| Book Review | Environmental History, 10.2

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| Book Review | Environmental History, 10.2 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Planting Nature: Trees and the Manipulation of Environmental Stew-ardship in America. By Shaul E. Cohen. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004. xiii + 210 pp. Illustrations, notes, index. Cloth $34.95.
Planting Nature scrutinizes the discourse of trees, meaning the construction of trees in the cultural imagination and the manipulation of that construction for political and economic ends. The book's argument proceeds from the pun in its title. Shaul E. Cohen provides a brief history of tree planting, from the first Arbor Day in 1872 to the present, to show how interest groups with poor-to-indifferent environmental records offer a green face to the public. Through seemingly benign programs like the Urban Forestry Initiative, Global ReLeaf, and Tree City USA, corporate sponsors can sidestep important matters of sustainability and stewardship.	1
The book's central observation should surprise no one: that "a 'green' image is good marketing" (p. 5). But Cohen broadens this point by drawing from Antonio Gramsci, whose concept of hegemony explains how an ostensibly nonpartisan activity (planting trees) serves the corporate sector. Trees tap into the feelings of a virtuous citizenry, tree planting provides the panacea for a host of social ills, and participation in tree planting programs allows American consumers to feel as if they are doing something positive—all without addressing the root causes of current environmental crises.	. . .

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