University of Alaska Press

New and Forthcoming

Politics of Wilderness Preservation

Authors: Allin, Craig W.

Price: $14.95 / ISBN 978-1-60223-025-5 (paper)

Publication Date: September 2008

The story of preservation politics in America is one of the seminal stories of American history, charting our evolution as a people and a culture. Public policy is a measure of what we value as a society. Originally regarded as a powerful enemy, wilderness was the target of countless land laws aimed at its destruction. Once it had been largely defeated, wilderness came to be seen as a vanishing and valuable resource and an essential contributor to the American character.

In the post-Kyoto climate with “earth in the balance” and environmental policy apparently paralyzed, it seems appropriate to celebrate an era when government policy makers were able—if only for a moment—to elbow aside vested economic interests and embrace the preservation of nature for its own sake. Allin explores the far-reaching political and economic impact of these policies, as well as their status today and their uncertain future. Allin has updated this classic volume, originally published in 1982, with a new preface and epilogue. With its cutting-edge analysis, The Politics of Wilderness Preservation is a must-read for environmentalists and policy makers alike.

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Front Street - Kotzebue

Authors: Witmer, Dennis

Price: $50.00 / ISBN 978-0-9771028-1-5 (cloth)

Publication Date: October 2008

Just north of the Arctic Circle sits Kotzebue, a town of the Inupiat people that has endured for over a century. In this compelling visual essay, Dennis Witmer captures scenes on its Front Street, the main thoroougfare whose buildings have evolved from the sod huts of Native cultures to wood and concrete edifices. From front yards with parked snowmachines to townspeople peacefully strolling down sidewalks, the striking black-and-white images in Front Street, Kotzebue offer a thought-provoking view of life in the Arctic and people's methods of coexisting with nature.

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Bear Wrangler
Memoirs of an Alaska Pioneer Biologist

Authors: Troyer, Will

Price: $26.95 / ISBN 978-1-60223-043-9 (cloth)

Publication Date: November 2008

Alaska was not yet a state when Will Troyer began his 30-year wildlife career in 1951 with the Department of the Interior. In 1955, he became manager of the brown bear refuge on Kodiak Island. It was here that he and his assistants pioneered the first primitive techniques for capturing brown bears to gather biological information. This involved trapping bears in foot snares, lassoing them, and forcing a bucket of ether over their heads to subdue them. Years later, after more modern equipment became available, he anesthetized the big bears in Katmai National Park by sneaking through the woods with a Cap-Chur Gun and shooting them at close range with a drug-filled dart.

Troyer worked in many remote areas of Alaska…from the Arctic Coast to the southeast rain forest and the stormy Aleutian Islands. He vividly describes his emotions and feelings while standing in the midst of 40,000 caribou or sitting on a remote sea island as masses of sea birds, glide, swoop, and circle around him emitting a din of raucous calls. His descriptive walk through a delta marsh filled with thousands of nesting and calling shorebirds, ducks, and geese reveals his love and wonder of nature.

Traveling through much of Alaska was often hazardous due to violent winds, stormy seas, fog, and sudden blizzards. He survived two airplane crashes and a near drowning with colleagues when their rafts were swept over a roaring waterfall.

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When the Laughing Stopped
The Strange, Sad Death of Will Rogers

Authors: Walsh, John Evangelist

Price: $26.95 / ISBN 978-1-60223-029-3 (cloth)

Publication Date: October 2008

For depression-era America, there was probably no more beloved character than Will Rogers. Dubbed the cowboy philosopher, he was a top attraction in movies, a star on the radio, and a much-quoted newspaper columnist. His wryly humorous observations on ordinary life, especially politics, endeared him to millions.

Then suddenly in the summer of 1935 came the shocking news—Will Rogers was dead. Only 55, at the height of his immense fame, he was killed in the crash of a small plane on the shore of the Arctic Ocean in northernmost Alaska.

Drawing on extensive original research, the author recounts the tragic story with a wealth of new detail. In addition to a full discussion and analysis of the crash, this compelling narrative provides a moving portrait of the unfortunate Mary Rogers, Will’s daughter, whose life was greatly undone by her father’s untimely death.

John Evangelist Walsh is the author of biographies on Robert Frost, Edgar Allan Poe, and John Keats, among others, and is the author of the definitive article on the legend of Babe Ruth’s “called shot.”

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Big Game in Alaska
A History of Wildlife and People

Authors: Sherwood, Morgan

Price: $24.95 / ISBN 978-1-60223-034-7 (paper)

Publication Date: October 2008

Written with such force and style, and exhaustively researched in primary documents of the period, Big Game Alaska is certain to become a classic work in American environmental history.
— Fred Runte, Technology and Culture

The people and big game animals of Alaska lived together successfully until the dawn of the twentieth century. Alaska's vast size—586,000 square miles—and varied landscapes provided ample living room for beast and man. Demographic, technologic, and economic growth triggered by the military buildup after WWII marked the beginning of the end of Alaska’s frontier innocence and endangered the most fragile part of the wilderness—the big game animals.

Not until the early 1930s, with the maturation of the Alaska Game Commission, was a balanced game management program implemented. However, Sherwood explores the flaws within the system revealing the distorted science, the menace of new technologies, environmental imperatives, pressures from a uniquely structured population, the traditional hostility of farmer and fisherman toward animal predator, and an atavistic belief in man’s democratic right to shoot wild animals when he chose.
Sherwood brilliantly synthesizes the flaws of years of failed attempts to govern big game predation and provides a useful guide to the history of the relationship of Alaska’s wild beasts and Alaskans.

