 It was a storytelling book about backcountry characters with whom he had friendships or experiences.In a conversation with Jim Dale Vickery, Rutstrum characterized this book as being about "just the romance of the wilderness".The book "Wilderness Visionaries" included Rutstrum on a list of eight (North American) wilderness visionaries along with Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, Aldo Leopold, Robert Service, Bob Marshall, Olaus Johan Murie and Sigurd Olson.