Dam removal in the western US
In the course of human history we have as a spieces, have tryed to tame, supplicate and bend nature to our wills. Looking at it as a hostile entity that needs to be conquered in order for us to live better safer lives. Dams specifically are as old as civilazation, used since the dawn of civilization to irigate crops, and as insurance against drought and flood, and later on to provide power for our homes and factories. Only in the last 25 to 30 years have we realized the environmental impact these engineering projects can have on our environment, more specifically ecosystems. In disscusing this subject I will illustrate their detrimental nature to riverine ecosystems, and show that the power they generate is not exactly as clean and impactless as the vast majoraty of people believe it to be. By stopping the natural flow of our western rivers we have lost; not only Salmon and Steelhead runs on those rivers, natural beaches along those rivers, wetlands and tributaries in those water courses. Not only have we lost these visible things, but we have also doomed ourselves to a grim future frought with uncontroled human expansion into those natural areas that were once pristine.
I propose that not only no more dams be built but also the removal of 80-90% of the dams that do exist as cancerous growths on the body of our beautiful western states. There are numerous other ways the meet the needs that dams now supply (irrigation, power, recreation in that order of importance). I think the main problem surrounding this issue is a matter of antiquated thinking, leftovers of the gluttonous mess that was, and to some extent still is Manifest Destiny. The population of the earth is simply growing to fast for this mode of thought. The notion that every american has a right to 120 acres and a mule or nowadays more likely a truck. Also as I mentioned earlier the notion that nature is something to be modified and conrtolled for human gain...