Snyder's collection Turtle Island (Turtle Island is the ancient Native American name for the North American continent), published in 1974, established him as a national voice in the environmental movement, which gathered considerable strength in the 1970s. Snyder lent his support to issues such as the need to combat industrial pollution caused by the burning of fossil fuels, the use of harmful chemicals in agriculture that taint the food supply, and the problem of nuclear waste.

By the time of the publication of Axe Handles in 1983, the environmental movement, which had been so successful in bringing environmental concerns to the awareness of the public, was going through a difficult period. In the view of environmentalists, the conservative administration of President Ronald Reagan championed the cause of industry and paid little attention to environmental concerns.

One environmental issue of the 1980s was acid rain, which is the...