Alice Outwater

To understand the current state of America's waterways, you have to go back further than the Industrial Revolution - we've been (inadvertently) dicking around with nature's purification system for long before that. From "dismantling the natural system" via the widespread eradication of beavers (hats were all the rage in Europe), buffalo, prairie dogs, fresh water mussels, and gators; massive deforestation (would kill to see some legit old growth American woods); the cessation of deliberate, show more routine firings of the grasslands (peace out, Red Man); and the all-encompassing plowing of the plains to "engineering the waterways" via obsessive amounts of damming (irrigatiooooooon - if it can't support traditional crops, why is this land even here?); the Army Corps of Engineers straightening of, levying, and debris (log) removal from major rivers to improve shipping conditions (now tasked with reversing some of their more misguided efforts, *cough* the Everglades); and sewage disposal (whether dumped or burned). Paints an illuminating overview of nature's insistence on interconnectedness and how the simplification of an ecosystem has long reaching, deleterious effects. show less

Although this short book is necessarily an overview, it's impressive how much detailed information the author manages to cover in a mere 186 pages. Most fascinating are the two opening chapters in which Outwater reviews the environmental engineering of the American beaver, how its "structural improvements" managed the waterways of the continent, and, in so doing, created a rich ecosystem that supported a great diversity of species. In a mere 200 years after the arrival of fur-trading show more Europeans, the beaver faced extinction & the efficient hydrologic system that depended upon them for its construction & maintenance had been undermined. Outwater moves on to examine the impact (not good!) of human disruption, if not outright elimination, of other keystone species, such as old growth forests, bison, prairie dogs & American alligators. Consequences: loss, in places, of up to 95% of wetlands, depletion of non-renewable groundwater resources, soil erosion, air and water pollution, species extinction and endangerment, all contributing to loss of ecological diversity. From her perspective in 1996, Outwater sees reasons for hope due to recent efforts to clean up the air and water, protect endangered species and return some features of the ecosystem to more primeval conditions. She proposes the reestablishment of the beaver, prairie dog & bison on public lands managed by the BLM, Forest Service, National Parks, etc. It bears keeping in mind, however, that Outwater was writing in the mid nineties, prior to the Bush-Cheney administration's assault on so many environmental programs and protections. It is hard to imagine that in the intervening 15 years we can have moved closer to implementing the programs the author recommends. A second edition of this book could provide a welcome update. show less

When I picked this book up, I thought, oh, no, not another book on ecology written by an engineer. To my surprise, it was witty, lively, and ecologically sound. The chapter on beavers is a classic.

A fun, easy to read, cartoon guide to just what is giong wrong with the environment, and why. The text was written by Alice Outwater, who manages to write well in spite of being an engineer. Although it is a good introduction for people who are just beginning to be interested in the topic, it is a bit oversimplified in places, and because of the format, leaves out a lot of important information. It should be regarded merely as a starting point.