Historical Agriculture and Soil Erosion in the Upper Mississippi Valley Hill Country

"Stanley Trimble’s new book is a welcome addition to the literature on soil conservation in the United States. …This most recent volume represents the culmination of thirty-nine years of research and reflection on human-induced environmental change in a part of the latter region known as the "Driftless Area," a locale so-named for the lack of glacial drift found there. The area encompasses portions of four states—Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois—where they adjoin the Mississippi River.… The subject of the book is the dramatic transformation of this landscape wrought by agricultural settlement from the middle of the nineteenth century up to the present."
—Agricultural History, 2015

"... a story of tragedy and triumph. ... The tragedy was the severe damage inadvertently inflicted on the landscape, by well-intentioned settlers doing the best that they could with the tools and knowledge available to them. The triumph has been the landscape’s partial recovery, thanks to the efforts of private citizens and government agencies. The story of the Upper Mississippi River Hill Country is rich in lessons for understanding and managing many other landscapes."—Jared Diamond, Professor of Geography at UCLA, and Pulitzer-Prize-winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel, Collapse, and other best-selling books

"[Trimble’s book] is based on almost four decades of dedicated research and has many of the characteristics of a gripping detective story, based on meticulous forensic investigation. … The geomorphologist will learn much from the complexity of stream processes that is evident and from the linkages that occur in different parts of river basins between erosion and deposition ... an exemplification of true Geography ... [a] remarkable work."—From the Foreword by Andrew Goudie, Professor Emeritus and former Head, School of Geography, University of Oxford

" … intensive, loving field work and reflection. Thanks to clear maps and diagrams, and above all a wealth of well documented photographs, we can all grasp the painful dimension of what in less able hands would be a lifeless tale of mud and dereliction. ... [a] powerful book … and a tribute to dogged, dispassionate enquiry."—Claudio Vita-Finzi, Natural History Museum, London; Professor of Geology Emeritus, University College London

"Professor Trimble's exceptionally well documented accounts of agricultural landscape disturbance have had a broad impact on the field of geomorphology. In this rich and detailed environmental history of the Upper Mississippi Valley Hill Country, he has broadened the scope to include the human side of the story, describing the social and individual actions that triggered pervasive watershed disturbance with unintended but profound impact on those living and working on the landscape. This is a compelling and delightfully readable narrative ... . Future efforts to sustainably manage this and other agricultural land will require mastery of its combined human and natural history, amply documented and effectively explained, as done so ably in this definitive work."—Peter R. Wilcock, Professor and Associate Chair, Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering, Johns Hopkins University

"An epoch-defining work on the evolution of landscapes under the influences of changing agricultural practices and on the episodic movement and storage of fluvial sediment. Stan Trimble not only draws deeply on a century and a quarter of previous history, but adds nearly four decades of his own observations (both intensive and extensive) to round out an inspiring chronicle of good science in the service of good stewardship."—Robert H. Meade, USGS Emeritus

"This is a book of solid science but also the best kind of environmental history describing the interaction of human beings with their landscapes. Trimble brings to this narrative 39 years of field work in this and other regions of the United States and draws on 80 years of data in the process. … A remarkable feature of this definitive study is the ample archival photographs showing, before and after, the decimated landscapes, moonscapes really, and their restoration. These shots, along with Trimble’s generous quotations of journals and other eyewitness accounts, give a depth and granularity to the story which enlivens his narrative. Stanley Trimble also provides a basic introduction, along with a marvelous glossary, which will allow the non-specialist to understand and appreciate the nature of the problem and the ultimate solution pioneered by committed scientists at the USDA and various universities."
––The Environmental Forum, January – February, 2014

"Stanley Trimble’s new book is a welcome addition to the literature on soil conservation in the United States. …This most recent volume represents the culmination of thirty-nine years of research and reflection on human-induced environmental change in a part of the latter region known as the "Driftless Area," a locale so-named for the lack of glacial drift found there. The area encompasses portions of four states—Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois—where they adjoin the Mississippi River.… The subject of the book is the dramatic transformation of this landscape wrought by agricultural settlement from the middle of the nineteenth century up to the present."
—Agricultural History, 2015

"... a story of tragedy and triumph. ... The tragedy was the severe damage inadvertently inflicted on the landscape, by well-intentioned settlers doing the best that they could with the tools and knowledge available to them. The triumph has been the landscape’s partial recovery, thanks to the efforts of private citizens and government agencies. The story of the Upper Mississippi River Hill Country is rich in lessons for understanding and managing many other landscapes."
—Jared Diamond, Professor of Geography at UCLA, and Pulitzer-Prize-winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel, Collapse, and other best-selling books

"[Trimble’s book] is based on almost four decades of dedicated research and has many of the characteristics of a gripping detective story, based on meticulous forensic investigation. … The geomorphologist will learn much from the complexity of stream processes that is evident and from the linkages that occur in different parts of river basins between erosion and deposition ... an exemplification of true Geography ... [a] remarkable work"
—From the Foreword by Andrew Goudie, Professor Emeritus and former Head, School of Geography, University of Oxford

" … intensive, loving field work and reflection. Thanks to clear maps and diagrams, and above all a wealth of well documented photographs, we can all grasp the painful dimension of what in less able hands would be a lifeless tale of mud and dereliction. ... [a] powerful book … and a tribute to dogged, dispassionate enquiry."
—Claudio Vita-Finzi, Natural History Museum, London; Professor of Geology Emeritus, University College London

"Professor Trimble's exceptionally well documented accounts of agricultural landscape disturbance have had a broad impact on the field of geomorphology. In this rich and detailed environmental history of the Upper Mississippi Valley Hill Country, he has broadened the scope to include the human side of the story, describing the social and individual actions that triggered pervasive watershed disturbance with unintended but profound impact on those living and working on the landscape. This is a compelling and delightfully readable narrative ... . Future efforts to sustainably manage this and other agricultural land will require mastery of its combined human and natural history, amply documented and effectively explained, as done so ably in this definitive work."
—Peter R. Wilcock, Professor and Associate Chair, Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering, Johns Hopkins University

"An epoch-defining work on the evolution of landscapes under the influences of changing agricultural practices and on the episodic movement and storage of fluvial sediment. Stan Trimble not only draws deeply on a century and a quarter of previous history, but adds nearly four decades of his own observations (both intensive and extensive) to round out an inspiring chronicle of good science in the service of good stewardship."
—Robert H. Meade, USGS Emeritus

"This is a book of solid science but also the best kind of environmental history describing the interaction of human beings with their landscapes. Trimble brings to this narrative 39 years of field work in this and other regions of the United States and draws on 80 years of data in the process. … A remarkable feature of this definitive study is the ample archival photographs showing, before and after, the decimated landscapes, moonscapes really, and their restoration. These shots, along with Trimble’s generous quotations of journals and other eyewitness accounts, give a depth and granularity to the story which enlivens his narrative. Stanley Trimble also provides a basic introduction, along with a marvelous glossary, which will allow the non-specialist to understand and appreciate the nature of the problem and the ultimate solution pioneered by committed scientists at the USDA and various universities."
––The Environmental Forum, January – February, 2014