Yellowstone to Yukon: National Geographic Destinations Series- DELUXE EDITION

26 x 18.5-DELUXE EDITION-BRAND NEW-UNREAD COPY--READING RIBBON- SHRINK WRAP REMOVED TO VIEW CONTENTS-Burgundy leatherette boards with gold title and pictorial image on front-" Crossroads of wild nature and a rapidly growing human presence, Yellowstone to Yukon -- Y2Y for short -- is both a biogeographical region and a conservation initiative. It encompasses nearly half a million square miles along the craggy Northern Rockies, most of it above 3,500 feet. Y2Y's limited lowlands provide a prime winter range for numerous wildlife species -- as well as prime ranchland and prime building sites for vacation homes. Wildlife biologist and acclaimed author Douglas H. Chadwick takes you on a voyage of personal discovery as he chronicles the burgeoning threats that face this region -- and the promise embodied by Y2Y. Review: The Yellowstone-to-Yukon corridor (Y2Y) encompasses nearly half a million square miles of the northern Rocky Mountains, housing 11 national parks and myriad wilderness areas, wildlife refuges, and forest reserves. But with resorts sprouting out of its valleys and housing developments creeping up the foothills, concerns have mounted over the welfare of the region's renowned wildlife and awe-inspiring landscape. The Y2Y Conservation Initiative, founded in the early 1990s, aims to uphold "this biogeographical region's unique beauty and natural diversity by finding ways for human activities to blossom without overwhelming nature and the overall quality of life." The famed Craighead twins, wildlife biologists both, discovered in their years of studying Yellowstone's grizzlies that the bears typically wander up to a thousand square miles--meaning that even that huge park does not provide enough forage within its boundaries to ensure their survival in lean years. A Y2Y corridor of safe passage would offer animals like the grizzly ample room to roam, as well as clear migration routes to lessen the chance of extinction due to inbreeding. Already changes are taking place with such knowledge in mind, as the construction of animal bridges over major roadways. But the region's vastness also guarantees multiple private, public, and bureaucratic hoops to jump through in the conservation effort. As a book, Yellowstone to Yukon is a thoughtful primer on the landscape and its wild denizens. Striking color pictures and maps accompany narrative text up to National Geographic's usual standards, guiding readers through 2,100 miles of the "most intact collections of wildlife in the world." --Jenny Burritt