<em>Satellites in the High Country</em> is a collection of seven essays by journalist-adventurer Jason Mark.

Mark asks the question "What is wilderness?" and wonders if 'wilderness' might be different from 'wildness' and the seven essays here have him looking for wildness or wild places where one might get away from the touch of mankind for jut a short amount of time.

Each essay recounts a hike or exploration of a wildness area and opens up a question or questions that Mark explores by way of his time in the particular wildness area. Two such questions are: Can Man and his modern work co-exist alongside wildness areas; and should Man interfere when trying to restore an eco balance in wild areas? Mark has some strong opinions on the matter, though he tries to not be too obvious in his opinions, instead leading the reader to hopefully come to the same conclusions.

I found the first three or four essays quite interesting and compelling, but the last few felt much more didactic - as though Mark realized he was on to something with the earlier essays and instead of writing from the heart wrote more from the head, methodically and carefully. In fact, it seemed as though he was on more of a mission to find a story (The reintroduction of wolves...is it good? Is it bad? Children on a 'forced' outing into the wilderness...is it good? Is it bad?) instead of taking the hike and seeing where it leads and what thoughts come to mind.

There are some great reflections here and at times Mark captures it perfectly with simple sentences that I am likely to quote for years to come ("The clatter of civilization is so commonplace that it has become, literally, background noise." "In a little more than a century, we have changed the pitch of the planet."). Yet I definitely prefer the Adventurer Jason Mark to the Journalist Jason Mark.

In many ways this is the sort of book that 'preaches to the choir.' My environmentally friendly/activist friends will appreciate what is here, but it's not likely to make new converts. That's okay ... sometimes we just need a little meditation on wildness. But if anything, I'd say that I found the realizations here quite depressing.

Looking for a good book? Satellites in the High Country by Jason Mark is a collection of essays exploring the authors attempts to discover wildness in the United States.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Final rating: 3.5 stars

It took me a while to read Jason Mark's Satellites in the High Country (and even longer to review it). Overall, I enjoyed the book, but I think some parts were definitely better than others.

The book is filled with a variety of essays with the common theme of wilderness - what is wilderness, how do we define it, is there any actual wilderness left anymore anywhere? Mark himself spends a lot of time out in the "wild" and explores these themes through his experiences.

Some of the most interesting parts for me were when he talked about the situation at the oyster farm at Point Reyes north of San Francisco. Point Reyes National Seashore is itself an interesting and weird mix of nature and agriculture. There are a ton of dairy farms that dot the area and there are parts that are "wild." (Now I feel like I have to use quotes whenever I talk about the "wild" especially in the U.S.) The oyster farm there was in operation for 40 years and its lease (from the government) was about to end but the owner decided he wanted to continue operating. This turned into a full-blown controversy and divided the local community. Even people who considered themselves environmentalists were on the side of letting the farm continue to operate. I really like how Mark explained the situation and covered the arguments on both sides.

I think this and many other environmental issues can be boiled down to what he says in the chapter about the oyster farm:
"At the heart of almost every environmental battle lies the question of where we think humans fit in the natural world. Does the whole planet exist for our benefit, to be cultivated by us like a garden? Or do we have a responsibility, a moral obligation even, to leave untamed as much of the world as possible? Or is it a little of both?"

Overall, I liked how to explored the answers to some of the questions I mentioned above. I'd recommend the book if you're interested in reading those explorations from someone who clearly has experience being in the "wild," whatever that means anymore.