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From West Virginia To Real Wilderness

Alaskan journalist Kaylene Johnson-Sullivan feels privileged to tell Ray and Barbara Bane’s story of leaving the comfortable confines of Wheeling for an adventurous life in the wilds of Alaska.

Working with Ray Bane and drawing from his voluminous journals, Johnson-Sullivan has written a new book, “Our Perfect Wild,” published by the University of Alaska Press.

The Banes, who met at Warwood High School in the 1950s, will return to Wheeling to present a program for Lunch With Books at the Ohio County Public Library at noon Tuesday. They will discuss “Our Perfect Wild” and share their account of exploring the Alaskan wilderness.

As a young married couple, they moved to Alaska in 1960 to take teaching positions in the then-new state. Unlike many of their fellow teachers, the Banes wanted to learn about native culture and explore the vast landscape. They traveled to remote areas by dog sled and airplane.

Their most ambitious venture — a 1,200-mile dog team journey across the northern region of Alaska –led to Ray Bane being offered a position with the National Park Service. Through that work, he helped define the agency’s mission in Alaska, while also being thrust into the role of ambassador between government officials and Native Alaskans who were upset by federal interference.

“Ray Bane helped draw the lines on the map of national parks in Alaska, which doubled the size of the national park system nationwide,” Johnson-Sullivan said.

Johnson-Sullivan, who lives in Eagle River, Alaska, was introduced to the Banes through a friend. She recalled, “I had just finished a big project, and felt a little bit reluctant at first. I invited Ray to send me his journals. The minute I read the journals, I knew this was a project I wanted to take on. It’s such a compelling story.”

She added, “I really enjoyed getting to know them … I was happy and privileged to be able to help tell their story.”

Johnson-Sullivan commented, “They’re just an example of people who work quietly behind the scenes and make a big difference. That was inspiring to me, too. They never did it for publicity; they were passionate for what they were doing.”

The writer said, “Ray has been working on his memoirs for years. But he and I worked together for about a year to write the book … He had over 800 pages of journals, typed, single-spaced. It was a lot of material to winnow, to narrow down what we had to leave out for a book-length manuscript.”

She also conducted considerable research to place the Banes’ personal story into the larger historical context of the environmental movement, development of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline and Native Alaskans’ concerns about the impact of governmental regulations and big business on traditional ways of life. With his work, “Ray was at the cusp of those big changes that were happening in the country,” she said.

Johnson-Sullivan marveled at “how brave” the Banes were. “It was a very hostile climate in Alaska at the time,” she explained. “It was a huge conservation push at the time that was in direct conflict with big oil, big business, land use.”

The book recounts that Ray Bane’s stance wasn’t always appreciated, even within the National Park Service, and he paid a price professionally for his efforts.

The Banes’ actions demonstrated “they are passionate about what they do, standing up for what they believe in. They weren’t going to back down from that,” the author said.

Today in Alaska, “there is still some animosity about the federal government up here. (But) I think there is consensus that we all treasure the national parks,” she said.

When Ray Bane worked for the National Park Service, Native Alaskans’ sentiments at the time “were the feds taking over the state. Now the sentiment is: ‘Isn’t it great that we have these national treasures in our backyard,'” she said.

Johnson-Sullivan, a long-time resident, observed, “There is still the tension that Alaska’s economy is resource-based, with 80 percent of state government funded by oil royalties.” Yet, she said, “I do believe there is a deep appreciation for the preservation of these special places.”

Oil was discovered on Alaska’s north slope in the late 1960s, prompting a boom for the state. “Up until resources were being developed, there was a very thin government here. The schools, roads, everything was just bare minimum. Oil came in, they had money. Finding that balance, it’s always hard, wherever you live,” she commented.

Regarding the Banes’ contributions, she said, “They lived it. They didn’t just read about it. They didn’t just listen to or join the rhetoric. They helped create what we have. They also helped educate the state and people who were unhappy about it. Ray was an outstanding ambassador for the park service … He was at the forefront. He took the front line of the controversy that was erupting in the state at the time. He had no problem stepping into that,” she said.

In addition, Johnson-Sullivan said, “I really was interested in Barbara’s side of things. Not that many women will go and embrace it the way Barbara did. I found her part of the story just as compelling. She just kept going. When Ray was going out as an ambassador, Barbara was dealing with the hostility of the community.

“She’s just the most pleasant human being, the most kind person you’ve ever met. She is the calm waters, while Ray is more like the whitewater. He’s just got this intensity about him; she’s got this calmness,” Johnson-Sullivan remarked.

The Banes retired from their jobs in Alaska in 1997 and relocated to Maui, Hawaii, where they had vacationed a number of times.

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