Book Review

The Greatest Good: A Forest Service Centennial Film. By Steve Dunsky, Ann Dunsky, and David Steinke, filmmakers. Washington, DC: U.S. Forest Service, 2005. 3 DVD Set. 2 hours. $18; The Forest Service and the Greatest Good: A Centennial History. By James G. Lewis. Durham, NC: The Forest History Society, 2006. Cloth $29.95, paper $19.95.
The Greatest Good is well-produced, well-framed, and engaging, telling an im-portant story without over-simplification. It opens many questions that it cannot fully answer, pro-viding great opportunities for teachers. The film was produced by the U.S. Forest Service to mark its centennial in 2005. The filmmakers manage to convey pride and affection while giving full play to their agency's critics. The film traces the difficult passage through the era of timber extraction toward the pro-mise of "ecosystem management" that reconnects with the roots of conservation. It does not shy away from conflict, but celebrates controversy as central to the democratic process.	1
The lively production is shot in high-definition digital video, and brings a century of photographs and cartoons to life. It uses USFS and CCC training films and stunning original footage of mountains, trees, waterfalls, and fire. There are effective graphics, and a comfortable narration by Charles Osgood. But the story is mostly told by seventy interviews with retired rangers and all the living agency chiefs, plus forest analysts, critics, and many handsome and articulate environmental historians.	2
The story is framed by Char Miller as a great experiment in democracy. The 193-million-acre Nation-al Forest system was born in conflict. The film begins with Gifford Pinchot's famous utilitarian dictum, and then explores how ideas changed about what constitutes the "greatest good, for the greatest number, in the long run"—and about who gets to decide that question.	3
How to tell such a sweeping story in two hours, and still hew to a clear, compelling narrative line? The film is cut into four periods, devoting half an hour to each. It follows several major themes: conservation politics, forest management, wilderness, recreation, fire, and USFS culture. Those sections that concentrate mainly on one or two of these themes work best as narrative, but inevitably pay an analytical price.	. . .