This week on The Write Question, host Lauren Korn speaks with Marina Richie, author of Feathered Forest: Aloft with Birds in Ancient Trees (Chelsea Green Publishing), a text that interweaves memoir and notes on ecology to create “a symphony of birdsong,” one that lyrically expounds on not only the vital relationship between birds and trees, but also the interconnectedness, the kinship, between us all. As writer and biologist David George Haskell writes in the book’s forward, “Trees gave birds their wings. It was partly by scrabbling up tree trunks and leaping into branches that feathered dinosaurs realized the dream of flight. [...Richie’s] sustained attention reveals the identities and personalities of living creatures and illuminates subtle weaves of intersecting histories and energies.” There is so much in this relatively slim volume (and so much to love) from the woman who brought us Halcyon Journey.
Join Marina for events in Montana!
- Fact & Fiction Books in Missoula on Thursday, Nov. 19th at 7PM; and at
- Country Bookshelf in Bozeman on Sunday, Nov. 22nd at 4PM.
This conversation has been edited for time.
About the book:
With exquisite prose and meticulous research, Marina Richie interweaves memoir with clear-eyed notes on ecology to create an engaging blend of scientific and soulful observations.
In Feathered Forest, birds are our guides to a vertical world of ancient trees that spans both sides of the Cascade Mountains. Within centuries-old groves that are critical refugia in a time of climate crisis, these winged messengers show us a better way to steward our threatened landscapes. Just as a forest transitions upward from understory to midstory to overstory, so too does the trajectory of Richie’s life—from the protective cover of adolescence to the precarious yet light-filled canopy of adulthood. Richie’s love for the wilds unfurls in poetic phrasing, and her call to protect our last old-growth trees is resounding and clear.
About Marina:
Marina Richie is an award-winning nature writer. Her 2026 book, Feathered Forest: Aloft with Birds in Ancient Trees, features a foreword by David George Haskell. Halcyon Journey: In Search of the Belted Kingfisher won the 2024 John Burroughs Medal, a National Outdoor Book Award (gold), and a Foreword Indies award. Educated at the University of Montana (MA, Journalism) and the University of Oregon (BA, Biology), she has led conservation initiatives as a communications director, authored two children’s nature books (Bird Feats of Montana and Bug Feats of Montana) under a prior name, penned award-winning wayside exhibits, and now dedicates her time to writing books, poetry, and advocating for wildlands and wildlife.
Mentioned in this episode:
Halcyon Journey: In Search of the Belted Kingfisher (Oregon State University Press) by Marina Richie; listen to Lauren’s previous conversation with Marina here!
Nina Ferrari, Mark Schulze, and the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest; find out more about their long-term ecological research here!
“Treasures in the Canopy,” an article Marina wrote for BirdWatching about Nina
E. O. Wilson proposed the “Half-Earth” conservation concept in his 2016 book, Half-Earth: Our Planet's Fight for Life (Liveright Publishing Corporation)
Ursula K. Le Guin, author of the Earthsea series (Library of America) and The Word for World is Forest (Tor Books)
Marina Richie recommends:
Born of Fire and Rain: Journey into a Pacific Coastal Forest by M.L. Herring (Yale University Press)
Among the Birds: Field Notes from Cascadia by Lyanda Lynn Haupt, illustrated by Justin Gibbens (Skipstone Press)
Oregon’s Ancient Forests: A Hiking Guide by Chandra LeGue (Mountaineers Books)
The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer (Scribner)
Becoming Earth: How Our Planet Came to Life by Ferris Jabr (Penguin Random House)
Dwellings: A Spiritual History of the Living World by Linda Hogan (W. W. Norton & Company)
A Beautifully Burned Forest: Learning to Celebrate Severe Forest Fire by Richard Hutto (Springer)
Birding to Change the World: A Memoir by Trish O’Kane (Ecco)
The Forest Unseen: A Year’s Watch in Nature by David George Haskell (Viking Books)
Rare Bird: Pursuing the Mystery of the Marbled Murrelet by Maria Mudd Ruth (Mountaineers Books)
Feathers: The Evolution of a Natural Miracle by Thor Hanson (Basic Books)
Lauren Korn recommends:
Feathered Forest: Aloft with Birds in Ancient Trees (Chelsea Green Publishing) and Halcyon Journey: In Search of the Belted Kingfisher (Oregon State University Press) by Marina Richie; listen to Lauren’s previous conversation with Marina here!
Marina’s Field Note, “Belted Kingfisher Community Science: A Head-Pounding Discovery,” which is a revised excerpt from Halcyon Journey (Montana Natural History Center)
Cascadia Field Guide: Art, Ecology, Poetry edited by C Marie Fuhrman, Elizabeth Bradfield, and Derek Sheffield (Mountaineers Books)
The Peregrine by J. A. Baker (New York Review of Books)
Sounds Wild and Broken: Sonic Marvels, Evolution’s Creativity, and the Crisis of Sensory Extinction by David George Haskell (Viking Books)
We Should All Be Birds by Brian Buckbee, with Carol Ann Fitzgerald (Tin House Books; Zando Projects) Note: The audiobook is narrated by Brian and is also fantastic!
Birding to Change the World: A Memoir by Trish O’Kane (Ecco)
BirdNote Daily, an interstitial radio program and podcast... About birds!
BirdNote: 100 Illustrated Bird Stories to Inspire Your Bird Watching, inspired by and written by the creators of BirdNote (linked above).
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The Write Question team for this episode was Lauren Korn, host, producer, and editor. This episode is supported by Fact & Fiction, an independent bookstore located in the heart of downtown Missoula, Montana, providing books for all ages and supporting the literary community in Montana and beyond. More information can be found at factandfictionbooks.com.
The Write Question logo and brand (2022) was designed by Molly Russell. You can see more of her work at iamthemollruss.com and on Instagram @iamthemollruss.
Funding for The Write Question comes from members of Montana Public Radio; and from the Greater Montana Foundation—encouraging communication on issues, trends, and values of importance to Montanans. A hat-tip to Humanities Montana for supporting this program since 2008.
The Write Question is a production of Montana Public Radio.
