As always, a super-interesting, deeply researched piece. But I cannot help but sigh. What is never discussed in mainstream commentary is the underlying cause of all this: what makes us a headstone species rather than a keystone species, as you mention. There's the very seldom challenged creed of more when we could be happy with less. These quotes from the Tao Te Ching are important - and I think we should all read the entire thing and change the way we live accordingly.
"Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you."
Thank you, Simon. You're quite right about this. One of the many planetary-scale quirks of the climate fight is its narrow focus on changing energy systems to maintain every stupid thing we do and own, rather than look deeper and also have an adult conversation about living more rationally. (Data centers and AI being just the latest example...) It's also, I think, why we're talking so narrowly on emissions rather than the more complicated problem of reducing our biological harms and reducing our footprint while restoring ecosystems. There is a lot of good work being done on the latter, along the lines of 30x30, but it's background work compared to the rest of the climate fight.
Nice Jason. 'Water is soft and supple and yet can wash away mountains' - Tao. I read a decent book in the early 2000s by a environmentalist (forgot names) who was so passionate and ready to literally take up arms to bring down dams - in particular was the Klamath - which was where he was from I believe. Anyway, I hope he is still alive to see this finally has happened - albeit 20 years later!
Thanks, Christopher. Wouldn't be surprised if it was Derrick Jensen, a great writer and activist and particularly unhappy with the salmon-killing dams of the West. The Klamath dams are a good start, but I doubt he and his fellow activists are happy yet.
Yes - it was! I looked him up and it was Endgame that I read. I remember being surprised that corporate Barnes and Noble had him on the table of Non-fiction but it was the NYC Union Square location - which probably has something to do with it. Ahhh - so much work to do to fix the mess we humans have made. Have you seen this amazing video of our galaxy's place in the universe? Worth checking out. If you are not comfortable clicking links - as I am - you can type in - Laniakea: Our home supercluster - YouTube
A lucky guess. Nice. And you're right: Jensen's brutal honesty isn't really a Barnes/Noble kind of voice. And thank you for "so much work to do to fix the mess we humans have made." That should be my tagline here, because it emphasizes the work rather than the mess. I toggle between the two as best I can.
I'll take a look at Laniakea. Thanks for that. (I don't worry too much about links. As long as I can see the address and trust the source, either I or the browser should catch the harmful stuff. I think...)
When beavers build dams and lodges, they create flood plains and help restore what was once and always there. Efforts to thwart the beavers fail and smart conservationists have learned to work with and cooperate with these smart creatures.
Indeed. One of my favorite topics I've written about here is beavers and their amazing work. (A three-part series called Landscape Miracle Drugs.) There is so much that welcoming beavers back into the landscape can do to help with everything that's gone wrong in the North American landscape. Thanks for the note, Perry.
True; and here in Canada and in the U.S., the beavers were hunted almost to the point of extinction, from the 1600s to the early 1900s, all because of fashion tastes for beaver fur hats in Europe.
Thankfully, beavers are making a comeback in Canada and the U S., now numbering as high as 12 million. This, however, is a far cry from the 60 million beavers that once populated our waterways as Nature's Engineers.
I've read that estimates for pre-contact beaver populations are 60-400 million, with a possible population density across North America of 40-75 per sq mile. Call it 100 million, but it's still amazing to think what that means for the density of wetlands too. The good news is that they do okay in close proximity to people, but the bad news is that as the population rebounds people start to complain...
It might be 100 million. I just saw one figure cited and it was a low estinate. Your range is probably more accurate and shows how the beaver was hunted almost to extinction. I read one of your beaver articles Excellent.
Late to the party as is getting to be the norm..it is getting harder and harder to keep up with the downpour of information, but better late than never. Better late than never also when it comes to dams, damming,and ecological restoration. We're playing catch-up, but it's all to the good, better late than never, a remarkable maturation in our thought, but is it in time,?
Thank you for your well researched essay, Jason. Really helpful.
Yes, as Erica Gies says in her book title, water always wins.
And thank you for mentioning Brandon Keim's muskrat story. I must have read his Hakai article five times over the past week. His work reminds me of yours. My upcoming piece follows up on his muskrat work in light of the Supreme Court wetland debacle and Rights of Nature considerations. Brandon is just beginning his Substack, The Catbird Seat. Like you, he answers questions...such a great aspect of being in this community. Brandon's book, Meet Your Neighbors, come out on July 16, 2024, W.W. Norton.
