Limit results
to this site.

The Northwest Salmon Crisis: A Documentary History

Edited by Joseph Cone and Sandy Ridlington 2000. 6 x 9 inches. 384 pages. Illustrated with photographs. Glossary. Index. ISBN 0-87071-390-6. Hardcover, $39.95. ISBN 0-87071-472-4. Paperback, $24.95. Table of Contents

See book review in Tidepool: News for the Rain Forest Coast http://tidepool.org/books/document.history.html

This acclaimed volume offers a key to understanding the historic roots of one of today's most closely watched environmental issues, the fate of salmon in the Pacific Northwest.

The history of the current salmon crisis is long and disturbingly consistent, with concern over declining salmon runs beginning in the 1800s. This book focuses on the human actions--and failures to act--that have helped drive many wild salmon stocks in the Pacific Northwest to the brink of extinction.

For this first documentary history of the salmon crisis, knowledgeable observers of salmon history have chosen and commented upon the documents that they feel most clearly reveal the causes and implications of today's crisis. The eighty documents span a period of 140 years and address such issues as habitat, hatcheries, dams, fisheries, Indian fishing rights, and watershed management. Together, these mileposts in the sorry journey of the salmon provide a compelling perspective on an environmental crisis of growing national concern.

Selected by Choice as one of the year's "Outstanding Academic Books."

"...A remarkable collection of relevant, revealing public documents that chronicle the sad saga of declining salmon runs in the region."

--Russell Sadler, syndicated columnist

"A valuable resource for policy makers, scientists, historians, students, and all who care about the future of salmon."

--Environmental Law

"The Northwest Salmon Crisis is a book that can help us understand the origins of a deep-rooted problem, one that applies to every small drainage in our region."

--Jack Nisbet, The Pacific Northwest Inlander

The Contributors

The contributors bring to the discussion expertise in such areas as natural resource law, biology, tribal and Northwest history, and anthropology. They are Bill M. Bakke, Michael C. Blumm, F. Lorraine Bodi, Joseph Cone, Douglas W. Dompier, Stanley V. Gregory, Robert Kentta, William L. Lang, James A. Lichatowich, William G. Robbins, and Courtland L. Smith.

About the Editors

Joseph Cone is a science writer and the assistant director of communications of Oregon Sea Grant. He is the author of A Common Fate: Endangered Salmon and the People of the Pacific Northwest (Henry Holt, 1995; paperback Oregon State University Press, October 1996).

Sandy Ridlington is managing editor of Oregon Sea Grant.

Back to top of page

Secure online ordering form (Orders go to our distributor - The University of Arizona Press). For a complete listing of available books, check out our catalog of books in print.