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No Room for Bears: A Wilderness Writer's Experiences With a Threatened Breed
Dufresne, former director of the Alaska Game Commission, tells of his first-hand experience with bears in the wilderness, describes endangered bears of the world and discusses bear evolution, habits, varieties and folklore.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- GenresAnimalsNonfiction
256 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1991
2 people are currently reading
58 people want to read
About the author
Frank Dufresne
9 books4 followersFrank Dufresne went to Alaska as a young man to recover from the spiritual fatigue of World War I, and almost immediately, the two-Dufresne and Alaska-- became inseparable. In his autobiography, the author of No Room for Bears also writes a loving biography of the rough, beautiful, and exciting place that was Alaska in the 1920's and 30's.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 21, 2014
My friend owns a rare book store, all collector stuff. Often when they buy a collection of books, they get some that are worthless from a financial perspective. They sell these 5 or $5 or $10. I bought this book some years ago, because of the title, as a present for my wife who is into bears.
As part of my quest to read all of the books we own, I eventually made my way to it. Before her, though my enthusiasm for this book has now put it on the top of her reading list.
When I bought it, I thought it was some sort of fiction book and put with our fiction. Turns out it is a collection of essays from the early 1960s by an old guy who spent his life as a government worker involved with Alaskan fish and game.
So how does a nonfiction book from the early 1960s hold up in 2014? Surprisingly and pleasingly well. Facts about nature and bears are timeless. It is also fascinating look into a lost time, the pre-statehood days of the Alaska frontier. Frank Dufresne had an interesting life working the Alaskan wilderness. Included are a few first hand accounts from old timers that were told to him when he was a young man in Alaska, so there is over 100 years of history here. FD knew about all types of bears, not just the ones found in Alaska.
Frank Dufresne was a very good writer. His prose was clear and tight and he could tell a story. I greatly enjoyed reading this book. The chapters are each focused on a specific topic (which tend to overlap a bit but are seldom too repetitive) and are the right length to read one or more at a sitting.
Part of FD's reason for writing this book was to draw attention to modern man's potential to quickly and permanently destroy the last habitats of some of the last existing large land carnivores, especially at danger was Admiralty Island in Alaska. Looking at AI on Wikipedia, it seems that it was mostly set aside for nature in the 1970s. Though FD may not have lived to see that.
I was enjoying this book so much, I bought Dufresne's other book (also out of print) for my wife as a birthday present. Her birthday was last week, so that's not a spoiler.
This is a great little book that sadly is mostly lost to the world. I now know more about bears than I ever expected to, and enjoyed the journey. Not bad for a worthless book.
As part of my quest to read all of the books we own, I eventually made my way to it. Before her, though my enthusiasm for this book has now put it on the top of her reading list.
When I bought it, I thought it was some sort of fiction book and put with our fiction. Turns out it is a collection of essays from the early 1960s by an old guy who spent his life as a government worker involved with Alaskan fish and game.
So how does a nonfiction book from the early 1960s hold up in 2014? Surprisingly and pleasingly well. Facts about nature and bears are timeless. It is also fascinating look into a lost time, the pre-statehood days of the Alaska frontier. Frank Dufresne had an interesting life working the Alaskan wilderness. Included are a few first hand accounts from old timers that were told to him when he was a young man in Alaska, so there is over 100 years of history here. FD knew about all types of bears, not just the ones found in Alaska.
Frank Dufresne was a very good writer. His prose was clear and tight and he could tell a story. I greatly enjoyed reading this book. The chapters are each focused on a specific topic (which tend to overlap a bit but are seldom too repetitive) and are the right length to read one or more at a sitting.
Part of FD's reason for writing this book was to draw attention to modern man's potential to quickly and permanently destroy the last habitats of some of the last existing large land carnivores, especially at danger was Admiralty Island in Alaska. Looking at AI on Wikipedia, it seems that it was mostly set aside for nature in the 1970s. Though FD may not have lived to see that.
