Pennsylvania’s Wild Highlands

Midway across the rugged Appalachian uplift that spans the width of the Keystone State, emerald forests are recovering from destruction incurred more than a century ago. Streams that were once victims of acid-mine poisoning once again flow crystal clear down from cloud-swept heights to the widening waters of the West Branch Susquehanna. Fully half of the Northcentral Highlands’ expanse is publicly owned. Few regions anywhere offer such a green reserve that beckons us to explore its canyons, creeks, and woodlands—and to escape the hum and roar of the highways and cities beyond.

Drawing from his deep personal experience in the Highlands and from research probing both the area’s tragic exploitation and more recent conservation success stories, Tim Palmer takes us on a journey of discovery to a place that is increasingly vital to the state and to the nation. Whether you call this region home or have yet to experience its spectacular terrain, the photographs and storytelling in Pennsylvania’s Wild Highlands will help you appreciate its kaleidoscope of natural beauty.

“I’m speechless! Tim’s new book is simply stunning in its beauty and depth. Drawing from a lifetime of exploration, inquiry, and vivid experience, this veteran chronicler of the American landscape has succeeded once again in bringing to us an understanding of and vision for the rivers and streams so dear to the heart of my organization, as well as the mountains and forests that are so interconnected with these waterways here where I live in Northcentral Pennsylvania.”—Amy Wolfe, Northeast Regional Director, Trout Unlimited

“I'm so glad someone has given these lovely forests and mountains their due. Often overlooked, they form an impressive complex of wildness in the heart of the East—and if people realized their beauty and significance, they'd be more zealous in guarding them against the forces of extraction and development.”—Bill McKibben, author of Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization

“Tim Palmer has created another classic in the natural history of Pennsylvania with his perceptive narrative and strikingly beautiful portrait of our Northcentral Highlands. This wild and incomparable hinterland of Penn’s Woods deserves restoration, protection, and ecologically based stewardship that these pages so eloquently urge us to pursue.”—Paul Wiegman, former Senior Naturalist, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy

Tim Palmer is the author of thirty-three books about rivers, forests, environmental issues, and adventure travel. He served for ten years as the environmental planner for Lycoming County, at the heart of the Northcentral Highlands. Since 1980, he has been an independent author and landscape photographer, winning numerous awards for his work.

Nature

Pennsylvania & the Mid-Atlantic

           Nature

General Interest