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.

"A magisterial work of scholarship on changing attitudes to Midwest wetlands that has implications far beyond the region". -- Yi-Fu Tuan, Author of Topophilia: A Study of Environmental Perceptions, Attitudes, and Values