John McPhee wrote a very interesting and important book for anyone passionate about environmental and land-use issues. Originally articles in the New Yorker Magazine, he records the travels and arguments of Dave Brower, renowned fighter for the protection of the ecology, with three opponents: a real estate developer, a copper miner and a dam builder. By fleshing out each person so that we sympathetically see their humanity and point of view, Mr. McPhee deftly keeps the book from becoming a good versus evil while maintaining a "this versus that" examination of the issues.

David Brower was the first Executive Director of the Sierra Club and made the organization into a large, strong and national weapon against those who would destroy natural lands. Mr. McPhee shows him as knowledgeable, committed, savvy and sensitive. But he also shows him as stubborn, naïve and painfully shy. It is clear that because of the work -=- single handedly -- that Mr. Brower did, many of the beloved places in this country still exist. But it is also cleat that his arguments are sometimes simplistic and avoid very real human needs. Lest one think David Brower is "just a tree hugger", Mr. McPhee draws a clear picture of the work he has done and the respect he is due.

Mr. McPhee shows respect for the work the opponents do as well. The three men presented are equally as charismatic, dedicated, and in love with the land as Dave Brower. But they see the land as able to coexist with and be used for humans far more than Dave Brower is willing to concede. Their positions are presented by them as recorded by Mr. McPhee with the same exuberance and dedication as is Brower's.

So the real issues relate to what is natural? How should lands be used? What role do humans have in using, caring for, being part of the land and can we do so responsibly? The book shows us that there are good people with quite different answers to this question. One of the most interesting people in the book, I think, is Floyd E. Dominy, former Commissioner of Reclamation, proudly responsible for the creation of Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River. Here is a man who, having grown up in the dry lands of Nebraska, knew first hand the damage that lack of water has on livestock, crops and people. It was for this reason he dedicated himself to building dams that would supply society with the necessary water for living and, through the creation of beautiful lakes, access to recreation. His energy and honesty come through each page loud and clear. Yet it is exactly because of what Dominy has done and why he has done it that an environmentalist like Brower wants to keep dams from being built or drain them once they exist.

Brower is looking at the earth from a very different perspective than human time or existence. He transcends the immediate needs of society and is concerned with long term effects of human change to the earth. In order to protect both the health of the planet and future generations, Brower believes "We have to drop our standard of living, so that people a thousand years from now can have any standard of living at all." (p.21) He reminds us of how recently humans entered the span of life on earth and how much we are damaging it. When asked what he would do with a marsh if he were dictator he responds:

"Save it! Save the greenery!…Save the marsh! Grasses are on of the nicest ways the green thing works… When I come back in another life, I'm going to spend my whole life in grasses. I'm addicted to the entire planet. I don't want to leave it. I want to get down into it. I want to say hello…You Charles Fraser [a land developer] have got to persuade the whole God-damned movement of realtors to have a different kind of responsibility to man than they have. If they don't, God will say that man should be thrown away as an experiment that didn't work. I have seen evidence of what you can do. Now make others do it. The system must be used to reform the system." (p. 144)

No one in this book, except for minor characters, is simple, least of all the land. Mr. McPhee's writing style is that of a careful observer who enjoys both the arguments and the land which is at stake. If anyone wants to understand the complexities of ecological issues, this is a must read.


review ©2004 by RSiSS and Jane S. Rechtman
The Masters School
Summer 2004

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