SEPTEMBER 28, 2017 // 23
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“The Wild and Scenic
Rivers of America”
By Tim Palmer
OSU Press
256 pp
$45
How wild river
conservation happened
In 1968, an unusual
mix of politics, idealism
and concern for legacy
led the U.S. Congress to
pass the National Wild
and Scenic Rivers Act. It
was a visionary, bipartisan
effort that would likely
be unfathomable today:
the Senate unanimously
approved the bill, and only
seven congressmen voted
against it in the House of
Representatives.
Next year marks the
50th anniversary of this
legislation, and Port Orford
author Tim Palmer has
chronicled its successes
and challenges almost from
the beginning.
As a college student in
1970, Palmer was given an
assignment to develop a
watershed protection plan
for one of the 27 rivers
named for consideration
under the then-new Wild
and Scenic Rivers Act.
This spurred a lifelong love
affair with rivers.
After graduating, Palmer
worked as a land-use
planner, but by 1980 he
was writing full-time with
a strong focus on river
conservation. For 11 years,
he and his wife lived and
worked out of a van as they
researched rivers across the
country. Of the 26 books
Palmer has written, more
than half are about rivers.
His latest effort, “Wild
and Scenic Rivers,” cel-
ebrates the conservation
law that was enacted five
decades ago. In it, Palmer
traces the progress of a
revolving cast of conser-
vationists, paddle-sport
enthusiasts, property
owners and politicians who
have found common cause
over the years in protecting
stretches of free-flowing
streams. From the Allagash
River in Maine to the Zig-
Zag River in Oregon, some
13,000 miles of rivers in 40
states have been preserved
for their “outstandingly
remarkable” scenic, recre-
ational, geologic, historic,
cultural or fish and wildlife
value — thanks to the Wild
and Scenic Rivers Act.
Thirteen thousand miles
seems like a lot, until
Palmer points out that this
amounts to only 0.4 percent
of all rivers and streams
in the U.S. There are
also 80,000 dams in this
country that account for
somewhere near 600,000
miles of water penned
behind reservoirs. Another
235,000 miles of America’s
waterways have been chan-
nelized (mostly for irriga-
tion), while 25,000 more
miles have been dredged
(for industrial navigation).
Palmer’s message: more
wild streams and rivers
ought to be protected.
On the West Coast,
Alaska, Oregon and
California have ensured
significant protections of
their wild water resources,
but Washington could do
more. And there are 10
states, including Nevada
and Hawaii, that have not
availed themselves of the
federal Wild and Scenic
designation for any of their
free-flowing streams.
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Crossword Answer
O
P
C
I
T
Tim Palmer
In addition to sharing
the fascinating history of
this conservation law, the
book also includes 166 color
photographs of the protected
rivers fl owing through des-
erts or rainforests, meander-
ing across plains or through
swamps, and tumbling
down mountainsides. It is an
exhilarating vicarious paddle
down some magnifi cent
stretches of water! Some of
the images — captured late
in the afternoon, perhaps —
tended to be dark and didn’t
reproduce especially well.
In contrast, the font in this
book, whether too small or
too light, provoked unneces-
sary eyestrain.
The solution: Get out
your magnifying glass and
enjoy!
The Bookmonger is
Barbara Lloyd McMichael,
who writes this weekly col-
umn focusing on the books,
authors and publishers
of the Pacific Northwest.
Contact her at bkmonger@
nwlink.com.
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