EBS STAFF
This
past September, members of the Mountain Outlaw magazine team bundled tight
against the brisk September chills on Lake Aleknagik, roughly 20 miles inland
from the town of Dillingham and not far from Bristol Bay, a massive saltwater
expanse hugged by the remote Aleutian Islands and mainland Alaska.
There,
thousands of miles from their homes in southwest Montana, they observed a
magnificent area; a place that’s home to more than half the world’s sockeye
salmon.
Similar
to many animals, ecosystems and ways of life in the Greater Yellowstone
Ecosystem, those salmon are delicate and battling a complex fight for existence—a
mining project dubbed the Pebble Mine threatens to cripple the salmon fishery by
excavating some 1.5 billion tons of gold, copper and molybdenum
from
beneath the crust.
But
the fight is on, both here and in Alaska, and in this 10th
anniversary edition of Mountain Outlaw magazine you’ll find evidence of a
thread that connects us with the great wilds of North America.
Writer
Todd Wilkinson details the 25 years since the controversial reintroduction of
wolves to Yellowstone National Park, arguably restoring balance to a food chain
on the precipice of running amok.
Readers
get insight into Chef Eduardo Garcia’s quest to tie the natural, and sometimes
painful, beauty of the northern Rockies together with food and family.
Turn
the page, and we find a story by former EBS staffer Bay Stephens on a
ski-maker’s mission to build skis sustainably.
And
Alex Sakariassen’s feature on how two Montana groups are working to tackle the
opioid crisis gripping the nation reminds us that we are but one people with shared
principles, philosophies and a craving for the unexplored. We must rely on each
other, despite distances and differences.
Between
the covers you’ll find a universe of written word and imagery that seeks to
explore, as the cover header reads, “life, land and culture from the heart of
the Yellowstone region.”
“For
10 years, Mountain Outlaw has served as a celebration of this area,” said
Editor-in-Chief Joseph T. O’Connor. “But it’s also an attempt to unpack our
place in the country and world at large. This magazine is a way for us to help
create dialog in the Greater Yellowstone and beyond.”
This
holiday season, Outlaw Partners is proud to bring the latest Mountain Outlaw
magazine to our dedicated readership. We wish you good reading for good tidings
and a winter full of outdoor adventures.
