Fluvial Geomorphs...

Fluvial geomorphs...

So many streams flow
.. off the jumbled topography
…. of the Wallowa scarp...

Heritage of ancient seas,
.. eons of glacial carvings,
…. subject to giant beavers.

The Wallowa, a valley
.. of winding waters
…. and ancient swamps.

Beavers became muffoon
.. streams straightened,
…. swamps drained.

Ice scoured channels,
.. depleted riparian capacity,
…. challenged fisheries.

Knowledge brings change,
.. re-meandered channels,
…. slow riparian recovery.

People's will wanders,
.. bargaining economics,
…. ecological imperatives.

Time will tell eventually,
.. if human will is as long
…. as the flow of waters.

--r.anderson

Wallowa Wanderings

Wallowa wanderings...

Once, this stream turned scarlet
.. like leaves in the fall,
... full of anadromous kokanee
.... fulfilling their promise.

Then... there were big bears
.. and eagles taking their toll...
... and Ni-mee-poo with weirs,
..... smokey fires and drying racks.

Time brought a shift
.. to paler faces with barrels
... and wagons and dams.
..... The fish became much smaller.

Now the old dreams pale,
.. fish are fewer, dark faces rare,
... no more big bears, no room for eagles
..... not even wagons and barrels.

R.Anderson, Wallowa, Oregon