Alaska Books

Prospecting

Identification of Minerals

General Geology & Map Reading

Map Reading & Local Geology

Rocks & Rock Structure

Ore Deposits

Lode Prospecting and Sampling

Placer Prospecting and Sampling

Geophysical Prospecting

Geochemical Prospecting

Small Scale Lode Mine Development

Small Scale Placer Mining Methods

Mining Law

Mine Promotion & Mineral Markets

Sight ID of Minerals

Lessons / Contents:

Prospecting

Identification of Minerals

General Geology & Map Reading

Map Reading & Local Geology

Rocks & Rock Structure

Ore Deposits

Lode Prospecting and Sampling

Placer Prospecting and Sampling

Geophysical Prospecting

Geochemical Prospecting

Small Scale Lode Mine Developemnt

Small Scale Placer Mining Methods

Mining Law

Mine Promotion & Mineral Markets

Sight ID of Minerals

Excellent book! Full of great stories and amazing art work. I have this book and I will never lose it. Taima

This is one of the only Inupiaq books available. It has basic words with a few more. It does give quite a bit of information on the Inupiaq Eskimos for a brief overview. I think the publisher could have tried to explain the pronounciation a little bit more. But for a basic dictionary/book, it's rather good.

Co-written by anthropologist Ann Fienup-Riordan (who has lived with and written about Inupiaq and Yupik peoples for almost 30 years), Alaskan Native American Susie Silook, and Alaska native language expert Lawrence D. Kaplan, Inupiaq And Yupik People Of Alaska is an informed and informative survey of Inupiaq and Yupik Native American communities as they strive and struggle to stay in touch with traditional means of survival and values in a world increasingly cluttered with intrusive modern technology. Gorgeous full-color photographs illustrate this striking account, which is highly recommended for university and community library Native American reference collections and reading lists.

This short but engaging book chronicles the trials and joys of moving your family to the wilderness. Written in an autobiographical, journalistic style this book is full of insights and practical info on the difficult but wonderful journey of the first 6 years of Joy Orth's relocation from civilization to a remote Alaskan Island.

I was left wondering what has happened in the 20 years since the book was published, alas I have not been able to find a sequel. If anyone knows Joy and family, I would love to see a 20 years later sequel.

Do You Know Where the Pribilofs Are?

If you don't, then you should! The Pribilof Islands are two small isles in the Bearing Sea. They are known as the Islands of the Seals because of the large population of seals which congregate there. Many parts of the Island are wildlife sanctuaries for seals. But a modern Western/Aleut community thrives (relatively speaking) in these Islands roughly halway between Alaska and Russia.

For years these islands were used as dumping areas for furtive captains who would abandon oil barrels- mostly empty- and other industrial container garbage when nobody was looking. Fortunately recent years have seen far more stringent monitoring of the environment and the beginnings of very effective clean-up efforts.

But while the Pribilofs have their masses of seals and has a grim history of this ugly pollution, it is entering the 21st century as a cleaner, more cherished area with a robust local community who pride themselves on their special islands and their clean-up efforts. And these islands are very special indeed...

In this unique Alaska Geographic release one can see many pictures and read about the beautiful coastal boroughs and abundant sea life of the Pribilofs. While most people get on a plane and fly off to some impossible to spell foreign region for adventure travel, the Aleutian Islands and the Pribilofs continue to exist mostly off the beaten path, and are some of the most exotic, diverse, and richly rewarding islands imaginable, right here in the USA. It's just a matter of perspective and where you look.

This book is usually available through Amazon, but may take a few weeks to ship. If you like seals or unusual coastal areas, take a look!

And for those of you who surf... here's another zone with some potential. If you look at the excellent maps of the islands you'll find in this book, you will see a great deal of potential for decent conditions on any swell, tide, and wind. If its onshore on one side of the island, a few minutes later you can find yourself in offshore conditions on the other side. Road access and lodging looks to be quite available! There is a picture or two of possible surf zones! But this is rugged territory dominated by the seals! Just look at the cover- did you think that man invented surfing... Ha! (*The cover pictures a number of seals frolicking about in a glassy green left-hander!)

This book is excellent. It is both fascinating and readable. It gives the history of the region from its geologic beginnings up through the Second World War. Belive it or not, it's a real page turner.

I highly recommend it!

Alaska has a relatively short history as a state, coming in to the Union in 1959. But it also has a rich heritage going back much further, and all kinds of extremes in weather, landscape, residents and traditions.

Author Diane Olthuis brings the reader up to date with 28 events dating back to the European arrival in the 1700s. Some of the 28 stories , including Russian enslavement of the Native Aleut people to help with the seal harvest, reflect the impact of outsiders on the Native peoples.

Another story describes the famous Barrow "Duck-In" of 1961. Just two years after Statehood, the "feds" (as we Alaskans like to call them) suddenly decided to enforce a summer bird hunting ban.

This caused distress for subsistence hunters in a number of Native areas of Alaska, including Barrow. They were being ordered to cease traditional hunting patterns by a distant federal government. The book shows how the Barrow folk demonstrated their opposition, and how the Migratory Bird Treaty was ultimately modified.

Another story has to do with the 800-mile Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline, constructed in the 1970s to deliver oil from the Arctic Prudhoe Bay field to the port of Valdez. Olthuis describes it as the first oil pipeline built above the Arctic Circle. The book comes out at a current time when half of the Prudhoe Bay oil field has been shut down because of a rather major corrosion problem. History can be a wonderful teacher!

There are many other stories of interest to anyone who has ever been to Alaska, or who might one day want to visit. As we say in Barrow, "Don't stop till you get to the top (of the State)"

Earl

The Itchy Little Musk Ox is a softcover children's picturebook about an unhappy young musk ox. He has an itch he can't scratch from his own soft wool, and his downward-pointing horns won't reach it. When he finds the right tree to scratch his itch, he becomes separated from the herd! On his long journey to rejoin them he discovers all the good things about being a musk ox - his horns and hard head are good for headbutting a hungry wolf, and his soft wool is prized by a gentle human. A two-page summary of fascinating facts about musk oxen closes this delightful adventure, illustrated in full color, recommended for readers age 3 and up.