Between 1915 and 1955 adventure-seeking Frank Glaser, a latter-day Far North Mountain Man, trekked across wilderness Alaska on foot, by wolf-dog team, and eventually, by airplane. In his career he was a market hunter, trapper, roadhouse owner, professional dog team musher, and federal predator agent. A naturalist at heart, he learned from personal observation the life secrets of moose, caribou, foxes, wolverines, mountain sheep, grizzly bears, and wolves—especially wolves.
A Wolf Called Romeo is the remarkable story of a wolf who returned again and again to interact with the people and dogs of Juneau, living on the edges of their community, engaging in an improbable, awe-inspiring interspecies dance and bringing the wild into sharp focus. At first the people of Juneau were guarded, torn between shoot first, ask questions later instincts and curiosity. But as Romeo began to tag along with cross-country skiers on their daily jaunts, play fetch with local dogs, or simply lie near Nick and nap under the sun, they came to accept Romeo, and he them. For Nick it was about trying to understand Romeo, then it was about winning his trust, and ultimately it was about watching over him, for as long as he or anyone could.
“I owe Alaska. It gave me everything I have.” Says Sidney Huntington, son of an Athapaskan mother and white trader/trapper father. Growing up on the Koyukuk River in Alaska’s harsh Interior, that “everything” spans 78 years of tragedies and adventures. When his mother died suddenly, 5-year-old Huntington protected and cared for his younger brother and sister during two weeks of isolation. Later, as a teenager, he plied the wilderness traplines with his father, nearly freezing to death several times. One spring, he watched an ice-filled breakup flood sweep his family’s cabin and belongings away. These and many other episodes are the compelling background for the story of a man who learned the lessons of a land and culture, lessons that enabled him to prosper as trapper, boat builder, and fisherman. This is more than one man's incredible tale of hardship and success in Alaska. It is also a tribute to the Athapaskan traditions and spiritual beliefs that enabled him and his ancestors to survive. His story, simply told, is a testament to the durability of Alaska's wild lands and to the strength of the people who inhabit them.
"This was an excellent book about a true pioneer! A very interesting story about the life of an amazing man. Sam was generous, courageous, and a friend to everyone who had the privilege of knowing him." Sam O. White was a tough, deep-voiced, six-foot-tall, two-hundred-pound former Maine lumberjack and guide. From 1922, for half a century he crisscrossed wild Alaska by foot, with packhorses, dog teams, canoe, riverboat, and airplane. He helped map the Territory, trap fur, and became the world’s first flying game warden. White wrote exciting tales about his Alaska adventures, and those writings make up the bulk of this volume. In 1927, he arrived at Fort Yukon as a game warden when millions of dollars worth of fine arctic furs annually arrived there. The hardy frontier trappers considered the new game warden a joke, but he quickly taught them to respect conservation laws. He was frustrated by the impossibility of adequately patrolling thousands of square miles by dog team, boat, and on foot, so with his own money, he bought an airplane. Pioneer pilots Noel and Ralph Wien taught him how to fly it. White then startled remote trappers and others by suddenly arriving from the sky. In 1941, lack of backing from Juneau headquarters caused him to resign as a wildlife agent. At Fairbanks, Noel Wien made him Chief Pilot for Wien Airlines. For the next two decades White flew as an Alaskan bush pilot, admired for his flying skill and the superior service he provided residents who flew with him, and who depended upon him for receiving mail and supplies. He had countless friends—one hundred arrived for his seventieth birthday party. His integrity and principles were of the highest. Decades after his death, he is still spoken of with awe by the long-time Alaskans.
An illustrated true account of an urban legend: Orphaned and alone Romeo has made the Mendenhal Glacier outside Juneau his territory for the past decade subsisting on a diet of small mammals and fish. Unafraid of tourists and locals and eager to play with their dogs, he has taught thousands of people that wolves are playful and not vicious killers. This is John Hyde's up close and personal photographic record of a singular wolf.
Outdoor tourism is one of Alaska’s biggest industries, and the thousands of people who flock to the state’s dramatic landscapes and pristine waters to hunt and fish are supported by a large and growing network of guides, lodges, outfitters, and wildlife biologists. This book honors more than sixty of those remarkably colorful characters, past and present, people whose incredible skills were their calling cards, but whose larger-than-life personalities were what people remember after the trip is over. Taken together, these portraits offer a history of outdoor life in Alaska and celebrate its incredible natural beauty—and the people who devote their lives to helping us enjoy it.
From the Klondike to the Bering Sea, from Alaska's bounty that brought fortunes to some to its wilderness that claimed the lives of others, Tales from the Edge explores the myth, beauty, and peril of the arctic landscape. Editor Larry Kaniut brings together some of the world's best outdoor adventure writers to celebrate the land and the people who have measured themselves against it. Tales from the Edge is a celebration of Alaska featuring such notable contributors as Peter Jenkins, Spike Walker, Jay Hammond, Nick Jans, Dana Stabenow, Larry Kaniut, and more. Tales from the Edge will stir the soul and imagination of every armchair adventurer.
Jim Rearden is Alaska's most popular outdoors journalist. He holds two degrees in wildlife management and was Professor of Wildlife Management at the University of Alaska Fairbanks 1950-54. As a member of the Alaska Board of Game 75-82 he helped develop the Tanana Flats wolf control program. He details with historical accuracy the controversy that erupted when the 1975 program was announced. Counterpointing the modern controversy, Rearden includes exciting segments of his best-selling Alaska's Wolf Man, the story of Frank Glaser, Alaska's full-time government wolf hunter who hunted wolves in the Territory of Alaska 1915-1955. Alaska’s wolves are the main characters in this historically and biologically accurate recounting. Included are vivid anecdotes about wolves with descriptions of their behavior and way of life, examples of their intelligence, and expressions of appreciation for their charm and beauty, as well as an honest look at their savage efficiency as predators and relationship to urban and rural Alaskans.
A companion volume to Environmental Conflict in Alaska, Pioneering Conservation in Alaska chronicles the central land and wildlife issues and the growth of environmental conservation in Alaska during its Russian and territorial eras. The Alaskan frontier tempted fur traders, whalers, salmon fishers, gold miners, hunters, and oilmen to take what they could without regard for long-term consequences. Wildlife species, ecosystems, and Native cultures suffered, sometimes irreparably. Damage to wildlife and lands drew the attention of environmentalists, including John Muir, who applied their influence to enact wildlife protection laws and set aside lands for conservation. Alaska served as a testing ground for emergent national resource policy in the United States, as environmental values of species and ecosystem sustainability replaced the unrestrained exploitation of Alaska's early frontier days. Efforts of conservation leaders and the territory's isolation, small human population, and late development prevented widespread destruction and gave Americans a unique opportunity to protect some of the world's most pristine wilderness. Enhanced by more than 100 photographs, Pioneering Conservation in Alaska illustrates the historical precedents for current natural resource disputes in Alaska and will fascinate readers interested in wildlife and conservation.
In his final, major publication Ernest S. “Tiger” Burch Jr. reconstructs the distribution of caribou herds in northwest Alaska using data and information from research conducted over the past several decades as well as sources that predate western science by more than one hundred years. Additionally, he explores human and natural factors that contributed to the demise and recovery of caribou and reindeer populations during this time. Burch provides an exhaustive list of published and unpublished literature and interviews that will intrigue laymen and experts alike. The unflinching assessment of the roles that humans and wolves played in the dynamics of caribou and reindeer herds will undoubtedly strike a nerve. Supplemental essays before and after the unfinished work add context about the author, the project of the book, and the importance of both.
