The Pines aren't what people think.
There is a bad connotation of life in the woods among the city dwellers. They often accuse Pineys of being incestuous and savage, but McPhee explains that such a description couldn't be further from the truth.
Folklore.
McPhee shows that the population of Pines residents happens to be deeply folkloric, and he describes their stories which seem to be a combination of European stories with the local environment.
The issue of modernity.
Should the woods be developed? There certainly is a lot of land, 650,000 acres in fact, but as the book comments, the Pines have a meaningful culture that might be ruined by modern development. For now, the issue seems to be in the far off future, but the plans for a supersonic jet airport might bring plans for a new city. McPhee predicts that will happen later rather than sooner.
