Large floodplain rivers as human artifacts


Scarpino, P. V. 1997. Large floodplain rivers as human artifacts: A historical perspective
on ecological integrity.  Report prepared for U.S. Geological Survey,
Environmental Management Technical Center, Onalaska, Wisconsin, December
1997. LTRMP 97-S003. 7 pp. (NTIS #  PB98-125719)


ABSTRACT

The great floods of 1993 on the Upper Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers put rivers and
their floodplains in the national spotlight. Two facts become clear: (1) Along with the
tragedy the floods created came an unprecedented opportunity for reassessing the
attitudes and policies that have long shaped the relations between people and rivers. 
(2) These floods represented the consequences of the historical interaction between
people and rivers. These floods helped to emphasize that the present is a product of the
past. Historical analysis suggests at least two items worth considering by those interested
in managing large floodplain rivers. First, sustaining the ecological integrity of large
floodplain rivers requires a clear understanding of what it is we wish to sustain. Second,
ecology had its greatest effect on public opinion and public policy when it was effectively
popularized by members of the scientific community and when it was bound to a set of
attitudes and values that helped to define and shape the relation between people and
nature.  This paper provides a general look at large floodplain rivers from a historical
perspective.


KEYWORDS

Ecological integrity, floodplain rivers, Missouri River, Upper Mississippi River