Thank you, Katharine. I'd forgotten about Gies' book title, though perhaps not subconsciously... And I'm glad you're building on the muskrat and wetland stories. The years ahead, in the wake of the Supreme Court's mistake on wetlands, worry me. I'll check out the Catbird's Seat. Thank you for that.
A good read, as always. I find the topic of dammed rivers to be depressing, and damning of us as a species. (Yeah, I know, but I felt like it had to be done/said!) A topic I’d like to see explored in greater detail than is usually undertaken is the loss of biodiversity in rivers, creeks, etc. as a consequence of damming, diversion, and what I call ‘ditchification’. Without having the data to back the claim, I’m nonetheless of the mind that we have wiped out many more species/populations of freshwater fish and aquatic invertebrates, and at least the odd amphibian, as a result of our deep and lustful need for water to be managed and used to our perceived benefit. Had we the sort of biodiversity catalogues for what used to live in North American rivers back in the pre-dam era, I think we’d be aghast at what we’ve done. Or at least I hope we’d be aghast, given I’m as certain as I can be that it would be, rightly considered, horrifying.
I’m thrilled by some of the damage removal project underway—e.g., the Klamath River dams you mention. But it’s kinda like being thrilled when it rains in the desert. One knows that the greater reality is much bleaker. (Acknowledging that calling deserts ‘bleak’ is a complete and utter failure to recognize the nature of deserts, or at least those that haven’t been turned into ATV parks.) I’d be ever so much more greatly thrilled to see the formation of a real, meaningful commitment to de-dam the Colorado River. Cities like Phoenix, Tucson, Vegas, LA, and more would have to go into major adaptation-development mode, but that’s more or less as it should be, given what’s been done to the river up to now. Or at least that’s how I see it.
Finally, I was pleased to see you noted the nudge from the New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness about our need to assess what we make of the growing knowledge of animal consciousness, such as, e.g., even crayfish can display ‘anxiety-like behaviors’ and have those same behaviors ameliorated by anxiolytics used now or formerly for the treatment of anxiety-like behaviors in humans. [Had a piece on my rejuvenating ‘stack last week on this.] This, I think, should be a big deal. But I shouldn’t hold my breath waiting, I don’t think.
Thank you, Perry. Dams are a depressing topic, with the caveat that a lot of good work is being done to remove them or ameliorate their harms. The organizations I mention in the piece are doing great work, quietly revitalizing the world. And you're certainly right about the deep losses to the species of freshwater ecosystems. I mention it in the piece, but don't go deeper. I have written about freshwater mussels, though, which are the most threatened group of species in North America. (Search the archives for "The Liver of the River," if you're interested.)
Not sure what's going to happen out west. The scale of the calamity out there if/when the heat and megadrought get worse will be hard to exaggerate. As someone living in the relatively lush and peaceful northeast U.S., I fully expect a massive emigration from the South and Southwest when summer temps get even uglier and the wells dry up.
And thanks for noticing the consciousness link. I try to keep nudging people to consider our own consciousness as just one of many on a spectrum. James Bridle's book Ways of Being does a great job of pushing that kind of awareness.
Bridle’s Ways of Being is on the list. (Which list is very long and constantly morphing into “new, improved!” versions, but that’s just the way things are.) I’ll take a look at your mussels piece. Interestingly, it seems that mussels have wedged themselves into naturalists’ consciousness more effectively than some of their freshwater neighbors. It seems to me that most moving waterways in the U.S. have a marked paucity of vertebrate (i.e., piscine) biodiversity, and that such likely is the result of our woeful “management” of things; I’d love to hear from someone who knows more on that topic.
I’ll try to cheer myself with your descriptions of good work being done by outfits like American Rivers; I want to think the pendulum is starting to swing in a good direction. We’ll see, I suppose. Anyway, thanks, and keep up the good work! ;-)
You make a good point about mussels becoming something of a "charismatic" species. But they make a great stand-in for freshwater biodiversity when it comes to restoring/rewilding rivers and streams. As for fish, I tend to focus on migratory species and haven't thought enough about all the others. (My brain gets full sometimes...) I imagine that TNC might have some good info on freshwater vertebrates, but haven't looked.
dams are nothing but an insult to The Being of the river (the Ñgen) that's been present for millions of years and will still be present once those dams are down
Indeed. The question is how many we can get rid of and how much we can reduce the harms of the ones which remain. I'm heartened, at least, by the acceleration of dam removals and the new fish/eel-friendly turbines being designed. Eventually, as you say, water will clean up our mess one way or another. Thanks for the note.
Hi, I really appreciate your newsletter. could you elaborate on the enormous environmental disaster caused by the construction of the Julius Nyerere Hydro Power Project? There is very little talk about how one of Africa's last wild areas is about to be devastated.
Thank you for the heads-up. I wish I'd known about this for the writing. I just did a quick bit of research, and you're right about the massive environmental costs of this dam, placed in the middle of an important ecological reserve. The loss of sediment downstream looks like it will be a huge issue as well, depriving major biodiversity areas of the soils that build them. And Tanzania has made a massive investment in hydro (their main source of power), which is less and less of a sure bet in a hotter world. This story is an excellent example of much of what I've written about these last two weeks.
This is so beautiful, Jason. When I was a student I was one of those arguing for a high dam on the Snake Riiver. We lost and only a power dam went in. Later I lived in Halfway Oregon just 12 miles from the Grand Canyon of the Snake River. It’s the deepest canyon in North America. I’ve been so grateful that my misguided beliefs lost!
The canyon is full of archeological history and also the remains of settler dwellings. It’s a treasure.
Thank you, Barbara. It's always interesting to see how we change as our awareness grows, isn't it? So much of what I'm writing about I'm interested in because I want to learn more. When I was a student I was oblivious to nearly everything I'm writing about now.
I've always heard that the Snake is incredible. Hope to see it someday.
As always, a super-interesting, deeply researched piece. But I cannot help but sigh. What is never discussed in mainstream commentary is the underlying cause of all this: what makes us a headstone species rather than a keystone species, as you mention. There's the very seldom challenged creed of more when we could be happy with less. These quotes from the Tao Te Ching are important - and I think we should all read the entire thing and change the way we live accordingly.
"Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you."
Thank you, Simon. You're quite right about this. One of the many planetary-scale quirks of the climate fight is its narrow focus on changing energy systems to maintain every stupid thing we do and own, rather than look deeper and also have an adult conversation about living more rationally. (Data centers and AI being just the latest example...) It's also, I think, why we're talking so narrowly on emissions rather than the more complicated problem of reducing our biological harms and reducing our footprint while restoring ecosystems. There is a lot of good work being done on the latter, along the lines of 30x30, but it's background work compared to the rest of the climate fight.
Nice Jason. 'Water is soft and supple and yet can wash away mountains' - Tao. I read a decent book in the early 2000s by a environmentalist (forgot names) who was so passionate and ready to literally take up arms to bring down dams - in particular was the Klamath - which was where he was from I believe. Anyway, I hope he is still alive to see this finally has happened - albeit 20 years later!
Thanks, Christopher. Wouldn't be surprised if it was Derrick Jensen, a great writer and activist and particularly unhappy with the salmon-killing dams of the West. The Klamath dams are a good start, but I doubt he and his fellow activists are happy yet.
Yes - it was! I looked him up and it was Endgame that I read. I remember being surprised that corporate Barnes and Noble had him on the table of Non-fiction but it was the NYC Union Square location - which probably has something to do with it. Ahhh - so much work to do to fix the mess we humans have made. Have you seen this amazing video of our galaxy's place in the universe? Worth checking out. If you are not comfortable clicking links - as I am - you can type in - Laniakea: Our home supercluster - YouTube
https://youtu.be/rENyyRwxpHo?si=_FSBSTw_2LK9D0WT
A lucky guess. Nice. And you're right: Jensen's brutal honesty isn't really a Barnes/Noble kind of voice. And thank you for "so much work to do to fix the mess we humans have made." That should be my tagline here, because it emphasizes the work rather than the mess. I toggle between the two as best I can.
I'll take a look at Laniakea. Thanks for that. (I don't worry too much about links. As long as I can see the address and trust the source, either I or the browser should catch the harmful stuff. I think...)
When beavers build dams and lodges, they create flood plains and help restore what was once and always there. Efforts to thwart the beavers fail and smart conservationists have learned to work with and cooperate with these smart creatures.
Indeed. One of my favorite topics I've written about here is beavers and their amazing work. (A three-part series called Landscape Miracle Drugs.) There is so much that welcoming beavers back into the landscape can do to help with everything that's gone wrong in the North American landscape. Thanks for the note, Perry.
True; and here in Canada and in the U.S., the beavers were hunted almost to the point of extinction, from the 1600s to the early 1900s, all because of fashion tastes for beaver fur hats in Europe.
Thankfully, beavers are making a comeback in Canada and the U S., now numbering as high as 12 million. This, however, is a far cry from the 60 million beavers that once populated our waterways as Nature's Engineers.
I've read that estimates for pre-contact beaver populations are 60-400 million, with a possible population density across North America of 40-75 per sq mile. Call it 100 million, but it's still amazing to think what that means for the density of wetlands too. The good news is that they do okay in close proximity to people, but the bad news is that as the population rebounds people start to complain...
(For anyone interested, my beaver series begins here: https://jasonanthony.substack.com/p/landscape-miracle-drugs)
It might be 100 million. I just saw one figure cited and it was a low estinate. Your range is probably more accurate and shows how the beaver was hunted almost to extinction. I read one of your beaver articles Excellent.
Late to the party as is getting to be the norm..it is getting harder and harder to keep up with the downpour of information, but better late than never. Better late than never also when it comes to dams, damming,and ecological restoration. We're playing catch-up, but it's all to the good, better late than never, a remarkable maturation in our thought, but is it in time,?
Thank you for your well researched essay, Jason. Really helpful.
Yes, as Erica Gies says in her book title, water always wins.
And thank you for mentioning Brandon Keim's muskrat story. I must have read his Hakai article five times over the past week. His work reminds me of yours. My upcoming piece follows up on his muskrat work in light of the Supreme Court wetland debacle and Rights of Nature considerations. Brandon is just beginning his Substack, The Catbird Seat. Like you, he answers questions...such a great aspect of being in this community. Brandon's book, Meet Your Neighbors, come out on July 16, 2024, W.W. Norton.
Thank you for your work.🌱
Thank you, Katharine. I'd forgotten about Gies' book title, though perhaps not subconsciously... And I'm glad you're building on the muskrat and wetland stories. The years ahead, in the wake of the Supreme Court's mistake on wetlands, worry me. I'll check out the Catbird's Seat. Thank you for that.
By the way, Brandon lives in Bangor. As I've mentioned before, I do think there's an ingredient of writer's magic in the Maine water.
I once described Maine as halfway between the US and Canada. Lots of green life around, and at a certain distance from the rest of the country.
Marking this, so I will get back to it to read in full. Thanks for all of this research and info!
Thanks for the note, Sylvia. Appreciate you paying such good attention.
A good read, as always. I find the topic of dammed rivers to be depressing, and damning of us as a species. (Yeah, I know, but I felt like it had to be done/said!) A topic I’d like to see explored in greater detail than is usually undertaken is the loss of biodiversity in rivers, creeks, etc. as a consequence of damming, diversion, and what I call ‘ditchification’. Without having the data to back the claim, I’m nonetheless of the mind that we have wiped out many more species/populations of freshwater fish and aquatic invertebrates, and at least the odd amphibian, as a result of our deep and lustful need for water to be managed and used to our perceived benefit. Had we the sort of biodiversity catalogues for what used to live in North American rivers back in the pre-dam era, I think we’d be aghast at what we’ve done. Or at least I hope we’d be aghast, given I’m as certain as I can be that it would be, rightly considered, horrifying.
I’m thrilled by some of the damage removal project underway—e.g., the Klamath River dams you mention. But it’s kinda like being thrilled when it rains in the desert. One knows that the greater reality is much bleaker. (Acknowledging that calling deserts ‘bleak’ is a complete and utter failure to recognize the nature of deserts, or at least those that haven’t been turned into ATV parks.) I’d be ever so much more greatly thrilled to see the formation of a real, meaningful commitment to de-dam the Colorado River. Cities like Phoenix, Tucson, Vegas, LA, and more would have to go into major adaptation-development mode, but that’s more or less as it should be, given what’s been done to the river up to now. Or at least that’s how I see it.
