North Sloping Fall is a collection of photographs and short essays attempting to capture some of the essence of the imposing open space of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.



Exploring and understanding ANWR is the work of a lifetime. This 54-page survey captures an 11 day rafting trip down the Kongakut River, one of the many north-flowing rivers in the 1002 areas, the protected coastal plain of the refuge. This was an August trip, and hence autumn this far north above the Arctic Circle.



The US Fish and Wildlife service's ANWR website eloquently describes ANWR and this adventure tour group's reason for visiting:



"Perhaps the most unique feature of the refuge is that large-scale ecological and evolutionary processes continue here, free of human control or manipulation. A prominent reason for establishment of the Arctic Refuge was the fact that this single protected area encompasses an unbroken continuum of arctic and subarctic ecosystems. Here, one can traverse the boreal forest of the Porcupine River plateau, wander north up the rolling tiaga uplands, cross the rugged, glacier-capped Brooks Range, and follow any number of rivers across the tundra coastal plain to the lagoons, estuaries, and barrier islands of the Beaufort Seas coast, all without encountering an artifact of civilization."



Steve Lefkovits is an Emeryville (California)-based landscape and nature photographer. He was a staff photographer at USA Today from 1988 - 1992, a photo intern at the New York Times and has done freelance assignments for publications around the globe.



More of his work is featured at Pacific Landscapes, www.pacific-landscapes.com.