The Dark Side of Hunger Mountain A Novel

"Like so many other hollowed-out communities in the land of opportunity and plenty, the town of Silvercreek--nestled in the deep forests of Washington State's Olympic Peninsula and surrounded by some of the planet's most valuable timber--is going broke. Conflicts over how to care for the forests have eroded public trust in forest communities; its residents are in hopeless despair, surrounded by a government-owned and neglected landscape that is a tinderbox. Between all the business closures and recurrent forest fires, the residents wonder if it's time to leave Silvercreek and try again somewhere else. But where? All over America, small towns face the same daunting challenges. When Los Angeles reporter Grace Newman starts asking hard questions, the totem of the spotted owl is offered up as the simplest answer; real answers are far more elusive. To uncover the reality of the loss of social license for those working on land and at sea in the age of environmentalism and globalization, Grace is forced to work with third-generation logger Jackson Armstrong and others in Silvercreek, people she deeply mistrusts.