By the 1830s, commercial logging had begun in the Canadian portions of
the basin. By the 1860s, the timber industry had started a logging boom in
Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. The vast virgin forests of the upper basin
fueled the growth of Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and St. Paul.
White pines in these forests could reach 200 feet in height and each produce
6000 board feet of lumber. Trees could be cut down in winter and floated to
river mouths on the snowmelt each spring. The cleared land allowed runoff to
reach streams without obstruction. Virtually all harvestable timber had been
cleared from the basin by the early 1900s.
As the cities grew, manufacturing became an increasingly important economic
force in the basin. The iron and steel manufacturing industry grew up
on the shores of the Great Lakes. Iron ore from Minnesota, limestone from
quarries throughout the basin, and coal from the nearby Appalachian plateau
were easily moved by barge to large, integrated steel making facilities. This
industry is still active on the south shore of Lake Michigan, at Sault St. Marie,
Detroit, on the south shore of Lake Erie, in Hamilton, and Nanticoke. The
sulfite paper making process was invented along the Welland Canal and the
industry took hold throughout the basin, and is especially concentrated along
Wisconsin’s Fox River. Significant concentrations of the chemical manufacturing
industry are located along the Niagara River, the St. Clair River, and near
Michigan’s Saginaw Bay.
In 1950, the region’s population had reached some 28 million. Yet even in
the early 1950s, it became clear the freshwater ecosystem was not inexhaustible.
The basin fishery, once one of the world’s largest, collapsed. Within fifteen
years bulldozers were needed to remove dead fish from Chicago’s beaches. The
Cuyahoga River burned for three days. Lake Erie was unfit for human contact.
After almost half a century of focused work to restore the basin’s fishery, it
remains fragile – largely supported by hatchery-reared fish. After nearly thirtyyears
of pollution control – the world’s toughest regulations and largest
expenditure of public funds for pollution control – the most noticeable
problems are gone. Rivers no longer burn. Most waters are safe for swimming
most of the time. Yet problems remain. Fish still contain toxic chemicals – most
states advise pregnant women to limit their consumption. The levels of some
pollutants are again on the rise.
What have the lakes taught us about how human populations should
govern themselves? What missteps have we taken in our relationship with this
freshwater ecosystem and how might we avoid similar missteps in the future?