Becoming Wilderness: Nature, History, and the Making of Isle Royale National Park by Amalia Tholen Baldwin.

Becoming Wilderness explores the little-known backstory of Isle Royale's twenty-year journey from a largely unknown island in Lake Superior to the nation's first wilderness national park. Author Amalia Baldwin reveals the complex interplay of people, politics, and the evolving concept of wilderness behind the simple story that has been told of the park's formation. The story of Isle Royale National Park is a complex one; it is a story that involves large social and political movements, geographic challenges, and action by people who love the island. It is a story that is not over. The questions asked and decisions made in the history of the park are questions and decisions that are still contemplated today. What exactly is a wilderness? How should it look? Who belongs there? The way in which these questions are answered determines how future visitors will see Isle Royale's past. Wilderness on Isle Royale is a living, changing landscape. It is the people who love it that give it breath, shape its contours, and decide which story will be told in the years to come.