BOOK SAMPLES
Anan: Stream of Living Water
Chapter 1 Here Earth and Water Seem to Strive Again
What could be simpler than a wooded stream rippling through an unassuming valley? True, it attracts bears, brown and black, with an abundance of salmon. Other creatures, too, gravitate to its waters and banks to feast on the leavings of bears, decayed carcasses of spawned-out fish. Humans are among those attracted to the stream, Native people from past millennia and today’s visitors. This is an modest creek, Anan, not so different from hundreds or even thousands of others in Southeast Alaska, Yet, by walking its trail and studying its kaleidoscope of land and water, its marine, plant, animal and human life, we can begin to glimpse extraordinary interdependence in that singular ecosystem, the salmon stream. Anan Creek is an abundant and complex place well worth knowing.
Chapter 2 A Pretty Kettle of Fish
Chapter 3 We Have Always Lived Here
Chapter 4 We Feed the World: Commercial Fishing at Anan
From the first, the majority of Alaskans opposed fish traps. Early canneries hired some Natives but many
workers were imported from Seattle and San Francisco. Initially, canneries also purchased fish from Native fishermen.
Chapter 5 Bears—Made of the Same Dust As We
Research has identified two major lineages of black bear, coastal and continental, that apparently diverged from each other in Asia as much as 1.8 million years ago. The continental lineage includes black bear from locations across North America – central Alaska, Alberta, Montana and Pennsylvania.
Chapter 6 Long Live the Weeds and the Wilderness Yet
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Roll On! Discovering The Wild Stikine River
Chapter 1 The Land is Formed
Petroglyphs of undetermined age dot the tide line along a sandy beach. Ancient spirals, fish forms and staring eyes pecked into wave-smoothed boulders look northward across the water to the broad sandy delta of the Stikine River. These rock carvings are mute testimony to the enduring attraction of an immense watercourse that drains a land overflowing with history and natural beauty.
Chapter 2 First Peoples
Chapter 3 Early Contact
Chapter 4 The Rush Is On
The reminiscence of a Mr. Shearer, veteran of the Cariboo, Cassiar and Klondike rushes stands as an epitaph to the dreamers of every gold rush. He recalled near the end of his life, “I have been fifty years in the mines and at seventy-six years of age I am still a child of chance. If a gold rush were to take place tomorrow, I should be among the first to go.”
Chapter 5 Riverboats: From Canoes to Jetboats
Research has identified two major lineages of black bear, coastal and continental, that apparently diverged from each other in Asia as much as 1.8 million years ago. The continental lineage includes black bear from locations across North America – central Alaska, Alberta, Montana and Pennsylvania.
Chapter 6 After the Boom: Twentieth Century and
Beyond
Chapter 7
The Nature of the Stikine: The Land and its Mammals
Chapter 8
Above and Beneath: Birds, Fish, Amphibians and a Few Insects
Mainland rivers such as the Stikine are important migratory corridors and staging areas for birds bound further north. The grass and sedge flats of the Stikine delta form one of the largest coastal marshes in the Pacific Northwest. North of the Fraser River delta, it is the first extensive coastal area available to migratory birds traveling along the coast and it is one of the last used during the fall migration.
Chapter 9
Plants: Lowly Lichen to Soaring Spruce
Factors that have influenced the ecosystems of the Stikine include extensive glaciation and deposits of glacial till. Volcanic activity has laid down lava flows. Forest fires significantly affect vegetation in the interior. On the coast, high levels of precipitation are primary in determining the plant life of the temperate rainforest.
Chapter 10
Landmarks from the Mouth to Telegraph Creek
Shakes Glacier is located on the right shore, just above the gauging station. Meltwater from Shakes Glacier spills into Shakes Lake that drains into Shakes Slough. The lake is about three hundred feet deep with many icebergs that ground themselves on the shallow underwater terminal moraine at the lake’s entrance. Castle Mountain, rising to 7,300 feet, provides a breathtaking backdrop to this lake, visited by John Muir in 1879.
Chapter 11
Tug of War: Development and Preservation
Chapter 12
At Play: Parks and Recreation
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