I was enjoying this book so much, I bought Dufresne's other book (also out of print) for my wife as a birthday present. Her birthday was last week, so that's not a spoiler.
This is a great little book that sadly is mostly lost to the world. I now know more about bears than I ever expected to, and enjoyed the journey. Not bad for a worthless book.
September 15, 2011
I first picked this book up because I was intrigued by the cover. Plus, it made me think of Snoopy and "No Dogs Allowed".
No Room for Bears is a compilation of various articles Mr. Dufresne wrote around the time he was Alaskan Game Commissioner. Most of it made me sad, as it was written in the 1950's and 1960's, so I'm quite certain the plights he wrote about have ended the way he says they would. The book begins with a discussion on the bear population on Admiralty Island. If I remember correctly, there were over 1600 bears on that one island, with their habitat being threatened by logging and fishing. Admiralty Island is now a National Monument, which helps preserve the habitat for bears, but doesn't lessen the threat from humans.
I never knew how many different kinds of bears there really were. Sure, we all know the black bear, brown bear, grizzly, polar bear, and panda. But glacier bears? Bears that are orange or striped or blue? I honestly would love to see some of these!
While some of the details in Dufresne's narrative may have changed in the 40-50 years since he wrote it, the underlying premise is the same. If we want to live in a world inhabited by others (either human or animal), we need to learn more about them and honor their existence. We, as humans, can't get upset when an animal 'invades' our space or eats our food. Animals don't live by the same concepts as we and the better we understand that, the better we can coexist.
Someday I hope to visit Alaska, and Admiralty Island, to be able to see the beauty that Mr. Dufresne was able to witness.
No Room for Bears is a compilation of various articles Mr. Dufresne wrote around the time he was Alaskan Game Commissioner. Most of it made me sad, as it was written in the 1950's and 1960's, so I'm quite certain the plights he wrote about have ended the way he says they would. The book begins with a discussion on the bear population on Admiralty Island. If I remember correctly, there were over 1600 bears on that one island, with their habitat being threatened by logging and fishing. Admiralty Island is now a National Monument, which helps preserve the habitat for bears, but doesn't lessen the threat from humans.
I never knew how many different kinds of bears there really were. Sure, we all know the black bear, brown bear, grizzly, polar bear, and panda. But glacier bears? Bears that are orange or striped or blue? I honestly would love to see some of these!
While some of the details in Dufresne's narrative may have changed in the 40-50 years since he wrote it, the underlying premise is the same. If we want to live in a world inhabited by others (either human or animal), we need to learn more about them and honor their existence. We, as humans, can't get upset when an animal 'invades' our space or eats our food. Animals don't live by the same concepts as we and the better we understand that, the better we can coexist.
Someday I hope to visit Alaska, and Admiralty Island, to be able to see the beauty that Mr. Dufresne was able to witness.
November 26, 2012
Actually I read My Way Was North, but its not listed in goodreads. Certainly an interesting look at the early days of Alaskan settlement. Dufresne is a dyed in the wool storyteller, that much is for sure.
June 7, 2019
Here are some of my thoughts about No Room for Bears, because a goodly number of my friends have asked what is the current status of bears thought their range. The range covers Alaska, Western Canada, and the Western USA. In practically all of the North American continent, Black Bears are maintaing good healthy populations. The Black Bear is now found in many more states than when I was a newly trained Wildlife Biologist. Improved management is responsible for the steady and increasing populations across the USA. In British Columbia, the Black Bear is abundant. One year in the nineties I was a guest of the BC Ministry of Wildlife and I was banding mallard ducks in
Vancouver, BC marshes. The Black Bear were abundant even in the city limits, where a bicyclist was attack but not seriously injured by what was probably a female bear defending its young.
