Alaska - Travel, Nature Travel - Tourism, Narratives & Description

Alaska

Name: Alaska
Author: Les Beletsky,Dennis Paulson
ISBN: 9780125469609

by Les Beletsky, Dennis Paulson

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Overview

Alaska has both vast wilderness tracts and a modern transportation system, making ecotravelling in the state easy as well as exciting. From the broad expanses of tundra in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuse and the rich seabird colonies of the Bering Sea to the glacier-bedecked snowy mountains and magnificent rainforests of the Southeast, wildlife viewing opportunities abound.
In this book is all the information you need to find, identify, and learn about Alaska's magnificent animal life. The authors, professional biologists, selected for color illustrations more than 320 of Alaska's most common marine invertebrates, insects, amphibians, fishes, birds, and mammals - the species you are most likely to see. In one easy-to-carry, entertainingly written, beautifully illustrated book, you will have as a constant companion on your journey:
* Identifying and location information on the most frequently seen animals;
* Up-do-date information on the ecology, behavior and conservation of the animals;
* Information on Alaska's habitats and on the most common plants you will encounter;
* Brief description of Alaska's most frequently visited parks and reserves

Audience: Ecotourists, natural history amateurs, birdwatchers, mammal watchers, and ecotour companies.

About the Author, Les Beletsky,Dennis Paulson

Dennis Paulson has been studying wildlife for over 40 years, as a university professor and researcher, adult-education teacher, nature tour leader, photographer, and worldwide traveller. He has written or co-authored six books and 70 papers on a variety of biological subjects, mostly concerning birds and dragonflies. At present he is Director of the Slater Museum of Natural History at the University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, Washington. He considers himself first and foremost a naturalist, with interest in every aspect of nature.

Les Beletsky is a professional wildlife biologist and university zoology teacher. Prior to taking up writing wildlife guides, he conducted many years of field research into the ecology and behavior of birds, along the way publishing many scientific reports and writing two books.

Reviews

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Editorials

Adrian Barnett

Erudite, informative, and readable, this sensibly indexed, well-printed and sturdily bound book (it'll stand a few rough weeks in a rucksack) is the kind of guide than an ecotourist to the area really needs.
— New Scientist

Birds

The illustrations are superb, the text simple and direct...If you go, take this book.

Bryan Bland

The information on identification, distribution, ecology, behaviour, conservation, and habitats is enlivened by fascinating 'environmental close-ups' - intriguing reading for spare moments or to stimulate post-prandial group discussions.
— British Birds

Current Books on Gardening and Botany

It will certainly appeal to the more than one million ecotourists visiting Alaska each year. ...Given its format and content, this book, and others like it in the series, should be very popular with ecotourists and anyone looking for a basic and entertaining description of a particular region's fauna and flora.

Gordon Hamlett

These are books I would certainly want to read before a visit.
— Birdwatching

Indiana Audubon Quarterly

This is the book with all the information you need to find, identify, and learn about Alaska's magnificient animal life. A fine addition to the traveling ecotourists.

Jennifer Howard

...a new breed of guidebooks focuses on flora and fauna (and not in the way Harold Gatty did). The Ecotraveller's Wildlife Guides grew out of its nature-loving author's frustration that 'I could not locate a single book to take along on a trip that would help me identify all the types of animals that really interested me.' So Beletsky wrote one that did. Combining natural history -lore, habits, best places to spot each creature-with pointers on specific sites and background on the state of conservation in the region today.
— Washington Post Book World

Nick Baker

There are so many bad guides on the market trying to do what this book does so simply and so well....few are written with the same authority and attention to detail that wildlife biologist and zoology lecturer Les Beletsky has brought to bear in this volume. It could be the best (money) you spend all trip.
— BBC Wildlife

Nick Smith

The text is accurate and well-researched.
— IBIS

Steve Gantlett

...this convenient field guide-sized book is absolutely packed with information for the visitor.
— Birding World

William R. Teska

This is the perfect field book for the general tourist who has an interest in exploring tropical environs.
— Science Books and Films

Winging It

...this volume covers a huge and diverse area selectively. There are whales, dolphins, seals, and sea lions, and a variety of birds of all types. Birders headed for Alaska will use it, not for the birds (although there are quite a few) but for the generalist approach to wildlife.

Booknews

A guidebook for people who tend to remember their travels by the wildlife they got a glimpse of along the way. Includes chapters on what ecotourism is and why it matters; information on the history, geography, and climate of Alaska; getting around Alaska parks and reserves; and perspectives on environmental threats and conservation in the state. These are followed by natural history information on insects, marine invertebrates, fishes, amphibians, birds, and mammals. With color photos and many color drawings of animals, insects, and plants. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)