The Fall and Rise of the Wetlands of California's Great Central Valley

by Philip Garone

Overview

This is the first comprehensive environmental history of California’s Great Central Valley, where extensive freshwater and tidal wetlands once provided critical habitat for tens of millions of migratory waterfowl. Weaving together ecology, grassroots politics, and public policy, Philip Garone tells how California’s wetlands were nearly obliterated by vast irrigation and reclamation projects, but have been brought back from the brink of total destruction by the organized efforts of duck hunters, whistle-blowing scientists, and a broad coalition of conservationists. Garone examines the many demands that have been made on the Valley’s natural resources, especially by large-scale agriculture, and traces the unforeseen ecological consequences of our unrestrained manipulation of nature. He also investigates changing public and scientific attitudes that are now ushering in an era of unprecedented protection for wildlife and wetlands in California and the nation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520266636
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	04/10/2011
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	448
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Philip Garone is Professor of History at California State University, Stanislaus.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part One. Wetlands and Waterfowl
1. The Nature of the Great Central Valley and the Pacific Flyway

Part Two. The Fall
2. From Native American Lands of Plenty to “Waste” Lands
3. The San Joaquin Valley: A Tale of Two Basins
4. Reclamation and Conservation in the Sacramento Valley
5. The Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta and the Central Valley Project’s Origins

Part Three. The Rise
6. Turning the Tide: Federal and State Responses to the Waterfowl Crisis
7. Battles for the Grasslands and the San Joaquin River
8. Conflicting Agendas: New Refuges and Water Projects for the San Joaquin Valley
9. Tragedy at Kesterson Reservoir
10. Wetlands Resurgent: The Central Valley in the Twenty-First Century

Epilogue: Global Climate Change and the Wetlands of the Great Central Valley

Appendix. Animals and Plants of the Central Valley Discussed in the Text
Notes
Bibliography
Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"The book has a place alongside the standards of the field."—Agricultural History

"Enlightening. . . . [Garone's book] extend[s] our understanding of the complexities of water politics in California."—Western Historical Quarterly

Editorial Reviews

With masterful research, Garone illuminates the devastating effects imposed by intensive agricultural reclamation and irrigation in California.

Choice

Enlightening. . . . [Garone’s book] extend[s] our understanding of the complexities of water politics in California.

Western Historical Quarterly

Fascinating. . . . An exceptional treatment of the history of wetlands in the Central Valley of California. . . . This book will be accessible to a wide audience, is richly documented, and will be an invaluable resource.

Quarterly Review Of Biology

"Highly interdisciplinary."

Journal of Historical Geography - Laura A. Watt

Fascinating. . . . This book will be accessible to a wide audience, is richly documented, and will be an invaluable resource.

Qtly Review Of Biology - Walter G. Duffy

Enlightening. . . . [Garone’s book] extend[s] our understanding of the complexities of water politics in California.

Western Historical Qtly - Jeffrey K. Stine

The book has a place alongside the standards of the field.

Agricultural History - Eric Steiger

"The book has a place alongside the standards of the field."--Agricultural History

"Enlightening. . . . [Garone's book] extend[s] our understanding of the complexities of water politics in California."--Western Historical Qtly

"Fascinating. . . . This book will be accessible to a wide audience, is richly documented, and will be an invaluable resource."--Qtly Review of Biology

From the Publisher

The Fall and Rise of the Wetlands of California’s Great Central Valley should be an essential read for anyone seeking to understand the interplay of ecology and policy in the history of California’s Central Valley. . . .The book has a place alongside the standards of the field.

Agricultural History