Braided River Project Update

PROJECT UPDATES August 2015

Learn more at www.braidedriver.org

The American West at a Crossroads

Dave Showalter

sage spirit

Preface by David Allen Sibley

PHOTOGRAPHER: Dave Showalter LEAD ESSAYISTS: Rick Bass, David Allen Sibley, Dave Showalter, Todd Wilkinson GEOGRAPHY: Sagebrush country spans parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, California

SAGE SPIRIT: THE AMERICAN WEST AT A CROSSROADS Sage Spirit is a book and media campaign that presents an inspiring new vision of the American West where all the plants, animals, and people that define the Sagebrush Sea can thrive. Dave Showalter’s striking images, created over six years of fieldwork, immerse you in the diverse, spacious, and life-filled landscape of the West. He profiles Westerners working to protect both landscape and livelihoods in a region that is also “ground zero” for fracking.

KEY PARTNERS: Audubon Rockies, The Wilderness Society, Sierra Club - Wyoming Chapter RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Showalter presented at the National Audubon Society convention; features on Audubon.org and OutdoorResearch.com; images used by grassroots groups have helped preserve over 100,000 acres.

UPCOMING EVENTS: August 12 in Seattle, September 10 in Denver NEEDS: Funds to support a traveling museum exhibit; sending books to key elected officials in 11 Western states; and author events that place this campaign in strategic venues and media

www.sagespirit.org

THE WILD EDGE: FREEDOM TO ROAM THE PACIFIC COAST The Wild Edge: Freedom to Roam the Pacific Coast covers the great Pacific seam of North America that knits together land and sea, ocean and continent in a tumble of interrelated life. Through vivid imagery, stories, and science, The Wild Edge reveals how the health and livelihood of a distant Iñupiaq Eskimo whaler is related to a suburban family in Los Angeles enamored with the pod of whales passing by their city beach. Through extraordinary photographs, Schulz contrasts this astonishing beauty against the threats from degradation and runaway development.

PHOTOGRAPHER: Florian Schulz ESSAYISTS: Bruce Barcott, Philippe Cousteau, Exequiel Ezcurra, Eric Scigliano, Jon Hoekstra, Bonnie Henderson GEOGRAPHY: The west coast, from Baja California to the Beaufort Sea of Alaska

KEY PARTNER: World Wildlife Fund / Freedom to Roam RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Images used to help protect over 11 milion acres in the western Arctic ON THE HORIZON: After ten years of fieldwork and book production, the book will be released in October 2015; multimedia events in November 2015 and spring 2016 UPCOMING EVENTS: October 23 in Astoria, early November in Seattle NEEDS: To secure funds for extensive public and media engagement through events, social media, exhibits, and coordination with grassroots groups in Mexico, the U.S. and Canada

Braided River, 1001 SW Klickitat Way, Ste. 201, Seattle, WA 98134 | Call: (206) 223-6303 or give online: braidedriver.org/donate

Steven Gnam

CROWN Of the CONtINeNt T h e Wi l d est Roc k i es

GEOGRAPHY: Rocky Mountains spanning across Montana and Alberta PHOTOGRAPHER: Steven G. Gnam ESSAYISTS: Douglas H. Chadwick, Michael Jamison, Dylan Boyle, Karsten Heuer KEY PARTNERS: National Park Conservation Association, The Trust for Public Land, Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, Wilburforce Foundation, Wildsight, Crown of the Continent Geotourism Council

CROWN OF THE CONTINENT: THE WILDEST ROCKIES The “Crown of the Continent” is the largest wildlife corridor in the Lower 48 that remains undivided by highways and cities. Steven Gnam’s photos inspire pride in Crown residents and encourage visitors to dig deeper—to create greater public awareness to preserve this American treasure.

RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Braided River partnered with NPCA and others to create a Crown exhibit for the U.S. Senate Building; this exhibit helped prompt Sen. Tester to call for the cancelation of existing oil and gas leases in the Badger-Two Medicine roadless area, land sacred to the Blackfeet Tribe; the book was nominated for a Banff Mountain Book Award.

ON THE HORIZON: Our Crown story will make its debut as a museum exhibit at the C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls, Montana from October 2015 to January 2016.

