Wide Rivers Crossed

The South Platte and the Illinois of the American Prairie

von Ellen E. Wohl

344 Seiten, Hardcover

Kurzbeschreibung des Verlags

In Wide Rivers Crossed, Ellen Wohl tells the stories of two rivers--the South Platte on the western plains and the Illinois on the eastern--to represent the environmental history and historical transformation of major rivers across the American prairie. Wohl begins with the rivers' natural histories, including their geologic history, physical characteristics, ecological communities, and earliest human impacts, and follows a downstream and historical progression from the use of the rivers' resources by European immigrants through increasing population density of the twentieth century to the present day.>The environmental changes in the South Platte and the Illinois reflect the relentless efforts by humans to control the distribution of water: to enhance surface water in the arid western prairie and to limit the spread of floods and drain the wetlands along the rivers in the water-abundant east. Wide Rivers Crossed looks at these historical changes and discusses opportunities for much-needed protection and restoration for the future.

• Reihe: University Press of Colorado
• ISBN: 9781607322306
• Sprache: Englisch
• Erscheinungsdatum: 15.06.2013
• Größe: 229 x 153 mm
• Verlag: Univ of Chicago behalf of UP Colorado