Pandora's Locks: The Opening of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway

A must read for those interested in the true story of the destruction of one of the world's great natural resources, the North American Great Lakes. But, this is not simply a Great Lakes story, as evidenced by the quagga mussel expansion out west (chapter 23). Although many stories have been written about the plague of aquatic invasive species, none with the thoroughness and eloquence of this book. Anyone interested in our natural resources should read this book. The St. Lawrence Seaway is just a subplot, as the real story is about the harm that resulted from the inaction of various federal agencies, Coast Guard and EPA particularly, to adequately protect the Great Lakes from invaders in the ballast tanks of transoceanic freighters. Jeff Alexander tells a great, and compelling story.

I have been doing some traveling lately and had some time to read Jeff Alexander's new book, "Pandora's Locks". The book is described as: "A probing retrospective on the St. Lawrence Seaway, an engineering marvel that allowed a biological plague into the Great Lakes when it opened 50 years ago." I highly recommend this book for anyone who fishes the Great Lakes or one of it's tributaries; anyone who enjoys the Great Lakes for recreational purposes; and anyone who is involved in management of the Great Lakes. The book tells the story of each major invasive species to hit the Great Lakes over the last 50 years, and the impact that each species has had upon the lakes. Jeff describes the missed opportunities to limit their damage and the negligence displayed by some of our government agencies that were supposed to protect our lakes. We are only now starting to try and close the door to this invasion of the Great Lakes, but are our efforts too little too late? The cost to consumers and taxpayers to this series of invasive species has been over $2 billion a decade in the U.S. alone. The slow motion response to this invasion has made the future of our Great Lakes extremely uncertain. Perhaps if more people have a better understanding of where we have been, the choices going forward will be more clear cut.

A gem of engineering genius, the St. Lawrence Seaway was not easily built, not by any stretch of the imagination. "Pandora's Locks: The Opening of the Great Lakes - St. Lawrence Seaway" tells the story of the canal's creation and the road leading up to its historic opening. A story of trade, politics, and science, "Pandora's Locks" discusses the canal from many perspectives, with special care to the environmental approach. "Pandora's Locks" is a far reaching and scholarly look at the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Pandora's Locks is an amazing account of the invasion of the Great Lakes by foreign species since the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway, of the devastating effects of this invasion, and of the ineptitude of the U.S. and Canadian governments in dealing with the situation. The author conveys a strong love for the Great Lakes and a righteous indignation at the neglect of the authorities' who had the power to protect the Lakes but didn't. This reviewer, himself a lover of the Great Lakes who enjoys the magnificence of Lake Michigan at his summer home on Beaver Island, strongly recommends this book to anyone who cares about the Great Lakes, one of North America's greatest treasures.