It's not a hard sell. Great Slave Lake is massive, the 10th largest lake in the world, and forms part of the headwaters of the Mackenzie River. It lies smack in the middle of Canada's boreal forest, a 1.4-billion-acre swath of woods and waters that mantles northern North America like a green crown, from Newfoundland all the way to the Yukon. "The boreal," as it is known, is one of the planet's last healthy and whole landscapes. It holds a quarter of the planet's intact forests and freshwater resources. No surprise, then, that the region is critical to a vast array of wildlife. All five herds of barren-ground caribou use the boreal, as do some of the world's largest populations of grizzly bears, wolves, and woodland caribou. Dall sheep and mountain goats clatter across the ramparts rising above the Mackenzie. The world's best trophy pike, lake trout, and walleye fishing are here. There are brook trout rivers where the fish top 9 pounds. And a feathered storm of 3 billion to 5 billion birds flies out of the boreal every year, including some 40 percent of North Amer¿ica's waterfowl. For hunters and anglers, Canada's boreal forest - the size of four Alaskas - is an irreplaceable trove of some of the most sought after outdoor experiences.

"It's North America's Amazon," says Stewart. "And for now, it's enormously wild."