Book of the Week (7/10/2023)

New Hampshire Fish & Game: A History by Jack Noon (Moose Country Press, 2023)

"New Hampshire Fish & Game: A History" covers the four centuries of change in fish, wildlife, and forests that began with the arrival of European settlers. Clearing land and farming along with fur trading, cutting trees for masts and lumber, and commercial fishing during spawning runs gradually impacted the interconnected natural environments that had evolved since the last glacier left. Wolverines and woodland caribou persisted in New Hampshire until the nineteenth century. Dams on tributaries for the sake of powering sawmills and gristmills blocked access to increasing numbers of traditional fish spawning areas. Later, the huge dams on mainstem rivers for the sake of water-powered industrialism completely ended the spawning runs of salmon and other fish.

Right after the Civil War the legislature authorized the appointment of two Fisheries Commissioners to restore spawning runs and introduce non-native fish. For decades thereafter legislative ineptitude and unintended consequences prevailed. Slowly the legislature relinquished control over fish and wildlife policies, allowing the development of the modern NH Fish and Game Department. --Publisher's blurb

After 19 books to his name, with historical fiction and non-fiction, Jack Noon has just now published the definitive history of fishing in New Hampshire. He writes books about regional history, both fiction and non-fiction. 

Join Jack Noon on Saturday, July 22, 2023 from 7:00- 8:30 pm at the Warner, NH Town Hall as part of MainStreet BookEnds of Warner's Tory Hill Authors Series.