It's a very rare thing to read words on a page that cause goose bumps to rise on your skin in response to the story they tell. By [the] last pages of Being Caribou readers might experience not only goose bumps but tears.A marvelous, elegiac book.For an appreciation of the native fauna and the threats they face, this is the book to read.A journey well worth taking for readers who want to viscerally understand what's at stake in the battle over drilling in the Arctic.What [Karsten Heuer and Leanne Allison] learned should be enough to make you write angry letters to those in Washington who want to drill for oil in the refuge. It might even inspire you to trade in your gas-guzzling SUV.The strength of the book is getting into the rhythm of the animals.

To experience the pulsations of their movements. To sense how bears and wolves affect their lives. To marvel at how caribou move so gracefully through a landscape. To hear. To smell. To be caribou.Both [Karsten Heuer and Leanne Allison] paint a haunting picture of the Arctic and the animals who live there.Heuer keeps the pages turning as he examines the many different sides of the ANWR development issue, while telling the intimate story of the caribou that stand to lose the most.

We felt privileged to have Karsten Heuer join our Stegner Lecture Series. His emphasis on the importance of preserving wild places and the need we have as humans to know that such places exist strongly echoes Stegner's idea of wilderness as not just a physical place but an intangible and spiritual resource." Karsten's multimedia presentation and his beautiful photographs and video clips reinforced his book reading and discussion about the journey he and his wife Leanne Alison made on foot to follow the Porcupine Caribou herd from the Yukon to their calving grounds in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. His story-and his presentation-can only be described as inspirational."The book is full of outstanding photographs, particularly those that show the vast terrain behind the herds. The resources on the final page are also incredible, particularly the websites that show the seasonal movements of the herd. Being Caribou is an outstanding piece of nonfiction as it combines fact, intrigue and contemporary purpose.""The writing is incredibly vivid as Heuer describes encounters with wolves and the hallucinations he suffered toward the end of the journey when the caribou marched nearly nonstop.

[a] fascinating nonfiction that will be welcomed by report writers, animal lovers, and outdoor enthusiasts."The adventure [Karsten Heuer] described is utterly unique and profoundly revealing. Karsten's modest demeanor serves to focus his message on the important lessons he learned and the caribou themselves rather than the heroic nature of his journey. I cannot imagine anyone not being moved by this memorable experience.""A story that needed to be told has been very well told indeed."".