Green Underwear. . - News from the World of Trees - book review

American Forests, Summer, 2002 by Zane Smith

Like the main character in his new novel, U.S. Forest Service retiree Stan Tixier ascribes to the policy of "green underwear." After a long and distinguished career, Tixier has turned to cowboy poetry, writing, and Missouri foxtrotters. Green Underwear: The Life and Times of a U.S. Forest Ranger is his latest effort.

The book is as much a primer on public land management and the politics that guide it as it is a novel about mythical District Ranger Larry Weaver and the "green underwear" principles that guide him through a range of conflicting issues.

Anyone who has worked on the national forests will attest to the authenticity of Ranger Weaver's work and interactions between the Forest Service and its partners and clients. Those who have no such experiences will gain unusually accurate insight into the tugging and pulling that eventually results in Forest Service decisions and direction. Having lived nearly every event recounted in the book, Tixier has left nothing out.

Just as in real life, Ranger Weaver's life is wound inseparably to his work, staff, cooperators, the public, and his family. He switches moment to moment from range riders to the governor, from bankers to loggers, from high-roller businessmen to his kids, and from his church to orchestrating a team effort to fight a forest fire or other event threatening his District.

Weaver spends much of his time balancing his life and those of his family and staff while wading through a morass of laws and regulations affecting national forests amid widely divergent opinions about just how the natural resources under his care should be managed.

The reader will be served up a smorgasbord of events and issues that reflect the diversity of managing the national forests. If you've ever wondered how those decisions are made and how work is actually accomplished, this is a hook you won't want to miss. If you already know, you'll enjoy this quick read that is more fact than fiction about the work of a district ranger and staff and the influence on their families.

Green Underwear is published by Cedar Fort, Inc.; 801/489-4984, on the web at www.cedarfort.com or www.westernheritage.com