In The Emerald Horizon, Cornelia Mutel combines lyrical writing with
meticulous scientific research to portray the environmental past,
present, and future of Iowa. In doing so, she ties all of Iowa's natural
features into one comprehensive whole.
Since so much of the tallgrass state has been transformed into an
agricultural landscape, Mutel focuses on understanding today's natural
environment by understanding yesterday's changes. After summarizing the
geological, archaeological, and ecological features that shaped Iowa's
modern landscape, she recreates the once-wild native communities that
existed prior to Euroamerican settlement. Next she examines the dramatic
changes that overtook native plant and animal communities as Iowa's
prairies, woodlands, and wetlands were transformed. Finally she presents
realistic techniques for restoring native species and ecological
processes as well as a broad variety of ways in which Iowans can
reconnect with the natural world. Throughout, in addition to the many
illustrations commissioned for this book, she offers careful scientific
exposition, a strong sense of respect for the land, and encouragement to
protect the future by learning from the past.
The "emerald prairie" that "gleamed and shone to the horizon's edge," as
botanist Thomas Macbride described it in 1895, has vanished. Cornelia
Mutel's passionate dedication to restoring this damaged landscape--and
by extension the transformed landscape of the entire Corn
Belt--invigorates her blend of natural history and human history.
Believing that citizens who are knowledgeable about native species,
communities, and ecological processes will better care for them, she
gives us hope--and sound suggestions--for the future.
