17 - Ethan Tapper

Forester, author, and social media educator Ethan Tapper joins the podcast to share his unconventional journey into forestry, from wilderness expeditions done for love to becoming a leading voice on ecosystem stewardship. He reflects on the dualities of forestry—how cutting trees or using tools like chainsaws can be acts of regeneration and love—while stressing the importance of communication, responsibility, and hope in caring for forests. Listeners will walk away with a deeper understanding of how to build more meaningful relationships with nature and how to embrace both nuance and action in environmentalism

Connect with Ethan on Instagram and his website.

Resources: 

Books & Authors

• How to Love a Forest — Ethan Tapper
• Nature’s Best Hope — Doug Tallamy
• Eager and Crossings — Ben Goldfarb
• The Hidden Forest: Biography of an Ecosystem — Jon Luoma
• Runes of the North — Sigurd Olson
• A Sand County Almanac — Aldo Leopold
• Braiding Sweetgrass and Gathering Moss — Robin Wall Kimmerer
• The Sixth Extinction — Elizabeth Kolbert
• Works by E.O. Wilson

 Apps

• Merlin Bird ID from Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• Seek (Android or Apple) from iNaturalist 

Organizations

• Audubon Vermont
• Vermont Land Trust
• Vermont Woodlands Association
• The Nature Conservancy

Terms mentioned: 

• Consulting Forester — A forester who works with private landowners to manage their forests sustainably.
• Service Forester / County Forester — A publicly funded forester who provides guidance and resources to landowners, conservation groups, and loggers (in Vermont, called county foresters).
• Production Forestry — A forestry approach focused on maximizing timber yield efficiently, often contrasted with ecological or conservation-focused forestry.
• Ecosystem Stewardship — The practice of managing forests (or other ecosystems) with a holistic focus on health, biodiversity, and long-term sustainability.
• Deep Environmentalism — A term Ethan coined to describe an evolved form of environmentalism that goes beyond preventing harm to actively healing and regenerating ecosystems.
• Introduced Invasive Plants — Non-native plants that spread aggressively, displacing native species and disrupting ecosystems.

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