The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is at the center of the conflict between America’s demand for oil and nature at its most pristine. Three decades before the battle over oil development began, a group of visionary conservationists launched a controversial campaign to preserve a remote corner of Alaska. Their goal was unprecedented—to protect an entire ecosystem for future generations. Among these conservationists were Olaus and Margaret Murie, who became icons of the wilderness movement.
Last Great Wildernesschronicles their fight and that of their compatriots, tracing the transformation of this little-known expanse of mountains, forest, and tundra into a symbolic landscape embodying the ideals and aspirations that led to passage of the Wilderness Act in 1964.
Roger Kayehad been a wilderness specialist and airplane pilot with the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for over twenty years. He is an affiliate professor of Northern Studies at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where he teaches courses on environmental psychology and wilderness management.
Map of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Color plates
1 Genesis of the Campaign
2 To Northeast Alaska
3 A Last Great Wilderness
4 The 1956 Sheenjek Expedition
5 Wilderness, Wildlife Range, or Both?
6 Finally, Legislation Introduced
7 Senate Hearings
8 House Passage, Senate Inaction, Executive Action
9 A Symbol of Wilderness
Epilogue
Notes
References
Index
![Last Great Wilderness: The Campaign to Establish the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge [Hardcover]](/itemImage/2/2/9/6/2_5365896.jpg "Last Great Wilderness: The Campaign to Establish the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge [Hardcover]")