Finally, I was pleased to see you noted the nudge from the New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness about our need to assess what we make of the growing knowledge of animal consciousness, such as, e.g., even crayfish can display ‘anxiety-like behaviors’ and have those same behaviors ameliorated by anxiolytics used now or formerly for the treatment of anxiety-like behaviors in humans. [Had a piece on my rejuvenating ‘stack last week on this.] This, I think, should be a big deal. But I shouldn’t hold my breath waiting, I don’t think.
Thank you, Perry. Dams are a depressing topic, with the caveat that a lot of good work is being done to remove them or ameliorate their harms. The organizations I mention in the piece are doing great work, quietly revitalizing the world. And you're certainly right about the deep losses to the species of freshwater ecosystems. I mention it in the piece, but don't go deeper. I have written about freshwater mussels, though, which are the most threatened group of species in North America. (Search the archives for "The Liver of the River," if you're interested.)
Not sure what's going to happen out west. The scale of the calamity out there if/when the heat and megadrought get worse will be hard to exaggerate. As someone living in the relatively lush and peaceful northeast U.S., I fully expect a massive emigration from the South and Southwest when summer temps get even uglier and the wells dry up.
And thanks for noticing the consciousness link. I try to keep nudging people to consider our own consciousness as just one of many on a spectrum. James Bridle's book Ways of Being does a great job of pushing that kind of awareness.
Bridle’s Ways of Being is on the list. (Which list is very long and constantly morphing into “new, improved!” versions, but that’s just the way things are.) I’ll take a look at your mussels piece. Interestingly, it seems that mussels have wedged themselves into naturalists’ consciousness more effectively than some of their freshwater neighbors. It seems to me that most moving waterways in the U.S. have a marked paucity of vertebrate (i.e., piscine) biodiversity, and that such likely is the result of our woeful “management” of things; I’d love to hear from someone who knows more on that topic.
I’ll try to cheer myself with your descriptions of good work being done by outfits like American Rivers; I want to think the pendulum is starting to swing in a good direction. We’ll see, I suppose. Anyway, thanks, and keep up the good work! ;-)
You make a good point about mussels becoming something of a "charismatic" species. But they make a great stand-in for freshwater biodiversity when it comes to restoring/rewilding rivers and streams. As for fish, I tend to focus on migratory species and haven't thought enough about all the others. (My brain gets full sometimes...) I imagine that TNC might have some good info on freshwater vertebrates, but haven't looked.
Thanks, Perry.
dams are nothing but an insult to The Being of the river (the Ñgen) that's been present for millions of years and will still be present once those dams are down
Indeed. The question is how many we can get rid of and how much we can reduce the harms of the ones which remain. I'm heartened, at least, by the acceleration of dam removals and the new fish/eel-friendly turbines being designed. Eventually, as you say, water will clean up our mess one way or another. Thanks for the note.
Hi, I really appreciate your newsletter. could you elaborate on the enormous environmental disaster caused by the construction of the Julius Nyerere Hydro Power Project? There is very little talk about how one of Africa's last wild areas is about to be devastated.
Thank you for the heads-up. I wish I'd known about this for the writing. I just did a quick bit of research, and you're right about the massive environmental costs of this dam, placed in the middle of an important ecological reserve. The loss of sediment downstream looks like it will be a huge issue as well, depriving major biodiversity areas of the soils that build them. And Tanzania has made a massive investment in hydro (their main source of power), which is less and less of a sure bet in a hotter world. This story is an excellent example of much of what I've written about these last two weeks.
This is so beautiful, Jason. When I was a student I was one of those arguing for a high dam on the Snake Riiver. We lost and only a power dam went in. Later I lived in Halfway Oregon just 12 miles from the Grand Canyon of the Snake River. It’s the deepest canyon in North America. I’ve been so grateful that my misguided beliefs lost!
The canyon is full of archeological history and also the remains of settler dwellings. It’s a treasure.
Thank you, Barbara. It's always interesting to see how we change as our awareness grows, isn't it? So much of what I'm writing about I'm interested in because I want to learn more. When I was a student I was oblivious to nearly everything I'm writing about now.
I've always heard that the Snake is incredible. Hope to see it someday.