Riverine Dreams: Away to the Glorious and Forgotten Grassland Rivers of America [Kõva köide]

"The grasslands of the trans-Mississippi west-North America's most endangered ecosystems-are at a critical moment in their history. The science of prairie restoration is on the verge of unlocking the secrets to rewilding the last fragments of native prairie, just as a population shift is underway. Young people are moving inland and bringing with them a taste for outdoor adventure in wild places. Structured around a series of paddling trips to eight rivers across the heartland, Riverine Dreams explores the environmental and cultural history of grassland rivers and the colorful characters who love and protect them. This is a book about prairie preservation and restoration, and the first about grassland rivers suitable for anyone seeking inspiration for their own travels on the Great Plains. Not far from any spot in the American grasslands is a grassland river, and these rivers are no less endangered than the grasslands that surround them. As environmental writer George Frazier shows, following their twistsand turns is the best way, in many places, to experience the land's wild essence. Grassland preservation organizations are purchasing land and creating conservation easements to save the few unplowed prairies that remain, and scientific breakthroughs aremaking it easier to rewild new ones. Local and national advocacy groups are cleaning up rivers and working to remediate one hundred and fifty years of channelization, dam building, destruction of riparian forests, and pollution. In the land of private property, paddlers are discovering that prairie rivers offer a Midwestern alternative to long distance, multi-day trekking, and so recreation and ecotourism companies are taking people out onto wild stretches of farm country rivers that most people, until recently, tried to avoid. It amounts to a grassland river revival, and this book tells its inspirational story"--

The inspirational story of grassland rivers—and the people who paddle and protect them.
 
The North American grasslands that once covered vast areas of the central United States are now our most endangered ecosystems. But not far from any spot in the grasslands is a river. Grassland rivers are as central to the story of prairies as bison and bluestem. Defined as rivers that drain prairie watersheds, these waterways are crucial to plains ecosystems and no less endangered than the grasslands surrounding them. They are also enigmatic: some are restricted by local access laws and others have simply been forgotten. In any given year, fewer than a dozen people might lay eyes on tens of thousands of miles of America’s grassland rivers. But, as environmental writer George Frazier shows, following their twists and turns is one of the best ways to experience the wild essence of the prairies.
 
Riverine Dreams invites us on a trip along eight grassland rivers—including the Missouri, the Niobrara, and Purgatoire—traversing their environmental and cultural histories and introducing us to the people who study, paddle, and conserve them. This journey takes Frazier across the North American interior—from Montana and Colorado to Nebraska and Missouri—where he uncovers a remarkable movement to celebrate and preserve these natural treasures: nothing less than a grassland river revival.
 
The first accessible introduction to these waters, Riverine Dreams is a personal exploration of the rivers that are so vital to the health of the prairies.