How people perceive wetlands has always played a crucial role in determining how people act toward them. In this readable and objective account, Hugh Prince examines literary evidence as well as government and scientific documents to uncover the history of changing attitudes toward wetlands in the American Midwest. As attitudes changed, so did scientific research agendas, government policies, and farmers' strategies for managing their land. Originally viewed as bountiful sources of wildlife by indigenous peoples, wet areas called "wet prairies," "swamps," or "bogs" in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were considered productive only when drained for agricultural use. Beginning in the 1950s, many came to see these renamed "wetlands" as valuable for wildlife and soil conservation. Prince's book will appeal to a wide readership, ranging from geographers and environmental historians to the many government and private agencies and individuals concerned with wetland research, management, and preservation.

This beautifullly photographed, compact field guide pays homage to sweet-flags, ragged-fringed orchids, swamp thistles, and more.

In the Midwest, wetlands can be seen as a nuisance to farmers as they can severely increase production costs. Wetlands are however are a major part of ecology for migratory waterfowl and drainage of these wetlands could have dire consequences on the population of waterfowl as well as other wildlife. Originally published in 1971, this report attempts to break down the economic factors of competition for wetlands in Minnesota and surrounding areas in a policy-relevant way and to suggest new policy alternatives. This title will be of interest to students of Environmental Studies.

How people perceive wetlands has always played a crucial role in determining how people act toward them. In this readable and objective account, Hugh Prince examines literary evidence as well as government and scientific documents to uncover the history of changing attitudes toward wetlands in the American Midwest. As attitudes changed, so did scientific research agendas, government policies, and farmers' strategies for managing their land. Originally viewed as bountiful sources of wildlife by indigenous peoples, wet areas called "wet prairies," "swamps," or "bogs" in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were considered productive only when drained for agricultural use. Beginning in the 1950s, many came to see these renamed "wetlands" as valuable for wildlife and soil conservation. Prince's book will appeal to a wide readership, ranging from geographers and environmental historians to the many government and private agencies and individuals concerned with wetland research, management, and preservation.

How people perceive wetlands has always played a crucial role in determining how people act toward them. In this readable and objective account, Hugh Prince examines literary evidence as well as government and scientific documents to uncover the history of changing attitudes toward wetlands in the American Midwest. As attitudes changed, so did scientific research agendas, government policies, and farmers' strategies for managing their land. Originally viewed as bountiful sources of wildlife by indigenous peoples, wet areas called "wet prairies," "swamps," or "bogs" in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were considered productive only when drained for agricultural use. Beginning in the 1950s, many came to see these renamed "wetlands" as valuable for wildlife and soil conservation. Prince's book will appeal to a wide readership, ranging from geographers and environmental historians to the many government and private agencies and individuals concerned with wetland research, management, and preservation.

Standing with such environmental classics as Loren Eiseley’s TheImmense Journey, his friend and mentor Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac, and Joseph Wood Krutch’s The Voice of the Desert, Paul Errington’s Of Men and Marshes remains an evocative reminder of the great beauty and intrinsic value of the glacial marshland. Prescient and stirring, steeped in insights from Errington’s biological fieldwork, his experiences as a hunter and trapper, and his days exploring the marshes of his rural South Dakota childhood, this vibrant work of nature writing reveals his deep knowledge of the marshland environments he championed. Examining the marsh from a dynamic range of perspectives, Errington begins by inviting us to consider how immense spans of time, coupled with profound geological events, shaped the unique marshland ecosystems of the Midwest. He then follows this wetland environment across seasons and over the years, creating a compelling portrait of a natural place too little appreciated and too often destroyed. Reminding us of the intricate relationships between the marsh and the animals who call it home, Errington records his experiences with hundreds of wetland creatures. He follows minks and muskrats, snapping turtles and white pelicans, red foxes and blue-winged teals—all the while underscoring our responsibility to preserve this remarkable and fragile environment and challenging us to change the way we think about and value marshlands. This classic of twentieth-century nature writing, a landmark work that is still a joy to read, offers a stirring portrait of the Midwest’s endangered glacial marshland ecosystems by one of the most influential biologists of his day. A cautionary book whose advice has not been heeded, a must-read of American environmental literature, Of Men and Marshes should inspire a new generation of conservationists.