Levelling the Lake

"Levelling the Lake explores a century and a half of social, economic, and legal arrangements through which the resources environment of the Lake of the Woods and Rainy Lake watershed have been both harnessed and harmed. Stretching across parts of Ontario, Manitoba, and Minnesota, the Lake of the Woods and Rainy Lake basin spans boundaries and jurisdictions. Jamie Benidickson traces the environmental consequences of logging, mining, forest industries, commercial fishing, hydro-electricity production, and recreation on the natural environment and the often unanticipated impacts of these activities on water flows and quality as well as on local residents, including Indigenous communities, which encouraged new legal and institutional responses. Assessing the transition from primary resource extraction toward sustainable development at a watershed level with a focus on law and governance, Levelling the Lake also shows how inter-jurisdictional and transboundary issues--many involving the Canada-US International Joint Commission--continue to play a significant role in many parts of the region. Levelling the Lake features historical examples offering hard lessons and successful experiments that provide encouragement for the effective management of ecosystems such as the Lake of the Woods and Rainy Lake basin."--