NEEDS: Travel funds to send the authors and photographers to requested speaking engagements to support education and grassroots conservation efforts

THE NORTH CASCADES: FINDING BEAUTY AND RENEWAL IN THE WILD NEARBY With Washington’s burgeoning population and development pressures, this project draws attention to the reasons that the North Cascades must remain an intact ecosystem. It encourages citizens to work together to protect and preserve these valued lands before they are irreversibly lost to resource extraction, energy development, motorized recreation or unsustainable development.

GEOGRAPHY: Snoqualmie Pass, Washington to the Fraser River Valley, British Columbia PHOTOGRAPHERS: Paul Bannick, Ethan Welty, Benj Drummond, Amy Gulick, Steven Kazlowski and more ESSAYISTS: William Dietrich, Christian Martin, and Craig Romano KEY PARTNERS: The Mountaineers Foundation, National Parks Conservation Association, North Cascades Conservation Council, Sierra Club, The Mountaineers, North Cascades Institute, Washington Wild, The Wilderness Society

RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS: In fall 2014, we hosted twelve events across the North Cascades region, from our Seattle launch to events in Bellingham, Darrington, Leavenworth, Twisp and more. The Seattle Times, Skagit Valley Herald, Alaska Airlines Magazine, and Chuckanut Radio Hour and others all covered the campaign’s main themes.

WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW: We’re currently working with the Burke Museum to develop an exhibit opening June 2016 that will provide grassroots groups with a perfect venue for ongoing conversations about wilderness protection.

NEEDS: Support for events and partnership coordination leading up to and during this six-month exhibit run; support for engaging diverse audiences.

Braided River, 1001 SW Klickitat Way, Ste. 201, Seattle, WA 98134 | Call: (206) 223-6303 or give online: braidedriver.org/donate

WHERE WATER IS GOLD: LIFE AND LIVELIHOOD IN ALASKA’S BRISTOL BAY Where Water is Gold expresses the perspectives of commercial, recreational, and subsistence cultures that depend on the Bristol Bay area for their livelihood and way of life. It explores the science behind the vitality of the Bristol Bay salmon fishery, presents the history of exploration and mining, and looks at grassroots efforts to fight mineral development.

Water Is

GOLD

Where

Carl Johnson

ENDORSEMENTS: Trout Unlimited, Alaska Center for the Environment, National Parks Conservation Association RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Successful crowdfunding that secured six leading Alaskan voices to provide essays ON THE HORIZON: Publication in July 2016 NEEDS: Funding for author appearances that support grassroots educational and advocacy goals in 2016 and beyond, as threats emerge throughout Alaska in August 2016 and in Seattle September/October 2016

life

and

livelihood

in

a l a s k a’ s B r i sto l B ay

Carl Johnson

PHOTOGRAPHER: Carl Johnson LEAD ESSAYISTS: Bill Sherwonit, Dave Atcheson, Nick Jans, Ann Coray and Steve Kahn, and Erin McKittrick GEOGRAPHY: Bristol Bay, Alaska www.wherewaterisgold.org

“WE ARE THE ARCTIC” [working title] We Are the Arctic will be a book that serves as a public engagement and media tool to support Campion Advocacy Fund and conservation groups’ efforts to protect the costal plain of the Arctic Refuge. This book will showcase the beauty and values of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge coastal plain, including images and stories that connect with readers, media, opinion leaders, and elected officials from a variety of compelling perspectives.

Short quotes and essays from authoritative and well-known voices across the demographic spectrum will be paired with beautiful color images from noble Arctic photographers.

KEY PARTNERS: Campion Advocacy Fund and the Arctic Refuge Coalition [Alaska Wilderness League, Sierra Club, The Wilderness Society, Natural Resources Defense Council, Defenders of Wildlife, Audubon Society, Gwich’in Steering Committee, Trustees for Alaska, and Northern Alaska Environmental Center, among others.]

OUR GOAL: To put the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge off-limits to drilling, mining, and development forever ON THE HORIZON: Publication in spring 2016 NEEDS: To expand awareness through photographer and essayist events, social media, and grassroots support

GEOGRAPHY: Coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

On the cover: Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata). © Dave Showalter. Inside: Porcupine caribou herd, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. © Florian Schulz.

Braided River acknowledges the critical support of the foundations and individuals who make this work possible.

Braided River, 1001 SW Klickitat Way, Ste. 201, Seattle, WA 98134 | Call: (206) 223-6303 or give online: braidedriver.org/donate