Does every true Minnesotan have a sense of place? "Our Neck of the Woods: Exploring Minnesota's Wild Places" makes that claim. Editor Daniel J. Philippon rolls out 57 essays from the Minnesota Conservation Volunteer magazine to prove the point.

It took a transplant like Philippon to point out the obvious: In order to be fully Minnesotan, it sure helps to feel a connection with the state's diverse natural areas. Philippon establishes his thesis in the very useful introduction: "The more we open our hearts to a place, the more we tend to value it."

Minnesota Conservation Volunteer is a tidy little magazine produced by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and distributed for free. These essays are drawn from its "A Sense of Place" section, and they all follow nearly the same framework: A first paragraph sets the reader in the prairie or lake or park, the "wild places" of the subtitle. For example, "I paused, panting on the prairie." Or, "Maxwell Frost was not a skier. Yet there he was, sidestepping down a frozen waterfall."

Then the reader learns why this place is special, either emotionally or ecologically. Maybe this is the cabin where the author and her grandmother bonded over the calling of loons. Maybe there are rare plants found only in this one spot. Then each essay closes with a pithy observation, the lesson the author learned from this place. Such as, "The deer will return to the Nemadji, just as the old hunting gang has."

Read together, the essays can feel formulaic. But sample them individually, at your leisure, and you'll see, as Philippon does, that a diverse natural Minnesota attracts diverse people to the same basic experience of creating a personal connection to a wild place.

Minnesota may be the land of 10,000 lakes, but it is also the land of 5.2 million special places, one for each state resident. While there are no obviously Somali or Hmong voices present in this book, the range of perspectives is still impressive.

Some of the authors are writers first, outdoors people second. When a writer such as Laurie Allman, Jan Zita Grover or Will Weaver takes us to a special place, the writing sings. Yet my favorite essays were those by the school principal or the rare plant ecologist or the game warden; I found their voices more authentic. "Our Neck of the Woods" is an excellent introduction not only to the natural state of Minnesota, but also to many of the people who have made it their home.

Andrew Slade is author of "Skiing the North Shore." He lives in Duluth and blogs at northshore-thereandback.blogspot.com.