A Hunger for High Country
Susan Marsh
Before the 1970s few women were employed by the United States Forest Service. During the 1960s and 70s new environmental and fair employment laws meant that the Forest Service began to hire talented women in professional careers. For the first time women began working as wildlife biologists, geologists, soil scientists, and fisheries biologists for the U.S. Forest Service. A Hunger for High Country is the story of one of these women.
Set in the national forests surrounding Yellowstone National Park, A Hunger for High Country is part memoir and part profile of a time and place. Susan Marsh finds her background and values often place her at odds with the agency she works for, and what was supposed to be her dream job in Montana ends in sorrow and frustration after a six year long struggle to fit in. Humbled by her failures, and the part she played in her own downfall, she begins again in the mountains of western Wyoming where she finds refuge and inspiration in nature.
Susan Marsh shares with us not only a vivid portrait of what being a professional woman in a land management agency was like during this time period, but also of the Forest Service itself. Encounters with wolves and grizzly bears, outlaws and oddball characters, and moments of beauty inspired by wonder in wild country become the scenes through which Marsh’s palpable appreciation for nature are fully rendered on the page.
A Hunger for High Country will appeal to anyone interested in the Forest Service, wild land conservation, Yellowstone, and women’s experiences in the West.
About the author
Susan Marsh is a naturalist and award-winning writer in Jackson, Wyoming, with over thirty years’ experience as a wild land steward for the U.S. Forest Service. She holds degrees in geology and landscape architecture. Her life has been devoted to conservation of public land and a deeper understanding of the relationship between people and wild country. Her essays have appeared in many magazines and anthologies. Her first novel, War Creek, was released in June, 2014. She is a recipient of the Neltje Blanchan award, given annually by the Wyoming Arts Council for writing inspired by the natural world.
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"Like the topography she traverses, Marsh delivers a trail of personal highs and lows. Cheryl Strayed doesn’t have anything on Marsh as far as real, authentic, informed passion for the wild."
Todd Wilkinson, Jackson Hole News & Guide
"She'll leave you with a profound challenge to be vigilant in the preservation of our wild and scenic places."
Linda Skeen, Wyoming Library Roundup
