This is one of the greatest environmental comeback stories in American history: how the White Mountains of New Hampshire were saved from destruction a century ago. In the late 1800s, the White Mountains were ground zero for a vast environmental disaster caused by intensive logging and forest fires. The destruction of New Hampshire’s forests sparked one of the nation’s first grassroots conservation movements and a decades-long national battle over the fate of eastern forestlands. Leading the way was a unique coalition of citizens, business, and civic groups that believed conservation could benefit both the environment and economy. This is the story of how those unlikely allies helped create the first National Forests in the east and save the White Mountains.