A new edition of a classic: the compelling firsthand account of an ancient predator-prey relationship---the Isle Royale wolf and moose dynamic

Mech's landmark study of wolves and moose on Isle Royale National Park on Lake Superior. The author lived among them during the three-years of his research. Isle Royale is an isolated wilderness ecosystem which is perfect for scientific study.Dr. L. David Mech is the best-known and most highly regarded wolf researcher in the world. He works with the Biological Services Division, U.S. Geological Survey, and is also the author of several other books on wolves. He has studied wolves and their prey full-time since 1958, except for a four-year period when he studied radio-tracking. During this record-long career as a wolf biologist, he has published numerous books and articles; this book was originally published by the National Park Service in 1966."Mech is the foremost expert on wolves in this country, possibly in the world, hands down." - Smithsonian magazine

Essays about the natural events and experiences on Isle Royale National Park from the author's annual trips taken each year for thirty years.

On January 1 of 2016, Stefanie Payne, a creative professional working at NASA Headquarters, and Jonathan Irish, a photographer with National Geographic, left their lives in Washington, D.C. and hit the open road on an expedition to explore and document all 59 of America's national parks during the centennial celebration of the U.S. National Park Service - 59 parks in 52 weeks - the Greatest American Road Trip. Captured in more than 300,000 digital photographs, written stories, and videos shared by the national and international media, their project resulted in an incredible view of America's National Park System seen in its 100th year. 'A Year in the National Parks, The Greatest American Road Trip' is a gorgeous visual journey through our cherished public lands, detailing a rich tapestry of what makes each park special, as seen along an epic journey to visit them all within one special celebratory year.

The world’s leading wolf expert describes the first years of a major study that transformed our understanding of one of nature’s most iconic creatures In the late 1940s, a small pack of wolves crossed the ice of Lake Superior to the island wilderness of Isle Royale, creating a perfect “laboratory” for a long-term study of predators and prey. As the wolves hunted and killed the island’s moose, a young graduate student named Dave Mech began research that would unlock the mystery of one of nature’s most revered (and reviled) animals—and eventually became an internationally renowned and respected wolf expert. This is the story of those early years. Wolf Island recounts three extraordinary summers and winters Mech spent on the isolated outpost of Isle Royale National Park, tracking and observing wolves and moose on foot and by airplane—and upending the common misperception of wolves as destructive killers of insatiable appetite. Mech sets the scene with one of his most thrilling encounters: witnessing an aerial view of a spectacular hunt, then venturing by snowshoe (against the pilot’s warning) to photograph the pack of hungry wolves at their kill. Wolf Island owes as much to the spirit of adventure as to the impetus of scientific curiosity. Written with science and outdoor writer Greg Breining, who recorded hours of interviews with Mech and had access to his journals and field notes from those years, the book captures the immediacy of scientific fieldwork in all its triumphs and frustrations. It takes us back to the beginning of a classic environmental study that continues today, spanning nearly sixty years—research and experiences that would transform one of the most despised creatures on Earth into an icon of wilderness and ecological health.