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

by Clarence A. Crawford

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.



***

This book has three parts. The first, and probably the most interesting, is a recollection of selected episodes from my 41 seasons in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The second part explores problems faced by conservationists in Alaska (and elsewhere). The third explores the intellectual underpinnings of the need for questing. Love of wilderness is the driving force in the book.

333 pages, Hardcover

First published September 23, 2014

Reviews

[Xulon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Driven by his love of wilderness and the place that shaped so much of his life, Clarence A. Crawford brings you Sunlight North, a collection of essays, ideas and stories about The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Crawford takes you on a journey of discover through the thirty thousand square miles of The Refuge, it’s various geologic formations, wildlife and plant species. His personal stories are perfectly intertwined with commentary on the difficulties of conservation in today’s Alaska, the importance of exploration and the deep relationship between oneself and the surrounding environment. A beautiful and thoughtful work, created from a lifetime dedicated to the outdoors.

[Lydia H · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF. Sort of. The stories of being in the wilderness were rich and gorgeous. I hear Walden and Thoreau’s influence, and it’s lovely. But the author totally lost me in the what I labeled the “call to action” sections. I agree they’re important topics to explore, but they’re not what I was interested in when I initially chose the book. I tried to skip ahead to more of the stories, but after two weeks of reading it (which is abnormally slow for me) I just decided to put it down. It’s not a bad book at all; we just met at the wrong time.