Later French explorers soon succeeded where Cartier failed by portaging their birch bark canoes miles around the rapids.Įgan then dons his investigative journalist’s cap to recount numerous human boondoggles that were not only ecological but also economic disasters. Jacques Cartier failed to blaze a trail through the turbulent upstream waters of the St. There’s a reason it’s not called the life and death of the Great Lakes.Īfter a brief but informative geological history of the lake system, Egan (who grew up in Michigan and currently resides in Wisconsin) also discusses the first European explorers to chart the territory. But, as Egan carefully explains, for all the dunderheaded human mistakes performed to the detriment of the Great Lakes, human ingenuity also eventually corrected them. Unforeseen consequences of human activity and downright poor stewardship of the watershed combined with naturally occurring cycles over the course of the Great Lakes’ history are only portions of the story Dan Egan tells in The Death and Life of the Great Lakes. Additionally, the lakes boast more than 10,000 miles of shoreline. Fluctuations of water levels and invasive species over the past century have threatened the vibrancy of an ecosystem estimated to contain 20 percent of the world’s fresh water – and, thus, the largest source of surface water on the planet. The Great Lakes surrounding Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and New York (and, yes, Canada) are no different. Then there are also those pesky invasive plant and aquatic species. There have been good years, great years and sometimes years when we couldn’t get a trout to take a worm much less a dry fly. It’s a cycle we have learned to live with.
It’s been several months since we young-Hemingway wannabes in Michigan put away our rods and reels, cleaned our lines and continuously embellished the length and weights of the prey we caught – and especially the ones that got away. A review of The Death and Life of the Great Lakes by Dan Egan (W.W.
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