
as a narrative focal point to explore science, policy making,
bureaucracy, ego, even the law, and when he explores something he
goes deep."
*John M. Barry, author of Rising Tide and The Great Influenza*
"What is ’nature’? In a narrative delivered with elegance and
vigor, Jordan Fisher Smith shows that our answers to this question
have life-and-death consequences, for humans and for the ecosystems
in which we live."
*David George Haskell, author of The Forest Unseen*
"A probing look at efforts to manage the ’wild’ in our fading
wilderness—and at the trouble resulting when our guesses are wrong.
Engineering Eden is especially timely as we consider our
responsibilities to nature on this fast-warming planet."
*Tom Kizzia, author of Pilgrim’s Wilderness*
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