In an upcoming book published by Patagonia, veteran wildlife writer says “Do unto ecosystems as you would have them do unto you.”
Wildlife biologist Douglas Chadwick has written 14 books and more than 200 articles, including National Geographic coverage that spans 35 years. In what has been called his “career-capping” book, Four-Fifths a Grizzly: A New Perspective on Nature that Just Might Save Us All (Patagonia, June 15, 2021, hardcover), the veteran environmental writer presents an engaging series of personal essays that illustrate the amazing interconnectedness of nature, advocating that the path toward conservation begins with how we see our place in the world.
Gathered from decades of observing and reporting, Four-Fifths a Grizzly offers a fresh view of human’s place in the natural world and challenges anyone to consider whether they are separate from or part of nature. Starting with reflections from Chadwick’s childhood, readers are introduced to a 10-year-old boy who receives a microscope handed down from his father. Fascinated by nearly invisible lifeforms he views through the lens, Chadwick is propelled on a lifelong curiosity of nature and pursuit of adventure and discovery. Today he is known for his research and coverage of Earth’s larger lifeforms: mountain goats, whales, wolverines and grizzly bears, and the conservation issues that surround them.
Four-Fifths a Grizzly approaches nature from scientific angle, showing how human DNA is not all that different from any other creature. He looks at the surprisingly close relationship between our DNA and that of grizzly bears – we share between 80 and 90 percent of our genes in common. We are also 60 percent similar to salmon, 40 percent the same as many insects, and 24 percent of our genes match those of a wine grape. This new perspective also means understanding that we are not that far removed from our ancestors who lived closer to nature.
“Humans are part of nature, and nature is part of humankind, and in this truth we discover our greater selves,” Chadwick says. “And yet right now, modern civilization seems intent on extracting all the natural resources it can at the expense of the rest of the biosphere. The results of this frenzy are foreboding, to say the least. But that can change if the relationship between our present-day cultures and the natural world becomes more like a true mutualism—the sort of symbiosis in which each partner gains obvious sustained benefits from what the other is doing. Is there any reason not to move in that direction?”
Answering the question of how we can change this era’s trajectory, Chadwick devotes several chapters to two practical examples of the healing, environmental benefits of turning closer to nature: saving island wildlife and the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y).
About Douglas Chadwick
With a master's degree in wildlife biology, Douglas Chadwick studied mountain goats among the peaks of the Rockies for seven years. He also carried out surveys of grizzly bears and of the harlequin ducks that breed along the Rockies' fast-moving rivers and streams. In his other role as a journalist, Chadwick has reported on wildlife around the world, from right whales in the sub-Antarctic to snow leopards in the Himalayas, producing close to 50 articles for National Geographic magazine. He has written more than 200 articles on wildlife and wild places.
Over the past nine years, much of Chadwick’s free time has been spent as a volunteer helping carry out groundbreaking wolverine research in Glacier National Park, Montana. He often explores Canada's mountain parklands. In addition to hundreds of magazine articles, he has written 14 books about wildlife and conservation, including several focused on the Rocky Mountains. One is Yellowstone to Yukon, which prominently features Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, as well as the Banff, Yoho, and Jasper national parks region. Chadwick is the author of two previous Patagonia books, The Wolverine Way and Tracking Gobi Grizzlies. He also contributed the lead chapter in a 2014 book entitled Crown of the Continent: The Wildest Rockies, a photographic celebration of the region's wildlife and scenic majesty. He lives in Whitefish, Montana.
Praise for Four Fifths a Grizzly
“Doug Chadwick enchants our brains with his field-hardened observations of nature in the raw and our hearts through his meditations on what a wild strawberry can tell us about our place in the cosmos. With quirky but deeply insightful prose, marvelously complemented by carefully curated photographs, he serves up both a feast for the eyes and a life-changing insight into who we really are. Four-Fifths a Grizzly is a career-capping tour de force by one of the world's great natural science writers.”
– Harvey Locke, IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas task force leader and co-founder of the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative
Four-Fifths a Grizzly: A New Perspective on Nature that Just Might Save Us All
by Douglas Chadwick | published by Patagonia | June 2021
ISBN 9781952338014 | Hardcover | 288 pages | $27.95 US
Media Contact: Stephanie Ridge, stephanie@wildridgepr.com, 512-810-9238