Description:This book makes a couple of remarkable claims. The first is that the greatest cultural achievement in the mountain region of western Canada may be what has been preserved, not what has been developed. The second is that protecting the spine of the Rocky Mountains will preserve crucial ecological functions. Because the process of ecosystem diminshment and species loss has been slowed, an ecological thermostat has been kept alive, which may be an important defence against future impacts of climate change in the Canadian West.