Sunlight North The Wisdom of the Arctic Wilderness: Forty Seasons in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, in Alaska's northeast corner, encloses about thirty thousand square miles. The variety of geologic formations, wildlife and plant species, and topography is immense. It is one of America's great wildernesses. In Sunlight North: The Wisdom of the Arctic Wilderness, Clarence A. Crawford writes about some of his experiences in the Refuge, recalling the many ways it has shaped his life during the past forty years. The bulk of these chapters narrate some aspect of travel in the Arctic. Other chapters deal with contemporary attitudes that may adversely affect the Refuge and other wilderness areas. (Crawford is acutely aware that one section of the Refuge, the 1002 area of the Coastal Plain, is continually under the threat of oil drilling.) And several chapters deal with the mythical and philosophical underpinnings of why people quest, in the wilderness and elsewhere.