Paddling Into a Natural Balance: Stories of Kayaking & Conservation Around Channel Islands National Park

by Chuck Graham, 2023. Paperback, 123 pages. Channel Islands National Park, off the coast of Southern California, has long represented an evolutionary hotbed for plant and animal species, some of which are found nowhere else in the world. Writer, photographer, and experienced kayaker Chuck Graham—an area native and a longtime guide to its island wonders—has spent many years on multi-day trips exploring one of North America’s least visited national parks and its isolated beaches, sea caves, and craggy canyons that rarely see human visitors. In this book, he presents vivid photographic evidence of the islands’ diverse wildlife and rugged beauty and reflects on the rich, diverse ecosystems that have evolved over eons. He has sometimes accompanied on his exploratory trips’ scientists of various disciplines, he celebrates in vivid color photos the recovery of wildlife such as the island fox, bald eagles, peregrine falcons, rare seabirds, northern elephant seals, and diverse plant communitie