Teachers in the Forest: New Lessons from an Old World

“A rewarding and enriching fusion of traditional wisdom, science and first-hand experience.” —Tristan Gooley, author of The Natural Navigator, and How to Read Nature

Drawing from a similarlifestyle and environmental ethic as Henry D. Thoreau and Aldo Leopold, Babcockhas lived more than two decades off-grid deep in the forest near the headwatersof the Mississippi River. Here he has discovered a balance in the interconnectednessof all life in the woods, and derived his sustenance from hunting, fishing,gardening, gathering wild food, providing water from a hand-pump well andminimal electricity from the sun. He befriended an Ojibwe Elder, Chi-Ma’iingan(Big Wolf), from whom he learned the Seven Grandfather Teachings (Wisdom, Love,Respect, Courage, Honesty, Humility, and Truth). Each of these seven teachings are represented by an animal. In this collection, Babcockshares his love of the natural world through a unique land ethic that combinesthe ideology of Thoreau and Leopold, and that which he learned fromChi-Ma’iingan.

Babcock proposes a radicalshift in how Americans support our environment and wildlife. He was recentlyfeatured in the documentary films: MEDICINE OF THE WOLF,and WOLF SPIRIT.

From these pages: “Wemust stop seeing the natural world as a commodity and start seeing it as wewould see a family member—something to love, protect, care for, and cherish.”