The Lure of Faraway Places is the publication canoeist Herb Pohl (1930-2006) did not live to see published. But Pohl's words and images provide a unique portrait of Canada by one who was happiest when travelling our northern waterways alone. Austrian-born Herb Pohl died at the mouth of the Michipcoten River on July 17, 2006. He is remembered as "Canada's most remarkable solo traveller." While mourning their loss, Herb Pohl's friends found, to their surprise and delight, a manuscript of wilderness writings on his desk in his lakeside apartment in Burlington, Ontario. He had hoped one day to publish his work as a book. With help and commentary from best-selling canoe author and editor James Raffan, Natural Heritage is proud to present that book, Herb's book, The Lure of Faraway Places. "There's nothing like it in canoeing literature," says Raffan. "It's part journal, part memoir, part wilderness philosophy and part tips and tricks of the most pragmatic kind written about parts of the country most of us will never see by the most committed and ambitious solo canoeist in Canadian history."

This book examines Aboriginal resistance movements on Canada, focussing especially on the Temagami and Oka blockades.

The Temagami region of northern Ontario has been a magnet for recreational canoeists since the 1890s, when city dwellers began embarking on long, gruelling trips to reach its unfettered wilderness. The land is steeped in the history of its tribal inhabitants, the Teme-Augama Anishnabai (TAA), whose roots are 6,000 years deep. At the turn of the 20th century, the TAA still hunted on their traditional family territories, trading pelts at the Hudson's Bay Company post on Bear Island. The railway arrived in 1904, easing travel from all over North America. Steamships conveyed passengers to all five arms of the lake where rustic resorts and youth camps were popping up. Soon, the village of Temagami became a tourism hub. Logging and mining would later diversify the economy. The province of Ontario began leasing the lake's more than 1,200 islands in 1906. In 1931 cottagers united against logging near the mainland shoreline under the Timagami Association banner, now the Temagami Lakes Association. Temagami is the only Ontario lake where mainland shoreline development is banned Temagami Lakes Association: The Life and Times of a Cottage Community recounts Temagami's history to 2011, and examines the Association's often convoluted, occasionally controversial, relationships with the TAA, various levels of government, villagers and within its own ranks. The narrative is lightened by cottagers' tales of mice invasions, flesh-embedded fish hooks, encounters with big screen stars, cabin construction gone awry and the like. More than 150 photos enliven the text.

A rich history of Canadian wilderness travel, "an utterly compelling collection," said The Globe and Mail, and "a gem -- it absolutely sparkles," according to Canadian Geographic. Declared by the Canadian Historical Association to be the best book published of its year on the regional history of Canada's North. With essays by William C. James, C.E.S. Franks, George Luste, Margaret Hobbs, John Jennings, Shelagh Grant, Gwyneth Hoyle, Bruce W. Hodgins, Jamie Bendickson, Craig Macdonald, Jean Murray Cole, John Marsh and John Wadland.

Carol and Bruce Hodgins began leading canoe trips in 1957 for Camp Wanapitei on Lake Temagami in Northern Ontario, initially to the great rivers of that region and on into Quebec. Their first venture north of 60 found them on the South Nahanni, soon to be followed by the Coppermine River, and by the 1990s their annual tripping took them to the Soper River on Baffin Island. included with their richly descriptive accounts of wilderness travel with groups of people, are kayak adventures in Baja California, Mexico, and the Queen Charlottes, paddling in and near the Everglades and explorations on Heritage rivers in the Maritimes and along the coast of Newfoundland. Few have personally experienced the breadth of wilderness travel in Canada as have the Hodgins husband-and-wife team. Their fifty years as "paddling partners," a legendary achievement, is a story of shared joys, challenges, triumphs and mishaps, delightfully told and augmented by excerpts from daily logs, historical insights and the tidbits of experience gleaned over the years.

A self-taught artist and photographer, Hap Wilson has travelled over sixty thousand kilometres by canoe and snowshoe, and embarked on more than three hundred wilderness expeditions. He is one of North America's best-known wilderness guides and canoeists, and has been building sustainable trails for more than thirty years. He is also the co-founder of the environmental group Earthroots. He lives in Rosseau, Ontario. for more information, please visit Hap's website at www.eskakwa.ca. Ingrid Zschogner is a self taught artist and outdoor enthusiast who has been creating detailed portraits in oil, graphite, and pastel for more than fifteen years. She is also a professional trailbuilder, wilderness guide, and environmental activist. To view Ingrid's portfolio, please visit her website at www.wildrosedesigns.ca.

A symbol unique to Canada, the canoe is one of the greatest gifts of First Peoples to all those who came after.