How Do You Kill A 70 Million Year Old Species?
July 10, 2003
After 75 million years of paddling through North American rivers, the pallid sturgeon fish is poised to vanish.
“We’ve never seen any small or young fish in the upper and lower Missouri River,” said Mark Grodish, a biologist working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
“The pallids that biologists find in the Missouri River now are old – perhaps thirty to fifty years old,” he added. “On the upper Missouri River, all we’re seeing is big fish. The last female we spawned was 66 pounds. So you’re looking at a big fish. Old fish. Probably at the end of her reproductive cycle.
“And they’re difficult to find,” he added. “We’ve had years where we’ve only found one female on the river to work with. Ten years from now if there’s no improvement, those fish are gone.”
What happened to the pallids? When six huge dams were stacked along the Missouri River, the flow characteristics of the river altered. Some spawning cues for pallids, including changes in temperature, vanished.
“Biologists can keep pallids alive in fisheries,” said Tom Mullen, a water resources consultant and author of Rivers of Change – Trailing the Waterways of Lewis and Clark. “But will they be able to live and thrive again in rivers? Not unless we change the Missouri River’s flow,” he added.
Mullen spent more than five months traveling along the waterways traveled on by Lewis and Clark during their transcontinental expedition between 1804 and 1806. During his journey he interviewed more than 50 people in some way involved with these rivers – barge pilots, wildlife biologists, Corps of Engineers staff and tribal historians.
His goal was to discover how natural and artificial changes to rivers affect both humans and wildlife. His surprising answers are captured in his 220 hardbound page travelogue- Rivers of Change. The book contains black and white photos and weaves interviews, historical research and stories from the trail to tell not only how rivers changed with time, but how these alterations mirror national attitudes. The work contains dozens of interviews and makes a unique, timely addition to Lewis and Clark Bicentennial books now on sale.
|
 |
|
|
News and Press Releases
January 24, 2012
T. Mullen has finished writing a new book titled 'Wine and Work...
More
June 27, 2008
On June 27th author Tom Mullen gave an interview on a syndicated...
More
April 29, 2007
Author Tom Mullen spoke at the University of South Dakota in...
More
March 1, 2006
The fall, 2005, edition of
More
September 15, 2005
For the second year in a row author Tom Mullen spent a week as...
More
July 15, 2005
David Miller is the author of a new book titled
More
May 25, 2005
On May 22nd, 2005, author Tom Mullen gave a presentation before...
More
April 1, 2005
More
March 6, 2005
The Spring, 2005, edition of www.washingtonhistory.org
More
October 10, 2004
More
October 9, 2004
Siouxland.net, home of news pertaining to the Sioux people located...
More
September 29, 2004
Author Tom Mullen spent two weeks aboard the Sea Lion ship as...
More
September 28, 2004
Cathy Olevnik, a teacher at East Middle School in Plymouth, Michigan,...
More
September 13, 2004
Learn more about Paddler Magazine at www.paddlermagazine.com.
More
September 12, 2004
More
August 4, 2004
Mike Cleary, host of the Food and Travel Radio Show from the...
More
July 31, 2004
On August 2nd, 2004, author Tom Mullen presented a slide show...
More
July 25, 2004
The Midwest Book Review of
More
July 21, 2004
We want to offer a warm and grateful Thank You to ForeWord for...
More
April 30, 2004
The weekly
More
April 6, 2004
Author Tom Mullen was a Peace Corps volunteer in Malawi, East...
More
March 27, 2004
From shows about travel or food or work (even about scuba diving!)...
More
March 11, 2004
A favorable review in the Sunday edition of the Helena Independent...
More
February 12, 2004
Thanks - The Staff of Roundwood Press
More
February 3, 2004
A wide range of groups are getting interested in We hope you...
More
November 10, 2003
In 2004, 'Columbia - The Magazine of Northwest History,' will...
More
October 28, 2003
Click on the new "Blurbs" tab to the left of the text to read...
More
September 15, 2003
Author Tom Mullen was selected as a member of a national discussion...
More
August 28, 2003
The author's article on how the Missouri River changed between...
More
July 15, 2003
The distribution of millions of kilowatts of Midwestern electricity...
More
July 10, 2003
After 75 million years of paddling through North American rivers,...
More
June 30, 2003
The cover art for the book is finished. You can see an enlarged...
More
May 5, 2003
The 200 page long book is well timed for the Lewis and Clark...
More
|
