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User:Lwaltner/Braided River (Publishing)

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Braided River is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit publishing imprint of The Mountaineers Books based in Seattle, Washington. Braided River produces large-format photography books that address critical threats to wilderness. In addition to publishing works, Braided River collaborates with partner organizations to develop presentations, publicity, and exhibits that reach beyond the printed page and connect with diverse audiences.

History[edit]

Seasons of Life and Land, photographed by Subhankar Banerjee, was the first book with a conservation focus to be published by Mountaineers Books. The book featured the animals, native people and landscape of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and identified threats to the future of the refuge.

On March 19, 2003, the book was held up on the Senate floor during a debate about oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The provision to open the land to development, tacked on to a budget bill, was defeated by a vote of 52 to 48. Soon after the vote, Banerjee received notice that the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, which depends on Congress for its funding, had decided to move his exhibit from a prominent space near the museum’s rotunda to the bottom floor. The exhibit’s captions were also expunged of quotes from President Jimmy Carter, and attorneys for the museum insisted that Banerjee remove all mentions of the Smithsonian from his book. The museum later denied making any decisions due to political pressure.[1]

The controversy drew significant media coverage that launched the book—and the Arctic Refuge—into the public spotlight and prompted the creation of the Braided River in 2007. The success of Seasons of Life and Land was a launching point for future Braided River books and awareness campaigns.

Campaigns[edit]

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Seasons of Life and Land[edit]

Published May 2003 in partnership with the Alaska Wilderness League and The Wilderness Society. Photography by Subhankar Banerjee.

Seasons of Life and Land[2] was the first comprehensive photographic portrait of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in spring, summer, fall and winter. Subhankar Banerjee spent fourteen months over two years documenting the landscape, wild species and native peoples of the refuge. The book also includes a foreword by President Jimmy Carter, essays by Peter Matthiessen, Fran Mauer, William H. Meadows, Debbie S. Miller, George B. Schaller, and David Allen Sibley, and a poem by Terry Tempest Williams. Winner of 2003 Banff Mountain Book Festival Image Award. Winner of 2004 Gold Award, Environment Category, ForeWord Magazine's "Book of the Year" Award. Winner 2004 Environment category "Top Prize," Independent Publisher Book Award.

Living With Wolves[edit]

Published July, 2005 in partnership with The Wilderness Society. Photography by Jamie and Jim Dutcher.

Jim and Jamie Dutcher lived with the wolves of Idaho's Sawtooth Pack for six years in a tented camp at the edge of the wilderness, gaining the wolves' trust and observing their daily interactions up close. The book is intended to overturn the negative stereotype of wolves as dangerous to humans and encourages people to fight for their protection. Living with Wolves[3] served as a companion book to a Discovery Channel documentary of the same name, shown in May 2005. Jim and Jamie Dutcher also facilitate outreach programs through their 501(c)3 foundation Living With Wolves.

Freedom to Roam: Yellowstone to Yukon[edit]

Published November, 2005 in partnership with the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative. Photography by Florian Schulz.

German photographer Florian Schulz spent ten years photographing one of the world’s last intact mountain ecosystems: the Yellowstone to Yukon corridor, a 2,000-mile expanse in western North America along the spine of the Rockies. In this book, he argues for the preservation of this wild land as one of the world’s first national wildlife corridors—open to migration and healthy throughout. Yellowstone to Yukon[4] was winner of the 2006 Independent Publisher Book Award: Outstanding Book of the Year, "Most Likely to Save the Planet".

Arctic Wings: Birds of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge[edit]

Published July, 2006 in partnership with Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences. Edited by Stephen Brown, PhD.

Arctic Wings[5] features the birds that travel to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and back every year. The book features 200 color images from five award-winning nature photographers: Subhankar Banerjee, Michio Hoshino, Steven Kazlowski, Arthur Morris, and Hugh Rose. The photographs are accompanied by essays from noted biologists and conservationists that detail the life histories of representative bird species from every major group. Arctic Wings also includes a CD of bird songs recorded by Martyn Stewart. Winner of 2007 National Outdoor Book Award, "Design & Artistic Merit".

Columbia Highlands: Exploring Washington's Last Frontier[edit]

Published May, 2007 in partnership with Conservation Northwest. By Craig Romano; photography by James Johnston.