It is true that Global Climate Change is threatening to reduce the Polar Beat populations around the Northern Hemisphere because of reduction in sea ice and limiting the populations of seals that are
the mainstay of Polar Bear each winter. So, we all need to support clean air and all the other possible
efforts to clean up the air on our Blue Planet which can improve air quality and slow any climate changes so rampant these days.
Now, with Grizzly and Brown bears the story seems much better than Frank Dufresne reported in the decades of the 1940 and 1950's. Thank goodness for good news. In my opinion from my career and much research on the topic, the grizzly populations are on the increase in in Idaho, NE Washington, Montana and Wyoming. Glacier National Park has over 1,000 grizzly bear and Yellowstone has a growing and expanding populations. The growth of these large bear populations has lead to the
removal of the Grizzly Bear from the Endangered Species list in a couple of these states.
Because of these facts, I feel we all can feel that the Grizzly is safer because of improved management by state and federal agencies. But the book NO ROOM for Bears was an effort to alert the public about a wildlife management issue that has improved by the 2019. Let us all be alert and do as much as we can to influence legislators to provide funding for additional research into such wildlife populations and into the best practices to slow Climate Change for the good of bears and humans.
Vancouver, BC marshes. The Black Bear were abundant even in the city limits, where a bicyclist was attack but not seriously injured by what was probably a female bear defending its young.
It is true that Global Climate Change is threatening to reduce the Polar Beat populations around the Northern Hemisphere because of reduction in sea ice and limiting the populations of seals that are
the mainstay of Polar Bear each winter. So, we all need to support clean air and all the other possible
efforts to clean up the air on our Blue Planet which can improve air quality and slow any climate changes so rampant these days.
Now, with Grizzly and Brown bears the story seems much better than Frank Dufresne reported in the decades of the 1940 and 1950's. Thank goodness for good news. In my opinion from my career and much research on the topic, the grizzly populations are on the increase in in Idaho, NE Washington, Montana and Wyoming. Glacier National Park has over 1,000 grizzly bear and Yellowstone has a growing and expanding populations. The growth of these large bear populations has lead to the
removal of the Grizzly Bear from the Endangered Species list in a couple of these states.
Because of these facts, I feel we all can feel that the Grizzly is safer because of improved management by state and federal agencies. But the book NO ROOM for Bears was an effort to alert the public about a wildlife management issue that has improved by the 2019. Let us all be alert and do as much as we can to influence legislators to provide funding for additional research into such wildlife populations and into the best practices to slow Climate Change for the good of bears and humans.
September 5, 2025
My friend owns a rare book store, all collector stuff. Often when they buy a collection of books, they get some that are worthless from a financial perspective. They sell these 5 or $5 or $10. I bought this book some years ago, because of the title, as a present for my wife who is into bears.
As part of my quest to read all of the books we own, I eventually made my way to it. Before her, though my enthusiasm for this book has now put it on the top of her reading list.
When I bought it, I thought it was some sort of fiction book and put with our fiction. Turns out it is a collection of essays from the early 1960s by an old guy who spent his life as a government worker involved with Alaskan fish and game.
So how does a nonfiction book from the early 1960s hold up in 2014? Surprisingly and pleasingly well. Facts about nature and bears are timeless. It is also fascinating look into a lost time, the pre-statehood days of the Alaska frontier. Frank Dufresne had an interesting life working the Alaskan wilderness. Included are a few first hand accounts from old timers that were told to him when he was a young man in Alaska, so there is over 100 years of history here. FD knew about all types of bears, not just the ones found in Alaska.
Frank Dufresne was a very good writer. His prose was clear and tight and he could tell a story. I greatly enjoyed reading this book. The chapters are each focused on a specific topic (which tend to overlap a bit but are seldom too repetitive) and are the right length to read one or more at a sitting.
Part of FD's reason for writing this book was to draw attention to modern man's potential to quickly and permanently destroy the last habitats of some of the last existing large land carnivores, especially at danger was Admiralty Island in Alaska. Looking at AI on Wikipedia, it seems that it was mostly set aside for nature in the 1970s. Though FD may not have lived to see that.
