Good Dirt: Confessions of a Conservationist.

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I'd best admit up front that I've been a fan of Dave Morine's for some years. His witty tweaking of environmentalism from an insider's perspective is a good antidote for a movement that leans toward doom and gloom. Let me put it more strongly: On occasion, Dave Morine can make me guffaw out loud. Not to be missed, for example, is the tale of skinnydipping with an heiress from the Yale School of Forestry.

This collection includes one essay that originally appeared in the March/ April 1990 issue of AMERICAN FORESTS and others that were first published in Sports Illustrated and Down East magazines.

For 15 years, Dave was in charge of land acquisition for The Nature Conservancy. In addition to fundraising hints ("the Conservancy likes to take potential donors to see preserves during a full moon") and tales of fundraising foulups (I suspect him of cleaning up the poodle story), Dave provides a fascinating peek at the inner workings of a major conservation organization that calls itself a family and has survived-and thrived-despite big changes. In a thoroughly modest voice, he also tells the story of a career that involved helping save some three million acres of wetlands and forests.