Forestry is a fascinating topic of study, particularly for readers interested in biology, ecology, conservationism or environmentalism. With so many forestry books on the market, the amount of subject matter is overwhelming. Students are best served by delving into a different types of books, such as those dealing with understanding the forested environment and those discussing the philosophy and aims of forestry. Here is a list of our top 12 to get you started!

#1: The Sibley Guide to Trees (2009)

• By: David Allen Sibley
• A beautiful, masterful and much needed work that will henceforth be our guide to North American trees. Brought to you by David Sibley of Sibleys Birder Guides.

#2: The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring (2008)

• By: Richard Prestons.
• Hidden away in foggy, uncharted rain forest valleys in Northern California are the largest and tallest organisms the world has ever sustained–the coast redwood trees, Sequoia sempervirens. Ninety-six percent of the ancient redwood forests have been destroyed by logging, but the untouched fragments that remain are among the great wonders of nature. The biggest redwoods have trunks up to thirty feet wide and can rise more than thirty-five stories above the ground, forming cathedral-like structures in the air. Until recently, redwoods were thought to be virtually impossible to ascend, and the canopy at the tops of these majestic trees was undiscovered. In The Wild Trees, Richard Preston unfolds the spellbinding story of Steve Sillett, Marie Antoine, and the tiny group of daring botanists and amateur naturalists that found a lost world above California, a world that is dangerous, hauntingly beautiful, and unexplored.s.

#3: Essentials of Conservation Biology, Sixth Edition (2014)

• By: Richard B. Primacks.
• Essentials of Conservation Biology, Sixth Edition combines theory and applied and basic research to explain the connections between conservation biology and ecology, climate change biology, the protection of endangered species, protected area management, environmental economics, and sustainable development. A major theme throughout the book is the active role that scientists, local people, the general public, conservation organizations, and governments can play in protecting biodiversity, even while providing for human needs.s.

#4: Forest Measurements (2001)

• By: Thomas Eugene Avery & Harold Burkharts.
• This text is intended for introductory courses in forest measurements. Emphasis is on the measurement of timber, with detailed coverage on measuring products cut from tree boles, measuring attributes of standing trees, inventorying volumes of forest stands, and predicting growth of individual trees and stands of trees. Background information on statistial methods, sampling designs, land measurements, and use of aerial photographs is also provided.s.

#5: Environmental Science (2012)

• By: G. Tyler Miller & Scott Spoolmans.
• Environmental Science inspires and equips students to make a difference for the world. Featuring sustainability as their central theme, authors Tyler Miller and Scott Spoolman emphasize natural capital, natural capital degradation, solutions, trade-offs, and the importance of individuals. As a result, students learn how nature works, how they interact with it, and how they can use various scientific principles based on how nature has sustained life on the earth for billions of years to live more sustainability.

#6: Living in the Environment: Principles, Connections, and Solutions (2011)

• By: G. Tyler Miller and Scott Spoolmans.
• Learn how to make a difference in our environment! Using sustainability as the central theme, this current and thought-provoking book provides you with basic scientific tools for understanding and thinking critically about the environment and the environmental problems we face. Updated with new information, art, and “Good News” examples, this engaging book offers vivid case studies and hands-on quantitative exercises.s.

#7: Forest Ecology (1998)

• By: Burton V. Barnes, Donald R. Zak, Shirley R. Denton & Stephen H. Spurrs.
• This revised and reorganized text is designed for a standard forest ecology course for undergraduates in forestry, natural resources, environmental science, environmental ecology, and field ecology programs. Provides an eminently current perspective on the material by emphasizing forest ecosystems using a landscape-ecosystem or geo-ecosystem approach. Written by both field teachers and researchers of forest ecology and practitioners of forest ecology in both public and private arenas. Treats traditional plant ecology topics of community, succession, biota from a landscape ecosystem perspective, also emphasizes earth science.s.

#8: Seeds of Hope: Wisdom and Wonder from the World of Plants (2014)

• By: Jane Goodalls.
• In her wise and elegant new book, Jane Goodall blends her experience in nature with her enthusiasm for botany to give readers a deeper understanding of the world around us.

#9: Forest Ecology, 3rd Edition (2003)

• By: James P. Kimmins
• This management-driven, comprehensive book on ecosystem ecology is the only one on the market that covers the entire field, linking conventional ecosystem-level forest ecology to forest management.It features ecological site classification, ecosystem modeling, and strong sections on ecological diversity and the physical environment. It provides a comprehensive treatment of forestry issues; as well as excellent coverage of ecosystem management, landscape management, natural disturbances and their emulation. An excellent reference work for professional foresters, resource managers, wildlife managers, parks managers, forest planners and policy makers, and forestry researchers.

#10: The Fate of the Forest: Developers, Destroyers, and Defenders of the Amazon (2011)

• By: Susanna B. Hecht & Alexander Cockburn
• The Amazon rain forest covers more than five million square kilometers, amid the territories of nine different nations. It represents over half of the planet’s remaining rain forest. Is it truly in peril? What steps are necessary to save it? To understand the future of Amazonia, one must know how its history was forged: in the eras of large pre-Columbian populations, in the gold rush of conquistadors, in centuries of slavery, in the schemes of Brazil’s military dictators in the 1960s and 1970s, and in new globalized economies where Brazilian soy and beef now dominate, while the market in carbon credits raises the value of standing forest.

#11: Forest Ecosystems (2008)

• By: David A. Perry, Ram Oren & Stephen C. Hart
• This acclaimed textbook is the most comprehensive available in the field of forest ecology. Designed for advanced students of forest science, ecology, and environmental studies, it is also an essential reference for forest ecologists, foresters, and land managers.

#12: Eastern Deciduous Forest, Second Edition: Ecology and Wildlife Conservation (2000)

• By: Richard H. Yahner
• This book is a must for anyone who is considering natural resource management as a career. It deals with the basic ecological terms and poses some very difficult problems that forest management will occur in the recent future. If you are interested in conservation, this book will be a wise investment.