THE MIGHTIER HUDSON

A detailed account of the Hudson River Valley.

Environmentalist and journalist Stone (Tropical Forests and the Human Spirit, 2001, etc.) provides an enthusiastic and comprehensive chronology of the river and its surrounding valley. Delivering “up to 1.5 billion gallons of water a day to more than nine million customers,” the Hudson River Valley is the main source of water for New York City. Consequently, it comes as no surprise that this area has been the source of many environmental battles in the past two centuries. Recent threats to the river basin include a proposed casino that could attract six million visitors a year, budget cuts to many projects that currently protect the Hudson from “new increments of nutrient or toxic pollution to the watershed” and the current process to extract natural gas known as “fracking.” Stone examines the specifics of numerous action groups creating many new projects to restore and revive the river—e.g., the Walkway Over the Hudson, a restored railway bridge turned pedestrian walkway, and the Hudson River Park. The creation of state and local parks for hiking, renovated small-town waterfronts full of art galleries and restaurants, “well-managed small and tidy fruit, vegetable, and dairy farms” and numerous colleges—Bard, Marist, SUNY New Paltz and others—have turned the valley’s industrial and polluted past into a present state of commerce, art, education and recreation. Illustrations and a map included. The specifics of the Hudson River Valley supplied by an ardent lover of the area.