I grew up near the Columbia River in North Central Oregon. Most weekends as a kid, I would go sailing out on the river with my dad in his small sailboat. In Arlington where the boat was docked, the barges coming and going from the riverside grain bins clearly displayed human interests in the waterway. I remember thinking how interesting it was to have seen the wheat grow and be harvested in the fields around our house then to watch as it began its journey to Asia. I also remember learning that the river was not always used for these purposes. Before The Dalles Dam went in, silencing Celilo Falls, there was no sailing or shipping of grain on the Columbia in the desert of Oregon. In Robbins et al. Environment and Society it is pointed out that in an area such as a forest or a river, “what you see...and what you think you see are both influenced by other people.” Spending many hours as a kid out on the Columbia, I felt very aware of this. In some ways being out on the river felt like experiencing “nature,” yet it was hard to ignore the signs that warned of eating the fish or the stories of all of the garbage dumped into the river. Particularly I could not ignore the knowledge that other people before me had literally altered the river and what I experienced as a kid was a result of their decisions. The Willamette River, which I now live near and experience by boat has been significantly changed by humans as well. An OPB article titled “A guide to the Portland Harbor Superfund Site” by Cassandra Profita describes the years of polluting and the potential cleanup options. The most rigorous cleanup method supported by advocates for the river is dredging. Digging up the contaminated soil and taking it away from the Willamette. To where? Across the county line from my hometown and where I sailed on the Columbia River with my dad. Again people’s desire to modify their rivers and create their idea of nature will impact other’s rivers and what they have and hold as their nature. Kirk
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Michael
5/13/2016 10:25:02 pm
Kirk,
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