In the interstices of cities, at the margins of suburban development, are common areas that we call parks, forest preserves, undeveloped land, open space. In communities across the East these special places are in jeopardy of disappearing forever, the orphans of deferred maintenance, budget cuts, and misuse. Many parks were developed a hundred or more years ago, so that most of the trees are the same age, and they have reached advanced age. Replanting, when it occurs, often is unsuccessful. Too often these depleted landscapes bear only the most rigorous, often invasive vegetation. In the interests of security, park managers in many communities have removed the midstory of shrubs, so often the park consists of diseased and dying trees and weedy lawn. Many other areas — roadsides, vacant lots — are in even more obvious distress.
Yet these spaces remain important havens for their denizens, wildlife and human alike, and within them still remains the possibility to regenerate their original native flora — the habitat that existed before development and modern use. And they offer opportunities for communities to come together to achieve important goals while preserving a bit of the natural world in their midst.
I know of no other document as crucial to fulfilling these roles as The Once and Future Forest by Leslie Jones Sauer. This extraordinary book envisions the restoration of the natural processes of succession — the patterns by which land undergoes its own innate stages of development — to form habitat for diverse species. It goes beyond rhetoric, providing knowledge of the operation of natural systems and practical information to undertake beneficial interventions and eventual restorations. Its principles can be applied to any place, whether it is a forested glade in a city park or a weedy roadside.
The level of scientific discourse here is at once impeccable but thoroughly comprehensible. Leslie Sauer, an experienced field ecologist, and her colleagues at Andropogon — Carol and Colin Franklin and Rolf Sauer — and their staff have no equal in the performance of ecological planning and design. They, more than any other group, have formulated the theory and practice of ecological landscape architecture and developed and applied them. This book, a vast compendium of essential knowledge of forest restoration, represents both their long experience and current thoughts on the subject.
Without doubt The Once and Future Forest should have a powerful and salutary influence on many professions and agencies. Sauer observes that few professional projects occur in pristine environments; most, indeed, are in thoroughly degraded areas. It follows, then, that ecological restoration and its attendant skills are central to the practices of landscape architecture, land management, city planning, and civil engineering. Sauer’s emphasis upon the reestablishment of native vegetation and natural drainage patterns compels a reevaluation of conventional practices by anyone concerned with or affecting environmental health through their decisions and actions. More, reestablishing ecological health will necessitate a reorientation of education and practice. Restoration must become a habit in our practices, a consistent and continual process occurring over the long term.
One of Sauer’s central themes is that extensive investigation and close observation — of climate, geology, hydology, soil, plants, and animals — are required for an understanding of the environment, and therefore, for a successful restoration of habitat. The complementary pursuit, knowledge of the systematic relationships between people and places, leads to the conclusion that restoration must occur as empowered public action, and that means it must be based upon consensus and cooperation. The book’s splendid case study of the Central Park renovation demonstrates these theses most dramatically.
Global environmental destruction was accomplished in less than three centuries. Can we reverse the path we have taken; can we restore our habitats? I once thought that natural regeneration — allowing the environment to heal by means of its own natural processes — would be sufficient, but apparently that is not so. Climatic change; soil depletion; loss of microorganisms, plants, and animals; and all the other degradations to the environment have exceeded Nature’s ability to regenerate. So we must participate, with action and all the knowledge and experience we can bring to the task. You’ll find The Once and Future Forest an essential guide to this all-important work.
Ian McHarg
Professor Emeritus
Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning
Graduate School of Fine Arts
University of Pennsylvania