The Louisiana Atchafalaya River Basin is one of the most dynamic 
and critical environments in the country. The river's immense 
floodway is the ancestral home of the American Cajun population; 
it sustains the nation's last cypress-tupelo wetland and provides
habitat for many species of animals. Perhaps most crucial, it
remains a primary component of the plan to control the Mississippi
River and relieve flooding in communities in the lower river valley.

    The continuing health of the basin is a reflection not of nature,
but of the work of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. With levee
building and clearing in the nineteenth century and damming,
dredging, and floodway construction in the twentieth, the basin
was converted from a vast forested swamp into a designer
wetland, where human aspirations and nature needs maintained
a precarious equilibrium.

      Originally published by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 
this history of the Atchafalaya Basin was hailed as a balanced 
yet unflinching account of the transformation of an area that 
has endured perhaps more human manipulation than any other 
natural environment in the nation. Martin Reuss provides a new 
preface to bring us up-to-date on the state of the basin, which 
remains both an engineering contrivance and natural wonder.

_________________________________________________________

MARTIN REUSS is a senior historian in the Office of History of 
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He lives in Woodbridge, 
Virginia.


Number Four: Gulf Coast Studies Series, sponsored by Texas A&M 
University–Corpus Christi


What people are saying about this book

". . . a significant contribution to environmental history and 
recommended reading for anyone seeking a better grasp of 
Louisiana’s endless rivers-and-wetlands difficulties."—Journal of 
Southern History

". . . enhances our understanding and appreciation of both this 
nationally important wetland region and the evolution of U.S. 
water management policy."—Professional Geographer