Benjamin Shaine co-taught the 2002-2003 program at The Evergreen State College that led to publication of this book. He began his activist career in Washington State, working for designation of North Cascades National Park and protection of national forest wilderness. Much of his work is now in Alaska, where he is a board member and teacher at the Wrangell Mountains Center, an educational institute in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. Ben is the author of Alaska Dragon (Fireweed Press, 1991), a novel about the place of wilderness in the modern world.