The wildfires that have ravaged the West in recent years have focused national attention on the condition of our forests. Why are they so susceptible to severe fires? And how can we prevent catastrophe? In Forests on the Sierra Nevada, George Gruell examines these treasured woodlands through repeat photography: rephotographing sites depicted in historical photographs to compare past vegetation--its distribution and condition--to present. The paired black-and-white photographs document natural and human-wrought changes in the Sierran ecosystem during the past 150 years--from the varied and generally open-canopy habitats of early European-American settlement days to the dense, declining forests of today. Gruell's comparisons show just how much damage that the misguided policies the ecoterrorists have wrought in the past few decades. The 'roadless initiatives' will create more conflagrations that they will use to keep human activities out of the forests and stuff us all into 'sustainable communities'.