I was enjoying this book so much, I bought Dufresne's other book (also out of print) for my wife as a birthday present. Her birthday was last week, so that's not a spoiler.
This is a great little book that sadly is mostly lost to the world. I now know more about bears than I ever expected to, and enjoyed the journey. Not bad for a worthless book.
As part of my quest to read all of the books we own, I eventually made my way to it. Before her, though my enthusiasm for this book has now put it on the top of her reading list.
When I bought it, I thought it was some sort of fiction book and put with our fiction. Turns out it is a collection of essays from the early 1960s by an old guy who spent his life as a government worker involved with Alaskan fish and game.
So how does a nonfiction book from the early 1960s hold up in 2014? Surprisingly and pleasingly well. Facts about nature and bears are timeless. It is also fascinating look into a lost time, the pre-statehood days of the Alaska frontier. Frank Dufresne had an interesting life working the Alaskan wilderness. Included are a few first hand accounts from old timers that were told to him when he was a young man in Alaska, so there is over 100 years of history here. FD knew about all types of bears, not just the ones found in Alaska.
Frank Dufresne was a very good writer. His prose was clear and tight and he could tell a story. I greatly enjoyed reading this book. The chapters are each focused on a specific topic (which tend to overlap a bit but are seldom too repetitive) and are the right length to read one or more at a sitting.
Part of FD's reason for writing this book was to draw attention to modern man's potential to quickly and permanently destroy the last habitats of some of the last existing large land carnivores, especially at danger was Admiralty Island in Alaska. Looking at AI on Wikipedia, it seems that it was mostly set aside for nature in the 1970s. Though FD may not have lived to see that.
I was enjoying this book so much, I bought Dufresne's other book (also out of print) for my wife as a birthday present. Her birthday was last week, so that's not a spoiler.
This is a great little book that sadly is mostly lost to the world. I now know more about bears than I ever expected to, and enjoyed the journey. Not bad for a worthless book.
September 5, 2025
My friend owns a rare an antique book store, all serious collector stuff. Sometimes they buy large lots of books and get some that are worthless from a financial perspective. Our copy is one of those books which were 5 for $5 if I recall.
I bought this book, because of the title, as a present for my wife who is into bears. As part of my quest to read every book we own, I made my way to this one. Before she did.
I thought it was some sort of fiction book when I bought it. It's actually essays from the 1960s by an old guy who was a government worker involved with Alaskan fish and game his whole adult life.
So how does a non-fiction book from the early 1960s hold up in 2014? Surprisingly and pleasingly well. The nature facts are timeless. It is also a fascinating look back into a mostly lost time, the time of the Alaskan frontier, before statehood.
One of the points of the book was to try to protect the last habitats of these large land carnivores, especially Admiralty Island in Alaska. Looking up AI on Wikipedia shows that it has mostly been protected.
Frank Dufresne was a very good writer. His prose is clear and pretty tight. He tells a good story. He knew about all sorts of bears, not just ones found in Alaska. I really enjoyed this book. The chapters are focused on one topic and are the right length. It was kind of like a box of doughnuts, you could eat all 12 at once or one or two at sitting. Better than doughnuts, this won't affect your middle.
I never planned to end up so educated on bears, but now I am. And I enjoyed the journey. What a wonderful worthless book.
I bought this book, because of the title, as a present for my wife who is into bears. As part of my quest to read every book we own, I made my way to this one. Before she did.
I thought it was some sort of fiction book when I bought it. It's actually essays from the 1960s by an old guy who was a government worker involved with Alaskan fish and game his whole adult life.
So how does a non-fiction book from the early 1960s hold up in 2014? Surprisingly and pleasingly well. The nature facts are timeless. It is also a fascinating look back into a mostly lost time, the time of the Alaskan frontier, before statehood.
