Sand and Fire

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Exploring a Rare Pine Barrens Landscape

Dave Peters

The fascinating, multilayered story of the Namekagon Barrens Wildlife Area and the natural and human forces that shaped it.

152 pages, 6 x 9, 84 color and b&w photos, 8 maps
Paperback: $22.95 | ISBN: 978-1-9766-0005-0
Ebook: $15.99 | ISBN: 978-1-9766-0006-7
Publication Date: 5/31/2023

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Description

While many people are familiar with the federally protected St. Croix and Namekagon Rivers of northwestern Wisconsin, few know about the Namekagon Barrens, a rare pine barrens landscape within a few miles of the confluence of the two rivers. In Sand and Fire, Dave Peters reveals the secrets of this fascinating landscape, the geologic and climatic forces that shaped it, and the humans who have lived on, hunted on, exploited, and protected the barrens over many centuries.

A tiny remnant of the millions of barrens acres that once covered the region, the Namekagon Barrens Wildlife Area lies in the heart of Wisconsin's Northwest Sands, a band of pine and oak stretching from Bayfield on Lake Superior to St. Croix Falls on the Wisconsin-Minnesota border. Unfathomable amounts of glacial sand and repeated fires over thousands of years shaped a land of scrub oak and jack pine, blueberries and sweet fern, creating an idea habitat for wolves and sharp-tailed grouse.

Just as compelling is the land's rich human history, from Paleo-Indian hunters to Ojibwe berry pickers, loggers to early road builders, and immigrant families unable to farm the land to the wildlife habitat specialists who manage it today. The book, told in memoir style and featuring color photographs by the author, sets the land's unusual natural history as the backdrop for a multilayered story about the impact of people on this vulnerable landscape.

Author Bio

Dave Peters is a retired journalist with extensive experience reporting and editing for the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Minnesota Public Radio, and other news organizations. An avid member of the board of the Friends of the Namekagon Barrens Wildlife Area, he walks the barrens as often as he can, finding new wonders every time. He and his wife live in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The Wisconsin pine barrens is an ecosystem that has shaped and been shaped by humans for centuries. "Sand and Fire" is now the authoritative text on this special landscape and essential reading for those who value our connection to place and history.

Anton Treuer

Professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State University and author of "Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask"

“Dave Peters weaves together strands of geology, history, botany, anthropology, and ecology to present a colorful, multidimensional tapestry. . . . With a friendly and well-paced writing style and a rich collection of photos and maps, he achieves his goal of inspiring curiosity and the urge to explore Wisconsin’s pine barrens.”

—Scott Spoolman, author of Wisconsin Waters