Rivers are the “nerve system” of the continent’s ecology, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reminds us in his foreword to Rivers of North America. As population, industry and agriculture grow, the need for fresh water increases. But meeting that demand often entails the wholesale diverting, damming and draining of rivers. Rivers of North America is the […]
Columbia River
Posted inApril 3, 2006: Land of Disenchantment
Columbia River dams revived
Tribes get shut out of new plan touted as good for fish
Posted inJune 27, 2005: Reflections on a Divided Land
Follow-up
U.S. District Court Judge James A. Redden announced he plans to order the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to release water from its dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers to help endangered salmon and steelhead (HCN, 6/13/05: “For salmon, a crucial moment of decision”). Although NOAA Fisheries, the agency charged with protecting the fish, […]
Posted inFebruary 7, 2005: The Asphalt Graveyard
Everyday objects and extraordinary journeys
The word “relic” conjures up a host of connotations, from human remains to a historic souvenir. It can denote a custom from the past, the remnants of an ancient language, or a fragment of a whole. It can represent the last of a dying species, or an indefatigable survivor. > —Jack Nisbet Northwestern writer Jack […]
Posted inOctober 13, 2003: The Big Story Written Small
One good example: The reporter
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story, “The Big Story Written Small.” Few environment reporters can claim the beat longevity, dogged determination and data-crunching appetite of Karen Dorn Steele of The Spokesman-Review, the daily paper in Spokane, Wash. Steele’s pioneering work uncovered Cold War secrets at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in […]
Posted inAugust 4, 2003: Pipe Dreams
Want to protect a river? Get out and swim it
On the whole, professional conservationists are an office-bound bunch. They spend their days toiling to protect wild rivers and clean air, but don’t get outside often enough; the habitat these folks frequent is behind a desk, near a pile of papers. Enter Christopher Swain. A former acupuncturist and Iron Man competitor, Swain moved to Portland, […]