Marc Reisner (September 14, 1948 – July 21, 2000) was an American

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

and writer best known for his book '' Cadillac Desert'', a history of water management in the

American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is census regions United States Census Bureau As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the mea ...

Early life

He was born in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, the son of a lawyer and a scriptwriter, and graduated from

Earlham College Earlham College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Richmond, Indiana. The college was established in 1847 by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and has a strong focus on Quake ...

in 1970.

Career

For a time he was on the staffs of Environmental Action and the Population Institute in Washington, D.C. Starting in 1972, he worked for seven years as a staff writer and director of communications for the

Natural Resources Defense Council The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is a United States–based 501(c)(3) non-profit international environmental advocacy group, with its headquarters in New York City and offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicag ...

in New York.

Writings and television work

In 1979 he received an Alicia Patterson Journalism Fellowship, which enabled him to conduct research and write ''Cadillac Desert'', which was first published in 1986. According to

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

, ''Cadillac Desert'' illuminated the importance of

water conservation Water conservation aims to sustainably manage the natural resource of fresh water, protect the hydrosphere, and meet current and future human demand. Water conservation makes it possible to avoid water scarcity. It covers all the policies, strateg ...

in the American West with "the remarkable ability to explain entertainingly the complex, and often numbing, deals and disputes in the 'water wars' that have plagued the west." The book was a finalist for both the National Book Critics' Circle Award and the Bay Area Book Reviewers' Award (BABRA) that same year. In 1999, a

Modern Library The Modern Library is an American book publishing Imprint (trade name), imprint and formerly the parent company of Random House. Founded in 1917 by Albert Boni and Horace Liveright as an imprint of their publishing company Boni & Liveright, Moder ...

panel of authors and critics ranked it 61st on a list of the 100 most notable English-language works of nonfiction of the 20th century. It was later made into a documentary film series that premiered nationwide on PBS nationwide in 1997 and won a Columbia University/Peabody Award. He went on to write additional books and helped develop a 1997

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

documentary on water management that emphasized human endeavor in the building of dams. He was featured as an interviewee in Stephen Ives's 1996 PBS documentary series ''

The West West is a cardinal direction or compass point. West or The West may also refer to: Geography and locations Global context * The Western world * Western culture and Western civilization in general * The Western Bloc, countries allied with NAT ...

'', which was produced by

Ken Burns Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle American history and culture. His work is often produced in association with WETA-TV or the Nati ...

. In 1997 he published a discussion paper for the American Farmland Trust on water policy and farmland protection.

Dam removal

Shortly before he died, he had won a Pew Charitable Trusts Fellowship to support efforts to restore Pacific salmon habitat through dam removal.

Sustainability

Reisner was also involved in efforts to promote sustainable agronomy and green entrepreneurship. In 1990, in partnership with the Nature Conservancy, he co-founded the Ricelands Habitat Partnership, an innovative program designed to enhance waterfowl habitat on California farmlands and reduce pollution by flooding rice fields in winter instead of burning the rice straw, as was then the common practice. He also joined in efforts to help California rice farmers develop eco-friendly products from compressed rice straw, and a separate project to promote water conservation through water transfers and groundwater banking.

Teaching

For a time, Reisner was a distinguished visiting professor at the University of California at Davis, lecturing on the relationship between urbanization and environmental concerns.

Criticism

In his later years, Reisner was criticized by environmentalists for his connection to two private companies that went against the values he presented in his books: one stored water underground for profit, and the other promoted the use of rice fibers in Western rice paddies. Reisner later stated that he had changed his mind about the latter due to its ability to provide habitat for birds.

Death

Reisner died of

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel ...

on July 21, 2000, at his home in San Anselmo, California, survived by his wife, biochemist Lawrie Mott, and their two daughters Ruthie and Margot. His final book, ''A Dangerous Place'', was completed before his death but did not appear in print until 2003.

Books

* '' Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water'' (1986, revised 1993). * ''Overtapped Oasis: Reform or Revolution for Western Water'' (with Sarah Bates) (1990). * '' Game Wars: The Undercover Pursuit of Wildlife Poachers'' (1992). * ''A Dangerous Place: California's Unsettling Fate'' (2003).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reisner, Marc 1948 births 2000 deaths Writers from Marin County, California Earlham College alumni 20th-century American non-fiction writers People from San Anselmo, California Deaths from colorectal cancer in California