Foreword: Few areas of the country have experienced such a variety of environmental challenges as the upper Mississippi River basin. Beginning with the development of towns such as St. Paul and Minneapolis in the middle of the 19th century, people of the region coped with reconciling industrial and commercial development with environmental protection. By the end of the century, with the establishment of numerous paper and sawmills, the problems had become more acute. The desire for hydropower added to the growing demands on the upper Mississippi.
The construction of a number of locks to improve navigation to the Twin Cities during the 1930s once more focused attention on the upper Mississippi. The project aroused concern among environmentalists over its effect on fish and wildlife and on municipal sewage and drainage facilities. In the post-World War II period, efforts have been made to develop a consensus among various public and private agencies over how best to develop the upper Mississippi while still maintaining recreation areas and fish and wildlife refuges. The Corps of Engineers has been actively involved in these efforts.
Dr. Raymond Merritt presents in this book, the third volume in the Corps’ Environmental History Series, an analysis of those historical developments and concerns that have affected life in the upper Mississippi River basin. His story is of an agency responding to changing social and political concerns. I recommend this work to all who are interested in gaining a perspective on current challenges facing both the Corps and the environmental community.
