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How Natural is Niagara Falls ?
by
findingDulcinea Staff
by Liz Colville
A new book on Niagara Falls contends that as more artifice than nature, the tourist attraction is a model of humanity’s impact on nature.
A new book on Niagara Falls contends that as more artifice than nature, the tourist attraction is a model of humanity’s impact on nature.
30-Second Summary
In her book, “Inventing Niagara: Beauty, Power and Lies,” Ginger Strand writes that the energy source and major contributor to U.S. tourism is largely manmade, and that its centuries-long manipulation is a symbol of humanity’s failure to consider nature an “equal partner.”
Reviewing the book in Newsweek, David Gates outlines Niagara Falls’ hopeful and detrimental history. “Strand doesn't try to hide devastation behind a hedge,” he writes, “she's done more than her share of raking the chemical-infused muck.”
Strand uses Niagara Falls as an example of the impact human life and industry have had on nature, but she also profiles some of the engineering feats that have taken place at the falls.
Strand’s book comes at a time when many writers, scientists and environmentalists are exploring the extent of humanity’s impact on the planet, and debating whether the future is as grave as some global warming proponents claim.
In fact, many environmental writers are taking a centrist approach to the problem of global warming, writes The New York Times.
Reviewing the book in Newsweek, David Gates outlines Niagara Falls’ hopeful and detrimental history. “Strand doesn't try to hide devastation behind a hedge,” he writes, “she's done more than her share of raking the chemical-infused muck.”
Strand uses Niagara Falls as an example of the impact human life and industry have had on nature, but she also profiles some of the engineering feats that have taken place at the falls.
Strand’s book comes at a time when many writers, scientists and environmentalists are exploring the extent of humanity’s impact on the planet, and debating whether the future is as grave as some global warming proponents claim.
In fact, many environmental writers are taking a centrist approach to the problem of global warming, writes The New York Times.
Headline Link: Humans Directing Nature
Newsweek writer David Gates reviews “Inventing Niagara: Beauty, Power, and Lies,” in which Ginger Strand analyzes the falls’ development as a tourist attraction and a “monument to the ways America falsifies its relationship to nature.” Strand finds that Niagara Falls’ complex status as an energy source and a tourist attraction has led to pollution, the squandering of energy, and the prioritization of the area for tourism purposes.
Source: Newsweek
Background: The history of Niagara Falls
The Evolution of the Falls
In a geological history of Niagara Falls, its official tourist site explains how this unique natural phenomenon came into existence through plate tectonics, earthquakes, the accumulation of sediment, and the natural draining of the “inland sea” in the area where the falls now exist—all over the course of 600 million years.
Source: Info Niagara
A timeline of important historical events surrounding the falls’ evolution can be found on the Web site of the History Channel’s television special, “Niagara.” The timeline mentions bridge building and engineering developments, as well as the first voyage of the Maiden of the Mist, a tour boat that still operates today.
Source: The History Channel
Preserving the Falls
Frederick Law Olmstead, the landscape architect whom Strand discusses in her book, was an important figure in the history of Niagara Falls. In 1887 Olmstead and his colleague Calvert Vaux proposed a beautification plan for Niagara Falls that included the Niagara Reservation State Park, which still exists today. Olmstead and Vaux felt strongly that the foliage surrounding the falls had been damaged by natural occurrences and human presence, and that the falls’ surroundings could be redesigned to better allow for “enjoyment” of the area. Tellingly, the architects stated in their plan that “nothing of an artificial character should be allowed a place on the property, no matter how valuable it might be under other circumstances.” The original document is available on the site of Niagara Heritage Partnership, a nature advocacy group of the Niagara region.
Source: Niagara Heritage Partnership
Niagara Falls Today
In an interview with the Globe and Mail, Strand emphasizes that the natural wonder of Niagara Falls is still preserved today; it’s only through observing the “tacky tourist carnival” at the falls and intensely researching its history that the “control” behind the natural phenomenon becomes obvious. The U.S. and Canada’s ability to turn up and down the water supply in the falls is a testament to this control: those working at the falls have created an “awesome piece of engineering.”
Source: The Globe and Mail
Related Topics: The debate on global warming
In recent years, the environmental debate has shifted from a “yelling match” between the political left and right, to a full-fledged industry of discussion and activism, wrote The New York Times in its November 2007 review of recent global warming books. Many of the writers advocating global warming’s legitimacy or fictitiousness are now drifting toward “the pragmatic center on climate and energy.” Meticulous research and statistical analysis is being combined with suggestions of firm caps on energy consumption—not “carrots” like tax incentives. But authors also emphasize the necessity of adopting an optimistic approach.
Source: The New York Times
Key Players: Ginger Strand
Ginger Strand is a writer living in New York City. Writing for publications like Harper’s and The Believer, and editing for Orion Magazine, Strand has taken a great interest in environmental matters such as hydroinfrastructure, which includes dams, water mills and falls. On her Web site she documents some examples of the United States’ “hydroinfrastructure heritage,” but emphasizes that much of it is “fading or gone.”
Source: Ginger Strand Official Site
Reference: ‘Inventing Niagara: Beauty, Power and Lies,’ by Ginger Strand
Ginger Strand’s “Inventing Niagara: Beauty, Power and Lies” is available for purchase from Dulcinea’s Media Store.
Source: Dulcinea’s Media Store
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