One of the points of the book was to try to protect the last habitats of these large land carnivores, especially Admiralty Island in Alaska. Looking up AI on Wikipedia shows that it has mostly been protected.
Frank Dufresne was a very good writer. His prose is clear and pretty tight. He tells a good story. He knew about all sorts of bears, not just ones found in Alaska. I really enjoyed this book. The chapters are focused on one topic and are the right length. It was kind of like a box of doughnuts, you could eat all 12 at once or one or two at sitting. Better than doughnuts, this won't affect your middle.
I never planned to end up so educated on bears, but now I am. And I enjoyed the journey. What a wonderful worthless book.
April 2, 2023
I read the older, illustrated version from the 60s that I found at a library book sale. The author is a good storyteller, much better at writing than usual for this genre (state agency folks reminiscing on wildlife), which makes sense given his writing experience. Gets pretty repetitive and a lot of the stories of how scary grizzlies can be get boring after a while. The best parts are hearing about the ecology, politics, and tracker/guide vs scientist observations. Obviously a lot is somewhat dated by now, but still worth a skim.
April 14, 2020
A little out of date, but very informative about the different types of bears. The stories of different bear interactions is wonderful.
January 21, 2014
My friend owns a rare an antique book store, all serious collector stuff. Sometimes they buy large lots of books and get some that are worthless from a financial perspective. Our copy is one of those books which were 5 for $5 if I recall.
I bought this book, because of the title, as a present for my wife who is into bears. As part of my quest to read every book we own, I made my way to this one. Before she did.
I thought it was some sort of fiction book when I bought it. It's actually essays from the 1960s by an old guy who was a government worker involved with Alaskan fish and game his whole adult life.
So how does a non-fiction book from the early 1960s hold up in 2014? Surprisingly and pleasingly well. The nature facts are timeless. It is also a fascinating look back into a mostly lost time, the time of the Alaskan frontier, before statehood.
One of the points of the book was to try to protect the last habitats of these large land carnivores, especially Admiralty Island in Alaska. Looking up AI on Wikipedia shows that it has mostly been protected.
Frank Dufresne was a very good writer. His prose is clear and pretty tight. He tells a good story. He knew about all sorts of bears, not just ones found in Alaska. I really enjoyed this book. The chapters are focused on one topic and are the right length. It was kind of like a box of doughnuts, you could eat all 12 at once or one or two at sitting. Better than doughnuts, this won't affect your middle.
I never planned to end up so educated on bears, but now I am. And I enjoyed the journey. What a wonderful worthless book.
I bought this book, because of the title, as a present for my wife who is into bears. As part of my quest to read every book we own, I made my way to this one. Before she did.
I thought it was some sort of fiction book when I bought it. It's actually essays from the 1960s by an old guy who was a government worker involved with Alaskan fish and game his whole adult life.
So how does a non-fiction book from the early 1960s hold up in 2014? Surprisingly and pleasingly well. The nature facts are timeless. It is also a fascinating look back into a mostly lost time, the time of the Alaskan frontier, before statehood.
One of the points of the book was to try to protect the last habitats of these large land carnivores, especially Admiralty Island in Alaska. Looking up AI on Wikipedia shows that it has mostly been protected.
Frank Dufresne was a very good writer. His prose is clear and pretty tight. He tells a good story. He knew about all sorts of bears, not just ones found in Alaska. I really enjoyed this book. The chapters are focused on one topic and are the right length. It was kind of like a box of doughnuts, you could eat all 12 at once or one or two at sitting. Better than doughnuts, this won't affect your middle.
I never planned to end up so educated on bears, but now I am. And I enjoyed the journey. What a wonderful worthless book.
April 2, 2018
this is about hunters and there encounters with bears.there were two hunters camping and a bear smells some of there food in there backpack.it comes to the tent so they pull out there pocket knife to cut the tent to escape.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews