America by Rivers FROM THE PUBLISHER
<p>Photographer and writer Tim Palmer has spent more than twenty-five years researching and experiencing life on the waterways of the American continent. He has travelled by canoe or raft on more than 300 different rivers, down wide placid streams and rough raging rapids. His journeys have taken him to every corner of the country, where he has witnessed and described the unique interaction of geographical, historical, and cultural forces that act upon our nation's vital arteries.<p>America by Rivers represents the culmination of that grand adventure. Palmer describes the rivers of America in all their remaining glory and tarnished beauty, as he presents a comprehensive tour of the whole of America's river systems. Filled with important new information as well as data gathered from hundreds of published sources, America by Rivers covers: <ul> <li>the network of American waterways and how they fit together to form river systems <li>unique features of individual rivers along with their size, length, and biological importance <li>environmental problems affecting the rivers of different regions and what is being done to protect and restore them <li>cultural connections and conflicts surrounding the rivers of each region </ul> Chapters address the character of rivers in distinct regions of the country, and each chapter highlights one river with a detailed view from the water. Rivers profiled include the Penobscot, Potomac, Suwanee, Minnesota, Niobara, Salmon, Rio Grande, American, Rogue, and Sheenjek. Eighteen maps guide the reader across the country and 100 photos illustrate the splendor of Palmer's fascinating subject.<p>America by Rivers provides a new way of seeing our country, one that embraces the entire landscape and offers fresh avenues to adventure. It is compelling reading for anyone concerned about the health of our land and the future of our waterways.<p>"One of the most purposeful ways of understanding America is through its rivers. No one is more suited to this task than Tim Palmer, and he has done a brilliant job." - Tom McGuane
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Environmentalists, white-water boating buffs and fisherfolk will welcome this comprehensive survey of American river systems. Photographer and writer Palmer (The Wild and Scenic Rivers of America) addresses the spectrum of rivers in 10 regions; he examines their geology, biology and environmental problems and the efforts made to conserve them. After brief sketches of the principal streams, he explores one of each region's typical rivers by describing a voyage on the water and through the river's basin. Palmer has traveled more than 300 rivers by canoe, raft or kayak; here he highlights the Penobscot (Maine), Potomac (Virginia), Suwannee (Florida), Minnesota, Niobrara (Nebraska), Salmon (Idaho), Rio Grande, American (California), Rogue (Oregon) and Sheenjik (Alaska). This somber assessment of riverine health gives a satisfactory portrait of American rivers. Illustrations. (June)
Library Journal
Palmer, a longtime river researcher and the author of several books about rivers (e.g., Lifelines: The Case for River Conservation, LJ 6/15/94), here presents an encyclopedic culmination of his work on the rivers of America. Each of his ten chapters deals with a region's rivers, including unique features, facts (such as length, flowrate, and dams), current environmental and biological conditions, and cultural context. Palmer, who has been canoeing and rafting rivers for 25 years, shares his personal experience on a particular waterway in each region. Useful appendixes include data on the longest rivers (volume, length, and watershed area) and on undammed sections of rivers. An extensive bibliography rounds out the work. This excellent, concise, and fact-packed book belongs in every environmental, river, and natural history collection.-Nancy J. Moeckel, Miami Univ. Lib., Oxford, Ohio
Kirkus Reviews
A seasoned, amiable, well-fashioned tour of the nation's waterways, trickle to torrent, from Palmer (Lifelines: The Case for River Conservation, not reviewed).
The United States has never treated her rivers well. Dredged, channelized, diverted, dammed, developed, overfished, insulted one way or another, our running waters are orphans, neglected, then forgotten. Palmer comes to sing their praises, giving readers the low-down on their pleasures; he wants us to know what glories run out there, to see all that we have been missing. Ten specific riverine environments are distinguished, from Northeast to Sierra Nevada, Coastal Plain to Alaska (Hawaii, with its Waimea, Hanapepe, and other watercourses, gets the bum's rush, for reasons unknown). Each environment receives the same no-frills treatment from Palmer—he steers clear of the poetic mode, though he does offer an exultant yawp or two—starting with a regional overview to get a taste of the place, a brief glimpse (biology, cultural history, environmental risks, physiographic features, geological structures) of the principal waterways, then the best part, a detailed vignette of one river typifying the area. Palmer's selections are impeccable: the Penobscot, Potomac, Suwanee, Minnesota, Niobrara, Salmon, Rio Grande, American, Rogue, and Sheenjek; they avoid the most egregiously polluted, the most primly maintained, the blue-ribbon fisheries, the obvious. These river trips allow Palmer to get on a first-name basis with the water; describe its birds and fish and citizenry; pound through a few mean rapids; camp in some sublime, and some godawful, settings; talk with riverkeepers, river conservationists, river aficionados; they give him, in short, a chance to relax and get anecdotal, forgetting about cubic-feet-per-second flow rates for a spell.
Palmer is one earnest, informed river rat, a guide to be trusted.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
One of the most purposeful ways of understanding America is through its rivers. No one is more suited to this task than Tim Palmer, and he has done a brilliant job. — Tom McGuane
Home
