An urgent plea by a longtime resident to preserve one of the lower
48's remaining wilderness areas. Nestled where Idaho, Montana, and
Alberta, Canada, meet, the Yaak Valley - the name means "arrow" in
Kootenai - is a treasure vault of old-growth pine, spruce, and
Douglas fir. It is also a prime target for the logging industry,
which now seeks to open the Yaak to clearcut logging. Bass (The
Lost Grizzlies, 1995, etc.) is scandalized by this possibility,
especially inasmuch as the US Forest Service subsidizes such
logging "to the tune of one or two billion dollars per decade" and
"timber companies working on public lands in the West continue to
post record quarterly profits for their stockholders" - precisely
because of the government's largess. This well-written, impatient,
often polemical book urges that the Yaak, and other wild places, be
set aside from economic development, and Bass's program is modest:
"I want," he writes, "the last few roadless areas in this
still-wild valley to remain that way." He also celebrates the power
of wilderness to inspire the meditative, simple life: "I practice
going slow," he says, "at a pace that can be sustained. I practice
looking around at things." He also introduces us to neighbors who
have found a special solace in the deep woods. Bass argues that
most Montanans and Idahoans oppose any further destruction of their
backyard wilderness and demonstrates how important old-growth
forest is to the health of the entire ecosystem. Much of this will
be familiar territory to readers who know Bass's work, for he has
written about the Yaak before in books like Winter (1991) and The
Ninemile Wolves (1992). Even so, this is a valuable document in the
continuing battle over wilderness preservation. (Kirkus Reviews)
The Yaak Valley of northwestern Montana is one of the last great wild places in the United States, a land of black bears and grizzlies, wolves and coyotes, bald and golden eagles, and even a handful of humans. But its magic may not be enough to save it from the forces threatening it now. In The Book of Yaak Rick Bass captures the soul of the valley itself, and he shows how, if places like the Yaak are lost, so too will be the human riches of mystery and imagination.
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