Pinhook: Finding Wholeness in a Fragmented Land by Janisse Ray

Pinhook: Finding Wholeness in a Fragmented Land Reviews

• 
  Brent

  I read Pinhook early in the calendar year 2021, so moved that I neglected to describe or review it.
  The natural territory described here is on the Georgia-Florida border, further East of the Suwannee River drainage I spent time living beside, but north of the Olustee Creek site on the other side of Columbia County which I would stop by to ogle the monuments to a Civil War land battle in which my Confederate ancestor took part. It's all connected, alongside pieces of Okefenokee and other public lands.
  This morning, I'm thinking of a current matter on lands adjoining the swamp to the East, and the matter of mining. Twin Pines Minerals, LLC, plans a mine within Trail Ridge, not in Pinhook, but adjoining high ground bounding the Swamp, to release air and light pollutants into the International Dark Sky Park, and discharge wastewater into the St. Mary's River basin. River writer Joe Cook reports for the Saporta Report on some aspects of this, here:
  https://saportareport.com/titanium-a-...
  All to say, we are all connected, and connecting public lands is both wise and beautiful, resulting, in this one instance, in a fine volume focusing on an out-of-the-way sector key to natural communities that adjoin human communities.
  My year, 1994-5, in White Springs, Florida, saw an experimental release and tracking of the Florida Panther in the wilds of North Florida. That was just previous to this conservation effort, and though that one failed, this one did not. We must connect and conserve.
  Highest recommendation.
• 
  Josh

  Very well written. The author's passion for this place and for wildness in general is evident. Her voice in this book makes a strong, but eloquent case for the need to preserve Pinhook and the adjacent areas. Anyone who lives in this part of the country should read this book so hopefully an appreciation of our wildness can be fostered.
• 
  Dianne

  A beautiful and excellent exploration of the longleaf and swampy communities in an area along the GA/FL border called Pinhook, and the heartbreaking struggles to save and preserve these habitats. This book set me off on a long journey of reading about longleaf pine...
• 
  Mark

  This book reminds me of one of those persuasive speeches you had to give in college speech class. I typically really enjoy the writer until her worldview (4 legs good, 2 legs bad) gets in the way of the writing... which it does here. For example, comparing ecosystem fragmentation to an Iraqi man surrounded by 10 coffins containing the bodies of his family lost to a war attack is a bizarre analogy. Even so, there are many snippets of inspiration to be found. And I can appreciate the importance of Pinhook's salvation even if I wouldn't want to visit.
• 
  Barbara

  For anyone interested in nature conservation, this book is a plea to save some of the last truly wild land in Georgia, the Pinhook Swamp. I don't know how the project to create a large wildlife corridor that would connect with the Appalachian Trail is going. Last I heard, industry is still trying to gain access to parts of the Okefenokee Swamp.
  
  Unless the economy changes, I don't see think we can get rural Georgians to stop eating our seed corn. Sighs.
• 
  Emily Bragg

  Beautiful and sharp as the rest of her books I've read have been, but definitely felt more grim. A fitting tone here in 2021 when the fight to protect the okefenokee still carries on.
• 
  Kate Van

  One of Janisse's most underrated books. One I hope inspires others to write of the habitat and ecologies of their own slices of the South. We need more of this writing.
• 
  Marjorie

  We visited Pinhook as a result of reading this book. The place is way more interesting than my eyes would have noticed before. I'd like to go again.
• 
  Michelle

  I enjoyed reading this book about putting an ecosystem back together and what it means to be fragmented in community and landscape. The book felt a little disjointed and it's not my favorite of the other books I'veread of hers (Ecology of a Cracker Childhood and Wildcard Quilt), but this was still good reading. My favorite parts were in the italics! So glad I discovered her and she has given me many places to my "must visit" list in the southeast.
• 
  Holly

  Anyone interested in ecology want a free book? I can't get into this.
• 
  Liz

  The ecology and history of the longleaf pine forests in the southern United States and this woman's elegantly written story of how it is slowly being saved.
• 
  Carol

  I love what Ray is doing generally as a writer and activist, but thought this was the weakest work of hers I've read so far. It felt more like a long essay patchworked into a book.
• 
  Randall

  I have found a renewed interest in nature writing. Sense of place is very southern. This book is a quick read about South Georgia and the denizens who live in the area.