This beautifully written and deeply personal collection of essays paints a progressive view of the American West as seen by a geologist. Ellen Wohl traces her twenty years of living and conducting research in the natural landscapes of the West as she investigates the conflict between environmental history and widely held romanticized views of the region. Wohl grew up in Ohio, subscribing to a common perception of the American West as an unchanged frontier. Moving to Arizona, she became enthralled with how the landscapes and ecosystems of the West have undergone change, both through geologic...

A comprehensive, interdisciplinary review of issues related to inland flood hazards, this important work addresses physical controls on flooding, flood processes and effects, and responses to flooding, from the perspectives of human, aquatic, and riparian communities. The contributors, recognized experts in their fields, draw on examples and case studies of inland flood hazards from around the world. The volume is unique in that it addresses how the nonoccurrence of floods, in association with flow regulation and other human manipulation of river systems, may create hazards for aquatic and...

Sparsely settled mountain areas of the world, such as Colorado's Front Range, give an impression of wild, untouched, and unchanging nature. Yet in many cases mountain rivers that appear to be pristine natural systems actually have been impaired as a result of human activities. In this timely and accessible book, Ellen Wohl documents two hundred years of land-use patterns on the Front Range and their wide-ranging effects on river ecosystems.
If we hope to manage river resources effectively and preserve functioning river ecosystems, the author warns, we must recognize how beaver trapping,...