Walking the High Desert bookcover

Walking the High Desert

Encounters with Rural America Along the Oregon Desert Trail
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Description

Former high desert rancher Ellen Waterston writes of a wild, essentially roadless, starkly beautiful part of the American West. Following the recently created 750-mile Oregon Desert Trail, she embarks on a creative and inquisitive exploration, introducing readers to a "trusting, naïve, earnest, stubbly, grumpy old man of a desert" that is grappling with issues at the forefront of national, if not global, concern: public land use, grazing rights for livestock, protection of sacred Indigenous ground, water rights, and protection of habitat for endangered species.

Blending travel writing with memoir and history, Waterston profiles a wide range of people who call the high desert home and offers fresh perspectives on nationally reported regional conflicts such as the Malheur Wildlife Refuge occupation. Walking the High Desert invites readers--wherever they may be--to consider their own beliefs, identities, and surroundings through the optic of the high desert of southeastern Oregon.

Product Details

PublisherUniversity of Washington Press
Publish DateJune 22, 2020
Pages248
LanguageEnglish
TypeBook iconPaperback / softback
EAN/UPC9780295747507
Dimensions8.4 X 5.5 X 0.7 inches | 0.7 pounds

About the Author

Former rancher Ellen Waterston is the author of the essay collection Where the Crooked River Rises: A High Desert Home (OSU Press) and three collections of poetry. She is the founder of the Bend, Oregon literary festival The Nature of Words and instructor and founder of the Writing Ranch, which hosts writing workshops in central Oregon and awards the annual Waterston Desert Writing Prize.

Reviews

"Walking the High Desert braids together the challenges of rural and small-town America with the opportunities for and threats to wilderness conservation. It's tied together with the ribbon of Waterston's own experiences as a rancher, writer and resident. This book shares iridescent insights."

-- "Bookmonger"

"[A]n engaging commentary on many aspects of life and land in southeastern Oregon... For those with an appreciation for humanistic connections, this book will be a wonderful companion if you walk along the Oregon Desert Trail."

-- "Journal of Geography"

"[O]ffers im portant insight into the people and politics of southeastern Oregon's high desert country... While the title of the book conjures up a travelogue of sorts, the book itself is more a metaphorical journey, skillfully weaving together various strands of human experience, past and present, into a vibrant tapestry that brings this hard-scrabble region to life."

-- "Pacific Northwest Quarterly"

"Readers of Oregon's local history, advocates of the environment and high desert dwellers on the left and right side of the aisle will connect with this book. In Waterston's classic voice that imparts her immense research while speaking to readers like a friend, Walking the High Desert is an important addition to Oregon's literature about place."

-- "Bend Magazine"

"This lyrical and passionate celebration of the Oregon high desert is devoted to delivering a compelling argument for its conservation...Walking the High Desert unpacks the complexity of conservation issues as lived experience, and will make a tremendous contribution as a defining text for Western conservation advocates and the policy questions they face."

-- "Choice"

"Whether or not you make it to this part of the country, Waterston will make you take a closer look at the place you call home."

-- "Kirkus Reviews"

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