Rewilding the Urban Frontier: An Environmental History of Urban Rivers

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Abstract

In this roundtable presentation/discussion, contributors to the book, Rewilding the Urban Frontier, discuss how their research on urban river restoration counters the traditional declensionist narrative of environmental history and offers new insights about how to address the challenges of anthropogenic climate disruption. While acknowledging the profound impact our species has had on the natural world, and on rivers in particular, we argue that the Anthropocene, the age in which (some) humans have irreversibly modified the planet, allows us an opportunity to reimagine our relationship to the natural world and the potential to rethink the age-old rift between humans and nature. More than any other ecosystem, urban rivers typify our evolving relationship with nature. Once a necessity for the development of civilization, by the twentieth century, America’s rivers became neglected and abused, channelized, dammed, filled with sewage, and toxic waste. But then, spawned by America’s rising environmental awareness, the Clean Water Act of 1972 initiated a clean-up of many of the nation’s waterways. Fifty years later, many of America’s rivers are “fishable and swimmable” once again. Urban rivers provide crucial wildlife corridors and connectivity to core conservation areas and offer opportunities to connect to the natural environment. But along with river revitalization, America has also experienced an explosion in urban growth such that our natural ecosystems are highly fragmented and disappearing under asphalt and concrete. Using case studies from across the US, presenters relate how these historical and ecological processes continue to unfold, and explore how rewilding urban rivers can help forestall biodiversity loss and address environmental and social inequities.

Sub Unit

• ASEH Annual Conference

Chair

• Greg L Gordon, Gonzaga University

Moderator

• Char Miller, Pomona College

Presenters

• Jennifer Stevens, Boise State University

• Bryan Rasmussen, California Lutheran University

• Shawn Bailey, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

• Margo Hill, Eastern Washington University

• Brian Murphy, Independent

• Robert Bartlett, Eastern Washington University