Tongass Odyssey is a biologist’s memoir of personal experiences over the past four decades studying brown bears, deer, and mountain goats and advocating for conservation of Alaska’s Tongass National Forest. The largest national forest in the nation, the Tongass encompasses the most significant expanse of intact old-growth temperate rainforest remaining on Earth. Tongass Odyssey is a cautionary tale of the harm that can result when science is eclipsed by politics that are focused on short-term economic gain. Yet even as those problems put the Tongass at risk, the forest also represents a unique opportunity for conserving large, intact landscapes with all their ecological parts, including wild salmon, bears, wolves, eagles, and other wildlife. Combining elements of personal memoir, field journal, natural history, conservation essay, and philosophical reflection, Tongass Odyssey tells an engaging story about an enchanting place.

* Protect or exploit? The Tongass is in the center of pending legislation and strong emotions. * Illustrations by celebrated artist Ray Troll * Includes Tongass soundscape on CD * A carbon-neutral publication One of the rarest ecosystems on Earth, the Tongass rain forest fringes the coastal panhandle of Alaska and covers thousands of islands in the Alexander Archipelago. It's a place where everything is interconnected: Humpback whales, orcas, and sea lions cruise the forested shorelines. Wild salmon swim upstream into the forest, feeding some of the world's highest densities of grizzlies, black bears, and bald eagles. Native cultures endure with Raven, Eagle, and Salmon. Local communities benefit from the gifts of both the forest and sea. But the global demands of our modern world may threaten this great forest's biological treasures. Salmon in the Trees: Life in Alaska's Tongass Rain Forest fully explores the entire ecosystem of the Tongass National Forest-its habitat, wildlife, and people. Here, millions of wild salmon are the crucial link between the forest and the sea, and shape both animal and human lives. With camera and rain gear in hand, photographer Amy Gulick spent more than two years trekking and paddling among the bears, misty islands, and salmon streams to document the intricate connections within the Tongass. Along the way, she met Alaskans -- bush pilots, fishermen, guides, artists -- who call the Tongass home. Together with engaging and accessible essays from renowned conservationists, scientists, and journalists, as well as salmon-spawned illustrations from artist Ray Troll, Gulick portrays a hopeful story of a magnificent -- and intact -- ecosystem where trees still grow salmon, and salmon still grow trees.

Set in Alaska's coastal rain forest, Tongass is a dramatic story of greed, courage, bare-knuckles politics, and the fate of a remote, beautiful land.

Temperate rainforests are biogeographically unique. Compared to their tropical counterparts, temperate rainforests are rarer and are found disproportionately along coastlines. Because most temperate rainforests are marked by the intersection of marine, terrestrial, and freshwater systems, these rich ecotones are among the most productive regions on Earth. Globally, temperate rainforests store vast amounts of carbon, provide habitat for scores of rare and endemic species with ancient affinities, and sustain complex food-web dynamics. In spite of their global significance, however, protection levels for these ecosystems are far too low to sustain temperate rainforests under a rapidly changing global climate and ever expanding human footprint. Therefore, a global synthesis is needed to provide the latest ecological science and call attention to the conservation needs of temperate and boreal rainforests. A concerted effort to internationalize the plight of the world’s temperate and boreal rainforests is underway around the globe; this book offers an essential (and heretofore missing) tool for that effort. DellaSala and his contributors tell a compelling story of the importance of temperate and boreal rainforests that includes some surprises (e.g., South Africa, Iran, Turkey, Japan, Russia). This volume provides a comprehensive reference from which to build a collective vision of their future.

In A Shape in the Dark, wilderness guide and lifelong Alaskan Bjorn Dihle weaves personal experience with historical and contemporary accounts to explore the world of brown bears--from encounters with the Lewis and Clark Expedition, frightening attacks including the famed death of Timothy Treadwell, the controversies related to bear hunting, the animal’s place in native cultures, and the impacts on the species from habitat degradation and climate change. Much more than a report on human-bear interactions, this compelling story intimately explores our relationship with one of the world’s most powerful predators. An authentic and thoughtful work, it blends outdoor adventure, history, and elements of memoir to present a mesmerizing portrait of Alaska’s brown bears and grizzlies, informed by the species’ larger history and their fragile future.