"Crossing from New Hampshire into Maine, the Wild River flows through a magnificent wilderness, its valley circumscribed by steep mountains. While this valley was logged out long ago, at least one 300-year-old hemlock has survived. Using that old tree as a symbol, Bennett tells the story of the Wild River and its valley, which (like the hemlock) are unlikely survivors. This story includes a raging wildfire and the disappearance of an entire village community; land abuse and land stewardship; ecological disaster and renewal; nature's vulnerability and resiliency; and people who experienced tragedy and good fortune. Liberally illustrated with photos, maps, and the author's delightful pen-and-ink drawings, this book will appeal to readers interested in natural history, New England, or nature writing."
—SciTech Book News

"This book is no polemic. It is a solid history of the big woods in Maine and New Hampshire, and the evolving understanding of its importance. Once measured simply by the value of its timber and bark, new values have been added, and in some cases, these have trumped old values . . . a book of enduring value that is exciting to read."
—Maine Sunday Telegram

This is the story of a magnificent wilderness in a relatively unknown valley, circumscribed by high, steep mountains. It is also the story of the valley's rogue river, Wild River; of a raging wildfire and the disappearance of an entire village community; of both land abuse and land stewardship; of ecological disaster and renewal; of nature's vulnerability and resiliency; and of people who experienced tragedy and good fortune. Amazingly, through the centuries a single mighty hemlock tree survived to be a living witness to it all.

Dean Bennett, who has spent a lifetime exploring the natural world and its human connections, brings to life this surprising story of the power of nature to renew. Illustrated with photographs and maps and Bennett's beautiful illustrations, Nature and Renewal has a message for everyone.

Dean B. Bennett is professor emeritus at the University of Maine at Farmington. Born and raised in Maine, he received a Ph.D. in Resource Planning and Conservation from the School of Natural Resources at the University of Michigan with a special emphasis in environmental education, a master's degree in science education from the University of Southern Maine, and an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Maine at Farmington. He is a journeyman cabinetmaker, completing a four-year apprenticeship at the F. O. Bailey Company in Portland, Maine, through the Maine State Apprenticeship Council, and after receiving a bachelor's degree in Industrial Arts Education at Gorham State Teachers College, he taught industrial arts in the Yarmouth, Maine, school system for several years. Much of his professional life, however, has been devoted to teaching, writing, and illustrating books in the fields of science and environmental education, natural history, and human relationships with nature. He served as the first environmental education school curriculum specialist in the Maine State Department of Education. He was among one-hundred educators selected by Unesco to participate in the first world environmental education conference in Belgrade Yugoslavia. He received the Percival Baxter Award for Leadership in Wilderness Preservation from the Maine Chapter of the Sierra Club, the Environmental Activist Award for protection of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway from the Natural Resources Council of Maine, and the Teacher of the Year Award from Maine Audubon Society. This is his ninth book in the nature/environment field. His other books include: Maine's Natural Heritage: Rare Species and Unique Natural Features; Allagash: Maine's Wild and Scenic River; The Forgotten Nature of New England: A Search for Traces of the Original Wilderness; The Wilderness from Chamberlain Farm: A Story of Hope for the American Wild; On Wilderness: Voices from Maine (in collaboration with Phyllis Austin and Robert Kimber); and three children's books about nature, which he also illustrated. He enjoys playing a plectrum banjo and hiking, canoeing, and skiing with his wife, biologist Sheila K. Bennett, in the north woods of Maine.