Book excerpt: The beauty of the Columbia Highlands is subtle. It's measured by rays of sunlight filtering through a cathedral forest of ancient pines; a golden hillside teeming with deer; in the soft breezes that whistle through shiny snags. It's cherished for its vastness, its lack of human intervention, its rejuvenating properties, and its abundant wildlife. Columbia Highlands is a portrait of this-little known corner of the American West. It reveals its function as an important wildlife bridge between the Rockies and the Cascades for animals- including wolves, bears, moose, and lynx-who must roam to survive. It reveals the surprising coalition of people- hunters, hikers, loggers, business owners, Native people, and more-united in their love of the land and working to protect and restore it. Theirs is a new kind of conservation plan, one that preserves the health of the ecosystem while sustaining a viable rural economy and lifestyle.