Ogallala

John Opie (1934–2018) was Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Environmental History and Policy at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He is the founding editor of the journal Environmental History and the author of Nature’s Nation: An Environmental History of the United States. Char Miller is the W. M. Keck Professor of Environmental Analysis at Pomona College and author of several books, including Not So Golden State: Sustainability vs. the California Dream. Kenna Lang Archer is an instructor of history at Angelo State University in Texas. She is the author of Unruly Waters: A Social and Environmental History of the Brazos River.

• List of Illustrations    Preface to the Third Edition    A Note on Editorial Method    Introduction: Learning to Think about the Ogallala    1. The First Half-Billion Years    2. Finding the Water: Boom and Bust, 1870–1940    3. From Dryland to Dustbowl: Not a Good Place to Farm    4. Windmills, Center Pivots, Feedlots, and Porkers    5. A Tale of Seven Water Conservation Districts    6. Making Irrigation Work for a Family Farm: Phil and Linda Tooms on the Moscow Road    7. The Future of Plains Irrigation: A New Gospel of Efficiency    8. Thinking the Unthinkable: Climate Change Hits the Vulnerable Plains    9. A Final Look    Notes    Index

“Thorough, balanced, thoughtful, and certainly thought-provoking. . . . A `must read.’”—Journal of Sustainable Agriculture""Opie’s answers, marvelously multi-faceted and unbiased . . . could serve elsewhere as a sane, scholarly model for addressing local enviro-crises.”—Booklist