Gary Ferguson

Ponderosa pine has long been a charismatic icon of the American West—yet a quiet unraveling has begun. In the past decade, in a vast area from Santa Fe to the Sierras, more than two hundred million ponderosa have died. While some will survive in cooler places, scientists estimate that by mid-century, less than five percent of the ponderosa in the American Southwest may remain. As the very character of this vast region shifts, what will be left behind? In The Twilight Forest, Gary Ferguson brings readers on an expansive journey through the ponderosa forests of the Southwest both to mourn—and to celebrate—the forests that nurtured him. The result is a life-affirming tribute to one of America’s most cherished wild landscapes and a reminder that loss can be a pathway to connection.