"The Salmon Way" Author to visit during Bearfest

Amy Gulick is an acclaimed nature photographer and writer. According to her website, amygulick.com, she has 20 years of experience taking pictures and writing about the great outdoors. She specializes in helping people understand the interconnectedness of nature, her website reads, and why conservation is important. Some of her written works include "Arctic National Wildlife Refuge" and "Salmon in the Trees." Her most recent book, "The Salmon Way: An Alaska State of Mind," looks at the connections Alaskans have with each other and with one of the state's most important pieces of wildlife: Salmon. Gulick will be in Wrangell this next week for Bearfest to promote the book.

"I met with many different people throughout the state to learn about their ways of life that salmon make possible," she said in an email to the Sentinel. "Commercial fishermen took me on as crew; Alaska Native families taught me the art of preserving fish and culture; and sport fishermen showed me where to cast my line as well as my mind. Alaskans everywhere shared their salmon riches with me in their kitchens, cabins, and fish camps. People told me that salmon are a gift - to the land, waters, animals, plants, and people. And when you're on the receiving end of a gift, you give back. It's a way to honor, respect, and give thanks to the fish. It's the salmon way, and it's the Alaska way."

Gulick said she had the idea for this book in the first place because of the salmon population in her home of Washington State. There used to be a "staggering" number of salmon runs in the area, she said, but today there are less than 10 percent of the state's historic abundance of salmon. She was intrigued by Alaska because it is one of the last places in the world where peoples' lifestyles are still heavily connected to salmon.

"The Salmon Way" is filled with photographs and stories about salmon from across Alaska. She said that her time with fishermen, Alaska Natives, people living a subsistence lifestyle, and other people have given her a wide range of stories about the salmon lifestyle of Alaska. Among the many perspectives featured in this book are some from local Wrangellite John Yeager.

"As a sport fishing guide, John told me that he's not so much trying to fill the freezers of his clients with salmon; he's trying to fill their minds with memories," Gulick wrote in an email. "For his own personal use, John told me that when his family catches a king salmon they are so grateful. They give some to his wife's parents and to an elderly friend, and then they share the rest together. He said that if you're going to take a salmon's life, then it's important to take it for the right reason and use it the right way. It's not just the sustenance of the fish, it's the spirit of the fish."

Gulick said that she wants her book to be both an inspiring and a cautionary tale. Because she lives in an area with a decimated salmon habitat, she said, she understands how difficult it is to bring fish back once they are gone. She does not want the same thing to happen in Alaska, and she hopes to help prevent that by sharing the stories found in "The Salmon Way."

Gulick will be in Wrangell for Bearfest, which runs July 24 to 28. She will be hosting a photography workshop on July 26, at noon, at the Nolan Center. She will also give a presentation on "The Salmon Way" at 12:30 p.m. on July 27. To learn more about these events, and all the other activities planned for Bearfest, visit http://www.alaskabearfest.org.

"I gave a presentation at Bearfest in 2011 about my first book 'Salmon in the Trees,' which focused on the remarkable connection between the salmon and forests in southeast Alaska," Gulick wrote. "I enjoyed the festival then, and I'm looking forward to returning to Wrangell."