Betsy Howell presents 'Wild Forest Home'

Third Place Books and the North Cascades Institute present Betsy Howell as part of our Spring 2025 Nature of Writing series! Howell will be discussing her memoir, . The twenty-five essays in Wild Forest Home chronicle Howell’s career and personal experiences studying the wildlife of the Pacific Northwest during the litigious listing of the northern spotted owl and marbled murrelet under the Endangered Species Act and the Clinton administration’s adoption of the seminal 1994 Northwest Forest Plan. This event is free and open to the public.

This event is co-sponsored by the North Cascades Institute, a nonprofit conservation organization working to inspire environmental stewardship through transformative learning experiences in nature. Learn more at ncascades.org.

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This event is free to attend. Registration is required in advance.

Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, Betsy L. Howell spent her childhood exploring and thriving in old-growth coniferous forests. In the summer of 1986, she volunteered in Mt. Hood National Forest, surveying northern spotted owls. That summer position turned into three decades as a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Forest Service during a time of tremendous change within the agency.
The twenty-five essays in Wild Forest Home chronicle Howell’s career and personal experiences studying the wildlife of the Pacific Northwest during the litigious listing of the northern spotted owl and marbled murrelet under the Endangered Species Act and the Clinton administration’s adoption of the seminal 1994 Northwest Forest Plan. Meanwhile, Howell toiled on fire crews, searched for rare species, helped to monitor fishers reintroduced to the Olympic Peninsula, tested amphibians for deadly diseases, became a writer, and mourned the deaths of her parents. This captivating memoir seamlessly blends story and science to reveal a unique portrait of the struggles and joys of one wildlife biologist.

Betsy L. Howell is a writer and wildlife biologist living on Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula. She has worked as a biologist since 1986 after earning her bachelor’s degree in wildlife management at Washington State University. She began writing in 1998 and has published articles on natural history and travel in American Forests, Earth Island Journal, The Wildlife Professional, South Loop Review, Clackamas Literary Review, Apple Valley Review, 1859 Oregon’s Magazine, and Prairie Fire. Her two previous books are Acoustic Shadows (Rainforest Press 2007), a memoir about her father and great-great-grandfather and their lives as soldiers; and The Marvelous Orange Tree (Rainforest Press 2017), a story chronicling the life and war experiences of a woman soldier during the American Civil War. Her latest work, Wild Forest Home (University of Utah Press 2024), is a collection of essays spanning the years between 1986 and 2020. Howell worked in two national forests in Oregon before moving to Washington State’s Olympic National Forest in 2004. In these essays, Howell reflects on her career and personal experiences studying the wildlife of the Pacific Northwest during the litigious listing of the northern spotted owl and marbled murrelet under the Endangered Species Act and the Clinton administration’s adoption of the seminal 1994 Northwest Forest Plan. She describes the evolving nature of wildfire that she’s experienced and the rapidly changing technology to better understand the biology and distribution of rare species. During these years, Howell toiled on fire crews, searched for rare species, helped to monitor fishers reintroduced to the Olympic Peninsula, and tested amphibians for deadly diseases. The use of remote sensing, including cameras, acoustic recording equipment, and environmental DNA collection, have become widely used in recent years, and Howell describes both their utility for advancing wildlife science as well as their continuing limitations.

Founded in 1998 in Lake Forest Park, Washington, Third Place Books is dedicated to the creation of a community around books and the ideas inside them. With locations in Lake Forest Park and Seattle's Ravenna and Seward Park neighborhoods, Third Place Books is proud to serve the entire Seattle metro area. Learn more about their event series at thirdplacebooks.com/events

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Third Place Books, 6504 20th Ave NE, Seattle, United States