SEASONS ON THE PACIFIC COAST

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Text by Susan J. Tweit
Illus. by James Noel Smith


Chronicle Books
$19.95, clothbound
ISBN 0-8118-2080-7
224 pages, 43 color illus.

An intimate family album portraying the diverse animal and plant life that characterizes the two thousand miles of sweeping coastline from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Tijuana, Mexico..

Bat rays and banana slugs, pickleweed and giant Pacific octopuses, monarch butterflies and moon jellyfish are all captured in witty, thought-provoking essays, each vividly illustrated by artist James Noel Smith. With recommendations on the best places and times for your own coastal explorations, plus a list of further readings, Seasons on the Pacific Coast is both a distinctive field guide and lively companion for the armchair nature lover.

The Pacific Ocean receives fond and detailed attention in naturalist Susan J. Tweit's Seasons on the Pacific Coast. ... Tweit studies Pacific sea life, offering vivid description and sometimes surprising facts about animal habitats and habits. ... Throughout, Tweit soberly reminds us of the connections binding humans and wild lives everywhere.

--San Diego Union-Tribune

 

From the book:

CHUM SALMON

Salmon swam into my life in the early 1970s when my brother, Bill, fresh out of college, landed a job in fisheries management with the Nisqually Tribe in Washington State. Those were the days of the "fish wars" when the Nisqually and other Pacific Northwest tribes were fighting - often literally, as Indians were arrested, beaten, and threatened with death - for their treaty-guaranteed right to fish for salmon in traditional ways at traditional sites. The tribes eventually won in federal court in 1974, but the war was far from over. Commercial and sports fishermen's groups, already faced with dwindling catches, fought the court's decision. State fisheries officials refused to enforce the findings. It was an ugly time, for salmon as well as for humans.

... Despite their many differences, one thing that the various cultures inhabiting the Pacific Northwest can agree on is the importance of these anadromous fish. Salmon matter to the Pacific Northwest. They are part of the region's soul. ... Their epic ocean journey, their fidelity to their natal waters, and their once uncountable numbers are all part of what make the story of Pacific salmon so compelling.

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