Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet by Ben Goldfarb

Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet Reviews

• 
  Bridey

  i gripe a bit about how hard it is to get places in the adirondacks, but also not really meaning it because i know it’s due to wilderness areas not permitting roads, and road limits on the park as a whole - so it’s overall a good thing that i like. but wow, this book made me not just think “okay, few roads in a big park is annoying as a driver but probably be better for animals” but realize how lucky and amazing it is that i get to live in such a roadless place; that 200-whatever years ago some people put together this forest preserve and it is now almost an oasis. 80% of the contiguous US is within just 1 kilometer of a road. 80%!!!!! how amazing that the habitat that we have exists here! (also- not touched on in the book, but i am curious about what impact trails have on plants/ecosystems/wildlife. goldfarb does count ATV/snowmobile “trails” as roads i believe, since their speed and motors impact wildlife like a road does)
  
  i like the way this is written. it’s like a really passionate professor is talking to you and using a lot of technical jargon but also explaining it really well and often in funny ways. so it kind of is like a textbook, but also not. it took me a long time to get through and it’s not a very long book, but it’s just so full of so much and i highly recommend it as a read. it’s worth it.
  
  ps the ending about the “anthropause” during covid. made me think about crying a little
• 
  Geoffrey

  Once again, Ben Goldfarb (disclaimer: he's one of my BFFs) has written a book that will forever change how I (and, I suspect, many readers) will view parts of my daily life. Last time it was any natural landscape I walked in, wondering whether it should be more beaverful; this time, it's roads. I know the next time I'm driving I'll be acutely aware of how the paved path I'm on is perceived by the wildlife that I can't see. And every time I see one of those yellow wildlife-crossing signs, I'll know that they do exactly nothing (though maybe this book will make readers actually slow down in response to them).
  
  Ben brings his usual wit and eye for humor and irony to the places, people, and creatures he visits; there are scenes in this book that will never leave my brain (that of biologists giving icewater enemas to overheated mule deer, for one). And he points the way towards a future where new roads and repaired infrastructure can make the world better for wildlife and humans alike.
  
• 
  Shelley

  Thank you again, Ben Goldfarb, for expanding the horizons of this literary fiction buff into the realm of environmental non-fiction. First beavers, now roads. Who knew? Crossings opened my eyes to the unseen (to me) impact that road ecology has on our world. Yes, I live in Michigan, grew up in the Motor City and have traversed the roads that connect - and divide - the great city of Detroit. I have clutched my pearls at the gruesome sight of all the roadkill (deer, skunks, birds) lining I-75 (and other thoroughfares) but until I read Crossings, I thought of these victims as little more than unfortunate animals that failed to cross a buzzing highway populated with tractor trailers, speeding muscle cars, and people trying to get home to the suburbs after a day's work (pre- and post-pandemic anyway). Goldfarb's carefully researched and thoughtfully written book changed my POV and helped me see how our roads have far more impact beyond the apparent (and rigged) Frogger game played by unwitting wildlife and motorists. A road is never just a road, indeed. A great read.
• 
  Marie

  This gorgeous book is superbly researched, ambitious in scope, funny, heartfelt, and deeply empathetic to animals and humans as it confronts the vast, necessary mistake of roads. I learned something on every page. Goldfarb has this ability to sketch the history and impacts of an ecological problem that is devastating in its immensity, and yet highlight bright spots where people—just regular people who want the world to be better—have found ways, small but ever so important, to fix a broken system. Hope is always lurking around the corners of this book.
• 
  Nancy Lewis

  A fascinating look at how roads impact the places they traverse and how they might be improved to better fit into their environments.
• 
  Carmen Dyck

  An incredible insight into what we as humans think we’re entitled to… and what we really aren’t. Even as we transition to electric vehicles, which are supposedly better for the environment, we fail to notice that the very infrastructure that supports this transit is killing millions of the animals who were here first. This book provides excellent perspectives of what roads do wrong — and what we need to do in the future to fix them.
• 
  Robert Sheard

  I had never heard of road ecology. But the whole idea of roads and their impact on plant and animals is so interesting. Long live the bicycle!
• 
  Chris

  An ode to roadkill. I don’t think there’s anybody alive who hasn’t pondered upon seeing a dead animal alongside a road about the impact, cost, and effects we are exacting upon nature in our machines, always in a hurry. This book addresses that and splendidly so.
• 
  Annapurna Holtzapple

  Had I initially realized this book was about road ecology I would probably not have read it so thank goodness I didn’t read the subtitle! This book is amazing and I will literally never be on a road or in a vehicle in the same way ever again. If you are at all interested in transit/urban planning/WUI/anti-cars this book is for you! If you’re interested in biodiversity, or EJ/structural oppression, or international dev, this is for you. Not just is it so important but so well written?! Figures, I guess, if you’re going to write a book about something as niche and (seemingly) inane as roads, then you better make it fantastic. I honestly don’t even think it is that nerdy of me this is just a great read.
  
• 
  Aaryn

  This is one of the most fascinating books I've ever read -- who knew road ecology would be such an intriguing topic? This book has forever changed how I think about roads. The audiobook is excellent; highly recommended if you are interested in nature or how humans impact the natural world.
• 
  John

  I read Eager and thoroughly enjoyed it and recommended it to family and friends. I am equally enthusiastic about this book if not more. Ben does a fantastic job of peeling back the layers of our day to day existence to reveal a complex, multi-layered world that is hiding in plain site.
  
