Excerpt from Of Bears and Ballots by Heather Lende, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

A whole group of residents, including our current mayor, believe the proposed mine and increased logging activity are what Haines needs to thrive, and dream of high-paying jobs, a steady economy, and the prosperity this could bring. Writer Seth Kantner, who lives above the Arctic Circle in Kotzebue, observes that because Alaska is changing so rapidly in so many ways, we are living in the past, present, and future all at the same time. I would argue America may be as well. That's stressful. But what an opportunity this gives us to address our mutual problems together, civically, one community at a time. Climate change especially affects everyone's survival, no matter what your politics are. Or so one would think.


CAMPAIGNING MIGHT NOT have mattered but at least I enjoyed the public forums, studying local government history, and learning more about how it operates. I love the preamble to the Borough Charter and how in the Haines Borough, corporations are not people. I voted for that Charter amendment after the Citizens United ruling, along with a majority of residents on all sides of the political spectrum. It was not even controversial then, although I bet it would be now, with the mine development looming. The prospective owners are a multinational corporation seeking a louder voice in the discussion.

I've given enough book readings and talks to be comfortable in front of a crowd, but that's when I control the script and my audience is friendly, which is not always the case in campaign appearances. I was nervous in my first public forums and still am to some degree. I decided right from the get-go that I'd say exactly what I thought and not attempt to be too smooth or political by repeating tired old lines like I'd support something "if it's sustainable" or "if it's environmentally responsible" or "if it's afford-able." That way there could be no big surprises if I were elected. I was happy to endorse local hiring, fully funding the library, and maintaining the pool, the school, and the nonprofits. It was easy to a¬rm what I like about Haines and why. The questions about government excesses and wasted tax dollars were not hard, either. Who wouldn't agree that spending twenty thousand dollars on a study confirming the helicopters used to shuttle backcountry skiers to the slopes were noisy was foolish? Or that the new—they are always new it seems—policemen need to spend less time in their cars and more time walking around, or even riding bicycles, so we get to know them and they us? The lone incumbent who was running, Diana Lapham, argued at one forum that once you are on the assembly, decisions about studies and employees aren't so simple, because assembly members, the staff, the mayor, and the borough attorney all know more about so many things than "the general public" does. She was ignored by the rest of us who had not sat in her chair, and was even smirked at by some residents who believed that "insider information" was part of the problem with government. Later, much later, I recalled her words and understood what I believe she meant by them. Campaigning and governing are not the same at all. It's easy to say what's wrong with government; it's harder to fix it, and progress can be very slow.

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THE DAY BEFORE the election, I went on a walk with my friend Margaret, who was finishing up her first year on the assembly. She brought her Lab, Buddy, and I had my golden retriever, Pearl. We met on the beach by my house, a two-mile-wide stretch of sand, meadows, and woods, with steep forested and glaciated mountains for a backdrop. A few years ago, after heated debate, the borough officially made what I think of as my backyard into the "Chilkat River Beaches Recreational Zone," including a non- motorized designation. That means no motorbikes, four-wheelers, or snow machines. I was part of that effort and was impressed by the members of the planning commission. I liked the way their meetings were run. The chair and commissioners genuinely wanted to use zoning to plan for the benefit of all and had done that with common sense and good humor. The experience prompted me to put my name in for a vacant planning commission seat.

Excerpted from Of Bears and Ballots by Heather Lende. Copyright © 2020 by Heather Lende. Excerpted by permission of Algonquin Books. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.