Quabbin: The Accidental Wilderness

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Summary: Creating Massachusetts
Review: Have you ever wondered why the state of Massachusetts can now support such a high population density? Have our periodic droughts ever piqued your curiosity as to where the water for the city of Boston comes from, when the towns around it must observe water restrictions? What happened to the cholera-laden wells that used to water Massachusetts and keep its population down? This professional report to the people details step-by-step the razing of the pleasant town of Enfield and the creation of a 10-mile-long reservoir in the former Swift River Valley. One accidental effect was the restoration of a wilderness area to which the eagles, long gone from massachusetts, have returned.

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Summary: A wonderful look at complex human/environmental interaction
Review: This small paperback offers a surprisingly detailed look at the history behind the creation of the Quabbin Reservior, created in the 1930s in Western Massachusetts to supply Boston with drinking water. It also takes a look at the state of the reservoir today, which has become an oasis of carefully-managed wilderness in the midst of thickly-settled central New England. Despite a subject that could lead a writer to academia-inspired pedantry, it has an almost storybook quality that makes it as pleasurable to read as it is informative. For anyone interested in a WPA-era tale of a massive, government-sponsored public works project, or with an interest in the politics of environmental preservation and manipulation, it's a good investment.