Urie, Steve

Steve Urie's interest in aquatic environments began when his father and grandfather told him that as boys they swam and fished for trout in the Upper Mississippi River, which until it was dammed as part of a massive WPA project during the Great Depression, flowed as fast and clear as a mountain stream. Twenty-nine dams turned the river into a series of stagnant reservoirs, and children born after World War II now know the once Mighty Mississippi as only the "Muddy Mississippi." After discovering Lake Tahoe on a ski vacation, he has lived with his wife and editor, Peggy, in and around Truckee,