Working in the Northwest Woods

"Careening downhill directly at me was one of the broken logs that had been left on the landing...it was on fire, leaving a trail of smoke and sparks as it crashed and bounced my direction...I turned, dropped my drip torch, and made ready to run back the direction I had come from. In that instant of turning, however, I lost my footing in the rocks and fell hard..."

A life in the woods is a life of adventure. Dennis Willard has over a decade-worth of tales to tell: of fire and floods, bugs and bears, windstorms, rain, snow and lightning; of an elk herd appearing out of the mist; of generator-powered Monday night football and pizza. Humorous, informative, and thoughtful, Dennis shares recollections of timber rats and crew bosses, old growth and slash landings, M16s and fly rods, poachers and wardens, cork boots and drip torches, and an enormous flaming log that came within inches of ending it all.

"Every direction I looked was now on fire...I was completely surrounded and there was no obvious good way out..."

Dennis Willard received a B.S. in wildlife biology. He worked for the U.S. Forest Service in Washington and Oregon before starting an independent forestry business contracting to both private landowners and public agencies. Today he writes on outdoor and aviation topics. He lives with his wife and family and a collection of dogs and cats, splitting his time between Everett, WA, and their cabin at Lake Wenatchee.

Buy a SIGNED copy of Working in the Northwest Woods: A personal history of a decade spent working in the forests of the Northwest - $14.95