Welcome to the Crowdsourcing Mornings segment! Every weekday morning, Geek Alabama talks about and features one crowdsourcing project from crowdsourcing sites such as Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and others. The hope with Crowdsourcing Mornings is to feature and help a project be successful and reach its fundraising goal. Please enjoy today’s featured project!
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Soul of the Skagit is a beautifully printed 8.5×11″ hardcover book that is the culmination of over two and a half years of work. The 162-page book contains nearly 100 stunning photographs, seven chapters of engaging writing, and three stories from Skagit River native and scientific experts.
Telling the story of the Skagit River is more critical now than ever. Being the most glacially influenced watershed in the continental United States, it has already seen drastic changes to its ice, water, and living organisms. The rate of change is only slated to accelerate. The need for progress inspired this book to try and achieve two ambitious, yet achievable missions:
- Reveal how everything in the Skagit is connected.
- Develop a more sustainable perspective towards wilderness, watershed, and ecological conservation, incorporating all stakeholders and celebrating complex relationships.
I approached this story by following the Skagit River from the glacial headwaters, all the way down to the delta and beyond. Following the flow of the water helped me understand the interdependencies and relationships of the watershed. This is the reason why the seven chapters of the book are organized in order of elevation, starting at the summits of the tallest peaks in the North Cascades, then cascading all the way down to sea level.
Click here to view the ten limited edition photographs from the book. The upper reward tiers of this project will give you priority to choose your photograph.
The goal of taking this “follow the water” perspective was to understand the complex relationships in the watershed as the river might see it. The river knows no allies or politics. It simply carves its course to the Salish Sea. In a region that has been torn by ecological, industrial, and political divide in recent decades, I felt that it was important to maintain an unbiased position when writing this book in order to bring people back to the table to discuss sustainable solutions to preserve this river for future generations. That is not to say that the story of the Skagit is without its protagonists and antagonists, but rather that I let well-researched facts and historical evidence weave the fabric of this intricate tapestry.
Taking on the challenge of writing this book myself (in addition to photographing it), was an ambitious one. Yet, I felt it was important that whoever wrote the book also committed themselves to getting to know as many square inches of this watershed as possible. It is difficult to tell a story of a river, whether it is through photography or writing, if you only know the water as it reaches civilization. The story of the Skagit River begins far upstream from its first significant encounter with humans. I spared no effort to immerse myself within the fields of ice, towering trees, and rushing waters that make the Skagit so special. This project required technical mountain climbing, backpacking, kayak touring, and even underwater photography to capture the variety of photographs needed to reveal the full breadth and intricacies of the Skagit.
As of March 15th, this project has raised $15,000 of their $12,500 goal. This project has 10 days left to raise as much as it can. For a pledge of $35, you will get one hardcover book. For a pledge of $70, you will get one signed hardcover book. To learn more and to pledge money, go to: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/murillophoto/soul-of-the-skagit?
