Totem Salmon : Life Lessons from Another Species

This is a very good read, spiritually thrilling. We are now (winter 2013/2014) praying for much needed rain on the North Coast in Calif. Thank you for writing this, Freeman House. I plan to write more of my thoughts after finishing book! Later:The book is just fantastic. I"m still reading. I was arrested way up in the Mattole years ago in non-violent protest with several others since this book was written. We were charged with trespassing and resisting arrest. Many challenged the snow conditions without adequate cover and with police taking their clothing. They hiked up miles to protest the sacrifice of old growth in the Mattole. It was a few years after book came out--during the aftermath of the terrible Hurwitz' exploitation years. The Headwaters Deal saved old growth in the neighboring Elk River headwaters but the Mattole was to be logged instead. Hurwitz owned Pacific Lumber since his unfriendly takeover of the company). A real "taker", he logged rare old growth here like fire. The logging regulations were systematically broken. The company under Hurwitz was pushing the limits. The fines were a slap on the hand (after the fact). Citizens had to find out about the plans (painstaking & difficult) and bring harmful, illegal timber harvest plans into question wherever they could find them. The government could not. It would have to rubberstamp them for lack of funds to investigate them ALL (so many at once). A lot has happened with the Mattole since Totem Salmon was written. To see film of the protests high in this remote area of the Mattole please go to "mangoprotest" channel on the site, "you...." where there are citizen generated unpublished films. Its an amazing film, filmed by one of the protestors over months of protest in the harsh conditions high above the Mattole River, then edited.I'm suffering from eyestrain & need UV protection screen for my (wide screen) pc. Reading with motrim. Ouch! My excuse why I haven't finished reading book. This book rates as a real classic among books written by naturalists. It is much more moving & riviting than the Loren Eisley books, which are more academic (Eisley, a professor of anthropology). Not biased, its clearly more earth-connected and less philosophical. I live nearby-- in Arcata near the Mattole--an hour's drive south, SE to where you turn off from HW 101 and leave civilization. You drive through Humboldt Redwoods State Park, and up and over the ridge to look out to the Mattole watershed (and ocean beyond). I live close to the Mad River, which has a fish hatchery. This river is a neighbor to the Mattole, like the Elk of Headwaters fame. The Mad River supplies water to the largest area of habitation by humans in this area. It must have been a great river but the water is pumped out in large amounts. There are at least 2 dams on it, just not sure as it is highly exploited, and not much talked about. This book is so moving. It is mostly new to me. Freeman should write a sequel, letting us know how its going. I particularly love the parts about the salmon. I read some to myself while in church this morning, since it is a source of spirituality, at least for me.It might help to include one negative thing, though. I bought it from an Amazon used dealer. It's cover was very bad with an ugly rip and rumpling on the right edge of the front cover. However, it was very fixable! Used index cards to reinforce the outer edge from behind after cutting out all the rumpled part. Now I will use an index card to reinforce any paperback cover that is becomming bent. It is a much more ergonomic experience to read with the 2 cards taped on the outer edge and across the bottom (taped to the back of the front cover).

Totem Salmon reads like poetry. This is a must-read if you're a fisheries biologist/enthusiast, someone interested in community-based/stakeholder approaches to conservation, someone who loves the northern California coast and it's history, or simply someone who loves environmental or place-based literature.

This book eloquently tells the story of an individual working with a group of people to accomplish something powerful. As much as I enjoyed the story, I enjoyed the clear and concise writing. Inspirational storytelling for any defender of nature.

We have bought a number of copies of this book to share with friends. A beautiful relationship portrayed between our species and the natural world. Extremely important and relevant today.

This title should be standard reading for any person interested in sustainability. It is equally as adept at framing the interconnectedness of the planet as any other popular title.

One of the earliest books documenting the connections between human beings and other species.

Great thankya thankya!

I have lived in this community and among these restorationists – as both academic observer and citizen participant. I have witnessed their aspirations and challenges, their persistence and small but necessary achievements. For these reasons I am grateful to be able to use Freeman House's elegiac and excellent book in my course in applied ecology at Sonoma State University.

A fun read with original observations on the history of salmon management, mismanagement and the practical problems of rehabilitation on the rivers of the Pacific Northwest.