When will Canada’s recent shift to economic sovereignty reach the Columbia River Treaty? Or are changes already in the works? In six weeks of travel across the upper Columbia River basin, I can confirm that the famous Canadian modesty reigns. Canada’s contributions to the international river system have long been underrated by the U.S.. My […]
Travelling the upper Columbia basin
Since August 22, I’ve been sinking in to the landscape and people that inspired my writing life. Thank you to Braided River Press, U.S.-based publisher of my latest book, Big River, for making this trip possible. It’s been so good to come “home” – to these inspiring Canadian mountains. Their beauty, set against the troubled […]
An award-winning river – the Columbia!
Since I first discovered the story of the heavily dammed international Columbia River back in 1998, I knew it was a really BIG story. When David Moscowitz and the Seattle-based publisher Braided River Press approached me about collaborating on a book, it was easy to say yes. Collaborations are always rich experiences, and sometimes fraught. […]
Thank you, Charlie Maxfield
Back in the year 2000, I picked up a hitchhiker named Mimi on my way up the Slocan Valley, doing research for The Geography of Memory. Mimi told me I just had to contact Charlie Maxfield, to see his collection of stone tools. The story about how Charlie shaped my research is in the book. […]
A blue-violet miracle
At first glance, the recent discovery of a modest flower in the midst of a wet field of invasive grasses at the north end of Kootenay Lake seems to have no connection to the Columbia River Treaty. But in this era filled with first glances, we need to learn to dig deeper, to understand what […]
Challenging conversations: a unique Stanford symposium on the Columbia River
Last week, Americans and Canadians gathered at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California to discuss the Columbia River Treaty, its proposed agreement in principle, and the uncertain future of the watershed’s cooperative management. For me, it was a trip back to the undergraduate university where I first learned how to think independently and write well. […]