A stunning visual story of a place of wonder and mystique, this book features what is legendary and beloved about Alaska. It also focuses on the key point of interest in the state today: endangered Bristol Bay, which faces potential mining of the world's greatest deposits of copper and gold. Its pristine waters are the worlds' biggest salmon spawning grounds. If the gold is mined, the ecosystem is destroyed -but the impoverished locals have work for the next half-century. After that, the salmon and the mines are gone. Melford, paired with noted environmental storyteller David Atcheson, addresses the dilemma by bowling us over with the beauty and importance of the place for all time.