Description: Great Lakes Journey is a follow-up to William Ashworth's earlier book The Late, Great Lakes, published in 1986. Fifteen years after his first trip, Ashworth journeys to many of the same places and talks to many of the same people to examine the changes that have taken place along the Great Lakes since the 1980s. Great Lakes Journey is a poetic account of his 6,000-mile trip, mixed with explanations of the scientific and political realities behind the observed changes, reminiscences of his 1983 trip, and conversations with local residents -- some of them scientists, and others simply people who care.

Through personal observation, research, and numerous interviews with scientists, activists, and government agencies, Ashworth creates a detailed picture of the status of the Great Lakes at the end of the twentieth century. Among the most prominent changes he finds are the arrival of the zebra mussel and other exotic species, the rise and fall of the RAP process for pollution cleanup, a growing public mistrust of government action, a substantial loss of habitat and biodiversity, and an explosion of urban sprawl along the shores of the Lakes. Great Lakes Journey is a welcome update on the latest issues affecting the Great Lakes region and the direction future attempts to preserve the natural resources of the region might take. Scholars and students of environmental studies and ecology and readers interested in the health of the Great Lakes will take an interest in this fresh look at one of America's endangered regions.

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