United States
£ GBP
Originally published in 1983, this book is made available again as part of The University of Arizona Press Century Collection.
Like many rivers of the arid Southwestern USA, the Gila is for much of its length a dry bed except after seasonal rains. Yet a mere century ago it hosted a thriving biological community, and two centuries ago American Indians fished from its banks.
It is no mystery how the desert swallowed up the Gila. Beaver trapping, overgrazing, and woodcutting first ruined natural watersheds, then damming confined the last drops of its surface flow. Historical sources and archaeological data inform us of the Gila's past, but its bird life further testifies to the changes.
Amadeo Rea traces the decline of bird life on the Middle Gila in a book that addresses the broader issue of habitat deterioration. Bird lovers will find it a storehouse of data on avian migration patterns and on ornithological classification based on skeletal structure. Anthropologists can draw on its Piman ethnoclassification of birds, which links the Gila River tribe with various other Uto-Aztecan peoples of Mexico's west coast.
But for all concerned with protecting our environment, Once a River offers evidence of change that might be apprehended elsewhere. It is a case history of a loss that perhaps need never have occurred.
Amadeo M. Rea since 1977 has been Curator of Birds and Mammals at the San Diego Natural History Museum. He holds a Ph.D. in Zoology and Anthropology from the University of Arizona and engaged in research on the Gila River Indian Reservation over a period of 19 years.
"Once A River documents the changes in distribution of central Arizona bird life over the past four centuries [...] It is a creative detailed look at Arizona avifauna and, more uniquely, an indictment against European-era land ethics."
– Western American Literature
"A significant contribution to our understanding of man's thoughtlessness regarding natural events."
– Defenders
"This is probably the best documented study to date on the results of human misuse of a desert riverine system [...] Highly recommended."
– Choice
"This unique and beautifully illustrated book contains lessons of value to all of us, no matter where we live."
– The Canadian Field-Naturalist
