01.06.2013 Views

Image of the Day

Image of the Day

Image of the Day

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

during peak river flows. The companies also hold rights to<br />

store, in dozens <strong>of</strong> reservoirs, 1.7 million acre feet <strong>of</strong> water,<br />

enough to supply metro Denver for six years. — Oil, Water<br />

Are Volatile Mix in West, Energy Firms Buying River Rights Add<br />

to Competition for Scarce Resource<br />

Endangered Colorado:<br />

Is it Too Late to Save One <strong>of</strong> Our Greatest Rivers?<br />

By<br />

Wade Davis<br />

Reproduced by permission <strong>of</strong> Island Press, Washington DC.<br />

The following excerpt is fromRiver Notes: A Natural and Human History <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Colorado<br />

[3]by Wade Davis, © 2013 Wade Davis.<br />

"Man always kills <strong>the</strong> things he loves, and so we <strong>the</strong> pioneers, have<br />

killed our wilderness. Some say we had to. Be that as it may. I am glad I<br />

shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail<br />

are forty freedoms without a blank spot on <strong>the</strong> map?" —Aldo Leopold, A<br />

Sand County Almanac,1949<br />

In 1922, having completed work on <strong>the</strong> first comprehensive<br />

management plan for <strong>the</strong> Grand Canyon, Aldo Leopold, along with his<br />

younger bro<strong>the</strong>r, set out by canoe to explore <strong>the</strong> mouth <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> mighty<br />

Colorado. At <strong>the</strong> time <strong>the</strong> main flow <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Colorado reached <strong>the</strong> sea,<br />

carrying with it each year millions <strong>of</strong> tons <strong>of</strong> silt and sand and so much<br />

fresh water that <strong>the</strong> river’s influence extended some forty miles into <strong>the</strong>

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!