[edit][delete]

Admin Add


	New and Forthcoming Politics of Wilderness Preservation Authors: Allin, Craig W. Price: $14.95 / ISBN 978-1-60223-025-5 (paper) Publication Date: September 2008 The story of preservation politics in America is one of the seminal stories of American history, charting our evolution as a people and a culture. Public policy is a measure of what we value as a society. Originally regarded as a powerful enemy, wilderness was the target of countless land laws aimed at its destruction. Once it had been largely defeated, wilderness came to be seen as a vanishing and valuable resource and an essential contributor to the American character. In the post-Kyoto climate with “earth in the balance” and environmental policy apparently paralyzed, it seems appropriate to celebrate an era when government policy makers were able—if only for a moment—to elbow aside vested economic interests and embrace the preservation of nature for its own sake. Allin explores the far-reaching political and economic impact of these policies, as well as their status today and their uncertain future. Allin has updated this classic volume, originally published in 1982, with a new preface and epilogue. With its cutting-edge analysis, The Politics of Wilderness Preservation is a must-read for environmentalists and policy makers alike. [edit][delete] Front Street - Kotzebue Authors: Witmer, Dennis Price: $50.00 / ISBN 978-0-9771028-1-5 (cloth) Publication Date: October 2008 Just north of the Arctic Circle sits Kotzebue, a town of the Inupiat people that has endured for over a century. In this compelling visual essay, Dennis Witmer captures scenes on its Front Street, the main thoroougfare whose buildings have evolved from the sod huts of Native cultures to wood and concrete edifices. From front yards with parked snowmachines to townspeople peacefully strolling down sidewalks, the striking black-and-white images in Front Street, Kotzebue offer a thought-provoking view of life in the Arctic and people's methods of coexisting with nature. [edit][delete] Bear Wrangler Memoirs of an Alaska Pioneer Biologist Authors: Troyer, Will Price: $26.95 / ISBN 978-1-60223-043-9 (cloth) Publication Date: November 2008 Alaska was not yet a state when Will Troyer began his 30-year wildlife career in 1951 with the Department of the Interior. In 1955, he became manager of the brown bear refuge on Kodiak Island. It was here that he and his assistants pioneered the first primitive techniques for capturing brown bears to gather biological information. This involved trapping bears in foot snares, lassoing them, and forcing a bucket of ether over their heads to subdue them. Years later, after more modern equipment became available, he anesthetized the big bears in Katmai National Park by sneaking through the woods with a Cap-Chur Gun and shooting them at close range with a drug-filled dart. Troyer worked in many remote areas of Alaska…from the Arctic Coast to the southeast rain forest and the stormy Aleutian Islands. He vividly describes his emotions and feelings while standing in the midst of 40,000 caribou or sitting on a remote sea island as masses of sea birds, glide, swoop, and circle around him emitting a din of raucous calls. His descriptive walk through a delta marsh filled with thousands of nesting and calling shorebirds, ducks, and geese reveals his love and wonder of nature. Traveling through much of Alaska was often hazardous due to violent winds, stormy seas, fog, and sudden blizzards. He survived two airplane crashes and a near drowning with colleagues when their rafts were swept over a roaring waterfall. [edit][delete] When the Laughing Stopped The Strange, Sad Death of Will Rogers Authors: Walsh, John Evangelist Price: $26.95 / ISBN 978-1-60223-029-3 (cloth) Publication Date: October 2008 For depression-era America, there was probably no more beloved character than Will Rogers. Dubbed the cowboy philosopher, he was a top attraction in movies, a star on the radio, and a much-quoted newspaper columnist. His wryly humorous observations on ordinary life, especially politics, endeared him to millions. Then suddenly in the summer of 1935 came the shocking news—Will Rogers was dead. Only 55, at the height of his immense fame, he was killed in the crash of a small plane on the shore of the Arctic Ocean in northernmost Alaska. Drawing on extensive original research, the author recounts the tragic story with a wealth of new detail. In addition to a full discussion and analysis of the crash, this compelling narrative provides a moving portrait of the unfortunate Mary Rogers, Will’s daughter, whose life was greatly undone by her father’s untimely death. John Evangelist Walsh is the author of biographies on Robert Frost, Edgar Allan Poe, and John Keats, among others, and is the author of the definitive article on the legend of Babe Ruth’s “called shot.” [edit][delete] Big Game in Alaska A History of Wildlife and People Authors: Sherwood, Morgan Price: $24.95 / ISBN 978-1-60223-034-7 (paper) Publication Date: October 2008 Written with such force and style, and exhaustively researched in primary documents of the period, Big Game Alaska is certain to become a classic work in American environmental history. — Fred Runte, Technology and Culture The people and big game animals of Alaska lived together successfully until the dawn of the twentieth century. Alaska's vast size—586,000 square miles—and varied landscapes provided ample living room for beast and man. Demographic, technologic, and economic growth triggered by the military buildup after WWII marked the beginning of the end of Alaska’s frontier innocence and endangered the most fragile part of the wilderness—the big game animals. Not until the early 1930s, with the maturation of the Alaska Game Commission, was a balanced game management program implemented. However, Sherwood explores the flaws within the system revealing the distorted science, the menace of new technologies, environmental imperatives, pressures from a uniquely structured population, the traditional hostility of farmer and fisherman toward animal predator, and an atavistic belief in man’s democratic right to shoot wild animals when he chose. Sherwood brilliantly synthesizes the flaws of years of failed attempts to govern big game predation and provides a useful guide to the history of the relationship of Alaska’s wild beasts and Alaskans. [edit][delete] Admin Add