Columbia Highlands[6] includes 100 color photographs of the landscape, plants, animals, and people of the Columbia Highlands region of northeastern Washington State. The book identifies the hunters, hikers, loggers, business owners and native peoples who are working to protect and restore the area. The goal of the Columbia Highlands project is to secure protection for the Columbia Highlands as a whole - as a critical link in the Rockies-to-the-Rain forest wildlife corridor.

The Last Polar Bear: Facing the Truth of a Warming World[edit]

Published February, 2008 in partnership with Alaska Wilderness League and the Natural Resources Defense Council. Photography by Steven Kazlowski.

Photographer Steven Kazlowski spent more than eight years photographing polar bears and the natural world that surrounds them. The Last Polar Bear discusses changes to polar bear habitats that are caused by human consumption of fossil fuel. The Last Polar Bear[7] features more than 200 of his photographs, accompanied by essays from a range of authors and conservationists, including: Theodore Roosevelt IV, Charles Wohlforth, Daniel Glick, Richard Nelson, Nick Jans, and Frances Beinecke. The book also includes anecdotes of Kazlowski's Arctic adventures.

Resurrection: Glen Canyon and a New Vision for the American West[edit]

Published 2009 in partnership with the Glen Canyon Institute. By Annette McGivney; forward by Bill McKibben; photography by James Kay.

In the 1950s the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation began plans to dam Glen Canyon, a 170-miles-long ecological wonder stretching across southern Utah and northern Arizona. In an attempt to preserve the canyon by creating awareness, David Brower, then executive director of the Sierra Club, and photographer Eliot Porter produced and disseminated The Place No One Knew[8] a large-format photography book. Resurrection[9] is a tribute to The Place No One Knew that features the Glen Canyon that has reemerged as Lake Powell has diminished after a series of drought years.

Planet Ice: A Climate for Change[edit]

Published 2009. Photography by James Martin.

Planet Ice[10] examines the characteristics and history of ice and explores human concepts of ice and wilderness. The book pairs the photography of James Martin with essays by Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, polar bear expert Ian Stirling, ice scientist Richard Alley, glaciologist Gino Casassa, and noted writers Gretel Ehrlich, Broughton Coburn, and Nick Jans. The authors and photographer identify the connection between ice and the well-being of the global community.

Salmon in the Trees: Life in Alaska's Tongass Rain Forest[edit]

Published April 2010 in partnership with Alaska Wilderness League. Photography by Amy Gulick.

Salmon in the Trees[11] tells the story of the Tongass rain forest in southeast Alaska. Gulick photographed the millions of salmon that swim upstream into the forest, feeding an abundance of bears and bald eagles. The book explains the connections between the salmon, animals, forests and people of the Tongass. Accompanying Gulick's photographs are essays by Carl Safina, Rosita Worl, Richard Carstensen, Douglas Chadwick, Brad Matsen, and John Schoen, and illustrations by Ray Troll. The book also features and audio CD by Richard Nelson.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Censorship and Politics? Views Differ Over Exhibit
  2. ^ Subhankar Banerjee (2003) Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Seasons of Life and Land. Braided River.
  3. ^ Jim and Jamie Dutcher (2005) Living With Wolves. Braided River.
  4. ^ Florian Schulz (2005) Freedom to Roam: Yellowstone to Yukon. Braided River.
  5. ^ Stephen Brown (2006) Arctic Wings: Birds of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Braided River.
  6. ^ Craig Romano and James Johnston (2007) Columbia Highlands. Braided River.
  7. ^ Steven Kazlowski (2008) The Last Polar Bear: Facing the Truth of a Warming World. Braided River.
  8. ^ Eliot Porter (1963) The Place No One Knew: Glen Canyon on the Colorado. Gibbs Smith.
  9. ^ Annette McGivney (2005) Resurrection: Glen Canyon and a New Vision for the American West. Braided River.
  10. ^ James Martin (2009) Planet Ice: A Climate for Change. Braided River.
  11. ^ Amy Gulick (2010) Salmon in the Trees: Life in Alaska's Rain Forest. Braided River.

External links[edit]

Photographer Websites[edit]



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