One of Alaska's last best places, described by fourteen writers—ecologists, naturalists, fishermen, loggers, townspeople —who
live there. The Book of the Tongass covers the wildlife,
geology, and recent history of one of the world's largest temperate
rain forests, in the southeast corner of America's most rugged state.
Nuzzling Glacier Bay at its northern end, the Tongass lies on a
maze of islands and along a coastal strip protected by a range of
granite mountains. These mountains turn the moisture from the Pacific
back toward itself, combining with the region's geology to form a land
of amazingly tall trees and some of the most abundant wildlife left in
the country.
The Tongass lives up to its state's reputation for wildness, natural beauty, and battles over how land has and will be used. In The Book of the Tongass,
thirteen Alaskans describe the region's spectacular forest and
wildlife, its history, economic past and future opportunities, and in
two pieces by Tlingit story tellers, give its oral history.
Quotes:
"A magnificent evocation of a place that deserves to be treasured
by all Americans....The Book of the Tongass deals with the amazing,
island-studded Tongass National Forest of Alaska's southeast coast.
Editors Servid and Snow vividly characterize the rich and varied
locale. The contributors bring a dispassionate passion to their
subjects, from subsistence hunting and indiscriminate logging to the
startling beauty of bear or bird and the strain of living on the last
frontier."—Islands
"These 14 pieces, all written by Alaskans, represent a cross
section of views on a variety of subjects, including natural history,
legal and native issues, forest management, slamon and wildlife, and
the mythology of the region.... A good companion to Robert Glenn
Ketchums' heavily illustrated The Tongass: Alaska's vanishing Rain
Forest; recommended for academic and larger public nature/environmental
collections."—Library Journal
"Home to immemorial beauty, ancient and valuable timber and longstanding environmental disputes, the southeast Alaskan forest
region called the Tongass has attracted Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian
tribes, lumber companies, eco-tourists and environmental activists.
These essays pay homage to its beauty and assess its controversies . . ..
A worthwhile book. Never dryly technical, rarely shrill, these original
pieces . . . will reward nonspecialists."—Publishers Weekly
"Servid and Snow have assembled writings that paint a vivid
picture of every aspect of life in and around the Tongass National
Forest. The book is great reading for those who would like to learn
some of the lesser-known but fascinating details about the natural
world of Southeast Alaska, and still have the entertainment of good
literature."—Sitka Daily Sentinel
"An ecologist's sourcebook on an Alaskan region that has
become a rallying point in the battle to preserve old-growth
forests . . .. The whole package is effective in presenting the Tongass as
a special place worth protecting."—Kirkus Reviews
"The writers who contribute to this anthology, a mix of
transplants and natives who have all chosen to live in this wet, remote
and beautiful part of the world for their own reasons, run the gamut
from the usual suspects in books about forests to: a lawyer, a
commercial fisherman, cultural anthropologist Richard Nelson, private
investigator/novelist John Straley and University of Montana assistant
forestry professor Paul Alaback . . .. The central part of the book is
about the trees, and in Alaska they are both the problem and the
solution . . .. What is most refreshing about Tongass is that none of the
authors is interested in blame or rhetorical victory. Their decided
focus is establishing a core set of values that will enable everyone to
build a future in the place one author refers to as 'the last place
that Ameica once was.'"—Missoula Independent
"The book contains essays by 14 Alaskans, each with a
different viewpoint on ecotourism, forest sustainability, economic
adjustments, and species depletion. In changing times, the book
attempts to define the modern Tongass by its ecosystem and its people."—Science News
