Robert Glenn Ketchum: The Tongass: Alaska's Vanishing Rain Forest

This was an extraordinary book that shows the vital necessity of protecting this area from projects like Anglo-American's Pebble Mine, which could ruin the salmon fishery at the heart of the ecosystem.

Much of the photos in this book are taken from fairly high up, helicopter or aircraft. Composition is better than anything in the genre. Medium format Pentax 645 ensures a high level of detail. Printing quality is among the best i've seen. This is not just another book on the beauty of Alaskan wilderness. Interesting text for those with little background on salmon and their rivers. A masterpiece!

Rivers of Life has stunningly beautiful photography of the rivers and fish of Bristol Bay, Alaska. Although I have been there several times, Ketchum and Hampton's book reveals so much more about this remote region than a visitor would typically see or learn. It also documents the poignant inside story of the history of this, the world's greatest wild salmon fishery, and the century-long struggle among the natives, commercial fishermen, sport-fishermen, and government to conserve the resource and use it wisely.