Book Reviews

DISCOVERING PORTLAND PARKS: A LOCAL’S GUIDE

OWEN WOZNIAK

by Brian Goldman

Portland resident and Mazama Owen Wozniak has just recently published a guidebook by Mountaineers Books, Discovering Portland Parks: A Local’s Guide.

The author selected over 100 of the 500+ parks in the region, from popular (Council Crest; Kelly Point; Sellwood) to many lesser known (Joseph Wood Hill in NE Portland; John Luby in East Portland; Frenchman’s Bar Regional Park in Clark County). You can use this guide to explore different corners of the region, from Hillsboro to Wilsonville to Gresham and across the Columbia to Vancouver, Washington and Clark County. Published in June 2021 during the pandemic, the author hopes there is renewed interest in local parks, given their necessity during these stay-at-home times.

The guidebook includes a succinct history of the development of parks in the United States, and, in particular, Portland parks, beginning with the guidance of the Olmsted brothers, sons of famed Central Park designer Frederick Law Olmsted and, later, Emanuel Mische, who designed and administered parks such as Laurelhurst, Mt. Tabor, and the rose gardens at Peninsula Park and Ladd Circle.

Although the glossy pages are filled with superb color photographs of most of the listed parks, the book will not collect dust on a coffee table. The clarity and easy-to-use, color-coded approach inspires usage. Each listed park includes a description, location, acreage, amenities, jurisdiction, transportation access, and history. Icons indicate whether the park is dog-friendly, contains formal gardens, has barbecue grills, public art, and whether it is wheelchair accessible. The narration is smooth, witty and informational. Even longtime Portland residents will be surprised by the number of parks within several miles of their homes that they may never have visited.

When asked how he selected the parks for this guidebook, the author responded, “I decided to focus on parks I felt were representative of different experiences, e.g., a neighborhood park, a West Hills forested natural area, a flashy “destination” park, etc. While I tried to include all the parks I felt were “must see” (like Mount Tabor or Vancouver’s excellent new downtown waterfront park), I also made plenty of arbitrary choices. As I noted in the introduction, I wanted to spotlight lesser-known places, especially those with interesting historical and cultural dimensions. I also wanted to emphasize natural areas. To me, these places are worth crossing town to visit. The hardest part was picking from among the many great mid-sized parks … at the end of the day, it was arbitrary and driven to no small extent by my personal connection to these places.”

The author encourages buyers to purchase directly from the publisher: mountaineers.org/books/books/discovering-portlandparks-a-locals-guide. It is also available in the Mazama Library.

Wozniak, O. Discovering Portland Parks: A Local’s Guide. Seattle, Washington: Mountaineers Books, 2021. Mazama Library number 917.95 W91

TAHOMA AND ITS PEOPLE

JEFF ANTONELIS-LAPP

by Ken DuBois

Forty-eight million years of geological history is condensed into a couple dozen pages in Jeff Antonelis-Lapp’s fast-paced and highly engaging chronicle Tahoma and Its People, a comprehensive examination of Washington’s prominent peak from its days as a bump on the horizon to its 14,411-foot majesty today. And that’s just the story’s foundation, so to speak. In subsequent chapters he details the latest evidence of early human activity in the area, and takes us on a 360-degree tour around the mountain, from the Nisqually River to the dry east side. He provides multiple views as well on current-day conservation issues, scientific debate, Native legends, and even the mountain’s name, which many tribal people have labelled with some variation of Tahoma.

Layer upon layer of rock, ash, and ice give evidence of the literally earth-shaping activity over millennia – so massive in scale that to describe it requires phrases like, “Puget Lobe of the Vashon Stade of the Fraser Glaciation of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet.” For the lay reader, fortunately, Antonelis-Lapp has talent for putting into perspective what might otherwise be a mind-boggling series of cataclysmic events. He does this, in part, by zipping through the early events (40 million years ago: the first of the Cascades volcanoes comes to life); slowing down the narrative for more recent milestones (500,000-years ago: large, mountain-building lava flows); and lingering over relatively recent events (500 years ago: creation of the Electron Mudflow and National Lahar).

Eventually, humans began to have an impact, too; the abundant resources of Mt. Rainier have been a draw for at least 7,700-years, and perhaps much longer, Antonelis-Lapp notes. And much of his knowledge on this subject was gained first-hand, as he has often worked side-by-side with park archaeologists, intimately involved in the excavation process. In the author’s account, the evidence he helps to uncover tells a remarkably relatable story: ancient humans visited and camped in the alpine meadows during the warmer months, drawn to the seasonal plants, and then returned to their villages below when the weather turned cold; they sat around campfires adjusting tools and gear for the following day; and some even cooked on a griddle—a large flat stone that could be heated from beneath. And they knew a “good spot” when they saw one: one camping shelter, Antonelis-Lapp notes, was in continual use for thousands of years.

Most of those who are presented as irredeemable bad guys in Antonelis-Lapp’s account are long gone, such as European American explorers of the 1700s who introduced diseases to native people, and 19th century homesteaders who rerouted water sources to devasting effect. But he invites us to dig deeper when considering the motivations of modern day parties with seemingly anti-conservation agendas. For example, the military operation Joint Base Lewis-McChord, which occupies almost 11,000 acres in the lower Nisqually watershed, may seem a likely villain in the conservation story; the military selected its location because open meadows are ideal for practicing aerial assault. But leaders at the fort have also partnered in recent years with The Nature Conservancy to preserve habitat and at-risk species. It’s possible, Antonelis-Lapp says, to appreciate both butterflies and bombs.

A faculty member at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Antonelis-Lapp has spent decades exploring Mt. Rainier and sharing his knowledge with students, and he has used his skill as an educator to create a book that is accessible for anyone with even a passing interest in geology, anthropology, or plant and animal species. It’s an excellent primer on the modern art of negotiation, as well, with many stories about parties with conflicting interests working together to find compromise that respects the mountain’s resources as well as one another. Antonelis-Lapp has a point of view, but a professorial approach; here are the facts, he tells us—you can come to your own conclusions.

Antonelis-Lapp, J. Tahoma and Its People: A Natural History of Mount Rainer National Park. Pullman, Washington: Washington State University Press, 2020. Mazama Library number 917.97A8