Preserving the Pines

In the early twentieth century, an interconnected web of men and women, led by Dr. V.E. Vivian, fought for a better future in Whitesbog Village, a forgotten town in New Jersey's Pine Barrens. And they won.
Before their heroic efforts, air, land and sea were riddled with pollution, with few protections. Hope for a better tomorrow seemed unlikely. When they were done, the 1.1 million acres of the New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve became the largest protected and preserved open space on the East Coast.
With the help of numerous color images dedicated to Dr. Vivian, author William J. Lewis chronicles and celebrates the educators and historians who started New Jersey's conservation movement and successfully crusaded for a better, cleaner world.

William J. Lewis is a lifetime resident of the New Jersey Pine Barrens, as were multiple generations of his family before him. He is the author of New Jersey's Lost Piney Culture (The History Press, 2021) and Adventure with Piney Joe: Exploring the New Jersey Pine Barrens (South Jersey Culture and History Center, 2022). He shares his Piney adventures on social media networks under the name Piney Tribe. After proudly serving as a U.S. marine, William went on to graduate from Rider University; he founded an environmental nonprofit to get kids outdoors and has served in leadership roles for both government and New Jersey nonprofit organizations.