  If you use a road on a daily basis this book will astound you. If you are planning a road trip in the near future read this book now! Even if you are not planning a road trip you should still READ THIS BOOK NOW!
• 
  Amber

  Of course I loved this book - it brings together two of my favorite things; ecology and infrastructure. Goldfarb brings together various elements of road ecology that until now have been told through a variety of articles and books. Goldfarb's written style combines scientific information and beautiful prose - it's a combination that does this sometimes difficult subject (reading about the annihilation of species as a result of our design is difficult) justice.
  
  I disliked the way the publisher set up the hyperlinks to the citations, especially when they used the footnotes correctly otherwise. If the idea is to push people to citations, and I get it is important to ensure attribution, then use standard practice correctly.
  
  Edit: My kindle highlights aren't showing up on Goodreads ;/
• 
  Melanie Gillman

  Really appreciated this — a thorough look at how roads affect various wildlife ecosystems, and the things we’re trying that both help and do not help mitigate their damage to the planet.
• 
  Candace

  DNF @ 8% on audio. Depressing with doomsday hyperbole that's annoying. Also, I'm bored.
• 
  Erin McMahon

  Made me think about the impacts our roads have on our ecology. Loved the Snoqualmie pass references
• 
  Adam

  I enjoyed this book immensely. As a wildlife biologist working for my state’s wildlife agency, I spend a great deal of time mired in the issues concerning this state’s ever expanding spiderweb of road networks. My job entails the evaluation and mitigation of existing crossings as well as the species that are impacted by roads and the vehicles that travel on them. Crossings helped expand my knowledge base in ways that will be directly applicable to my day to day. Much of what is detailed in its pages can be understood by the layperson with no background in ecology of wildlife management, but I felt that having that enriched my comprehension of the subject matter without having to go a-Googling every other paragraph. I appreciated that the topics ranged across a variety of species and landscapes, from impacts on ungulates and higher level carnivores to fish passage and the ripples that highways can send across our own society. The latter took examples from my hometown and even dropped names of familiar landmarks and past acquaintances. Every chapter taught me something new, or proffered a novel lens through which to gain a more broad understanding of familiar topics. I’d recommend this book to anyone looking to gain a deeper understanding of how our presence on the landscape impacts this planet’s other tenants, and while not everyone can be in the position to make positive changes to lessen that impact, anyone can approach their own personal impact in a more mindful and respectful way.
• 
  Omar

  I’ve greatly enjoyed reading Ben Goldfarb’s new book, "Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet." It’s an insightful journey around the globe that details the evolution of various road-wildlife challenges and the creative solutions that are quickly becoming more mainstream.
  
  Importantly, I found it offers a fresh lens with which to see our world. Each one of us who drives or rides in a car is a participant in this wide interface of biology and infrastructure that at every turn holds the potential to end living beings’ lives. Ben presses us, as members of a society that institutionally strives to minimize harm, to follow through on our collective “yearn for grace”—and he shows us tangible places where that grace is being extended to wild creatures.
  
  Told with Ben’s characteristic voice, empathy, and more than one Middle-Earth reference, I can only give it my most enthusiastic recommendation.
• 
  Caroline Van

  Read after seeing annapurna said she wanted to on goodreads (hey!!)
  
  Really fun and fascinating.
  
  Notes:
  
  It’s not why did the chicken cross the road but why did the roar cross the path of the chicken
  
  Roadkill blaming—comics showing animals getting hit by cars as stupid.
  
  Luring jaguars in the crossing in Costa Rica with perfume
  
  Distinct populations and different dna bottle necks on literally different sides of the highway
  
  Tasmania insight—babies in the pouches go kangaroos. Carers take them out to save them and spray their bellies so people know
  
  Superstitious about anteaters. People are so scared of themmmmmm dkskskskksk. If you see one your wife will cheat on you and to make sure she doesn’t you have to spank the anteater.
  
  During covid New York stock exchange told workers they couldn’t take public transportation to work 😭
  
• 
  Olivia

  4.5 rounded up. There is something so special about listening to an audiobook about niche subjects. For example, I can think of exactly one person who I could recommend this to…and I know they’ll see this.
• 
  Shannon

  Highly recommend this as a very well written and well composed overview of road ecology and surrounding sciences. And five stars are deserved if only for introducing me to the word "necrobiome". I knew this had to be a thing!!! For months the term for it evaded me.
• 
  Kara Estelle-Powers

  I never thought I’d read a book that talks so much about roadkill, but this was a really fascinating and well-written book. I listened to the audio version, and there were so many interesting and/or surprising statistics that I was regularly pausing to share what I learned with my husband.
• 
  Kelsey Kerton

  This book was super interesting and educational, well written nonfiction text about the way roads affect humans and wildlife alik e.
• 
  Robin Larson

  I decided to check out this book when I listened to the Ologies podcast’s episode on road ecology. This book was fascinating, hopeful, and not too dry!
• 
  Noah Isherwood

  excellent primer on why we should all think a lot harder about our mobility choices
• 
  Jonathan

  This was an excellent read about the manifold evils of roads to our world. Excellently organized nonfiction book that manages to be insightful, informative, and intriguing all at once.
• 
  Amanda Breslauer

  “What could be more American than blaming deep-rooted problems on individual failings rather than corporate power structures?”
  
  Feeling inspired to pick up the power broker again!!