Great Lakes Journey: A New Look at America’s Freshwater Coast

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. It is a poetic account of his 6000-mile trip, mixed with explanations of the scientific and poilitical realities behind the observed changes, reminiscences of his 1983 trip, and conversations with local residents - some of them scientists, and other simply people who care. Through personal observations, 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 20th 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. Scholars and students of environmental studies and ecology and readers interested in the health of the Great Lakes should find this fresh look at one of America’s endangered regions of value.