The Control of Nature

The Army Corps of Engineers is the main body enforcing management of the Mississippi River and its tributary—the Atchafalaya. Congress initially established a River Commission in the 1800s run by the Corps to determine how best to manage the flow of the river to suit the needs of the growing population in Louisiana and other areas that depended on the Mississippi for drinking water. As the local economy boomed in the 20th century due to the growing fishing and oil industries, the Corps’s mandate to control the Mississippi became even more imperative. McPhee and other individuals in the book look somewhat skeptically on the Corps’s mission, as they believe that taming the Mississippi is nearly impossible. The Corps is mostly led by military officers, though civilians provide input as well.

The Corps’s engineers also make recommendations with regards to the debris flows that threaten the homes of residents of Los Angeles. The Corps is also involved to a very minor extent in the Heimaey saga. Therefore, apart from McPhee, the Corps is the only recurring figure in all three of the book’s essays. 

Sands oversees operations aboard the Mississippi vessel, which goes up and down the Mississippi River inspecting the river and soliciting complaints from civilians about the Army Corps’s efforts in the area. McPhee travels with Sands and others up and down the Mississippi. Sands is also the presidents of the Mississippi River Commission, which—apart from a few individuals like Sands—mostly comprises non-civilians. Sands’s role highlights the tension between the military and civilian aspects of the Corps. Some civilians believe the Corps is overreaching, while others believe the Corps is not doing enough to control the Mississippi in a way that would benefit their livelihood. 

Rabalais is a congenial Cajun—a descendant of the French-Canadians who settled in Louisiana—man who manages a navigation lock put in place by the Army Corps to curb the power of the Atchafalaya and prevent it from overtaking the Mississippi. Rabalais advocates for the Army’s agenda. His manner of speech reflects the Acadian customs of Louisiana.

Dugas—also known as “Dugie”—oversees the Army Corps’s control mechanism at Old River, which helps direct the flow of the Old River. Like Rabalais and others, Dugie is a Cajun and is native to the area. Similar to Rabalais’s management of the navigation lock, Dugie manages the device that controls the flow of the Old River. When he first took on the job, he thought the Army Corps was crazy for trying to control the flow, but he eventually came around. 

Houck is the former general counsel of the National Wildlife Federation and a professor of law at Tulane University. As a civilian, Houck butts heads with General Sands regarding concerns over the military dominating the Corps and becoming a political force in Louisiana. Houck also challenges the idea that humans can maintain the Mississippi with control mechanisms, decrying such beliefs as human arrogance.

Bourque is a Cajun man who makes his living through the crawfish industry in the swamps of Louisiana. Fisherman like Bourque must often fish by trespassing on areas owned by oil companies, highlighting the tension between the large corporations and the self-made entrepreneurs in the area. Surprisingly, Bourque believes that the Corps caters to the needs of the crawfishermen over the oil companies, but he wants the Corps to do a better job of distributing water from the Mississippi River. Bourque also supports the levee system because it helps with the trapping of crawfish. 

Kim is the director of the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency, and it’s his job to come up with a plan to deal with lava flows in Hilo. The Army Corps of Engineers proposes building a dam to block future lava flows in Hawaii, but Kim is skeptical of such a plan and is not willing to spend excessive amounts of money to save a few homes. Kim also challenges volcanologists who discuss their fears over volcanic eruptions destroying the island. Kim receives a visit from Patton following Iceland’s cooling operation, discovering that the supposed success in Iceland was not actually that great. 

Thorbjorn is a physicist who turned to studying volcanoes after returning home to his native Iceland following his studies. He came up with the idea of cooling lava to halt the forward progress of the volcanic eruption in Iceland. Although people were initially skeptical about Thorbjorn’s idea, they warmed to the idea after witnessing a successful cooling operation using pumps. Over a period of a few months, Thorbjorn’s team gained more support and more pumps. His team nearly lost the fight against the lava a few times, but they ultimately declared the lava flow to be over. The cooling of the lava reshaped the harbor of Heimaey as well as the town itself—some say for the better—altering the local economy and culture forever. Thorbjorn himself is hesitant to call his cooling operation an outright success. 

Patton is the military officer who came to Heimaey from the mainland to help manage Thorbjorn’s cooling operation. Patton’s managerial perspective balanced out Thorbjorn’s scientific approach. Patton later flew to Hawaii to meet with Harry Kim, and he shared insights about what went on in Heimaey to help Kim deal with volcanic issues in Hawaii. 

Magnus is a local resident of Vestmannaeyjar who has held numerous political positions in Iceland, including as a former mayor of Heimaey.

Magnus details the history of the island and the people’s fears of the volcano. Magnus talks about how the locals have dealt with and challenged the harsh living circumstances on the island. After Thorbjorn told Magnus that he must pick between saving the town or the harbor, Magnus didn’t hesitate to choose the harbor, as the town’s economy depends on it.

The Genofiles are an upper-middle-class family living next to the San Gabriel mountains near northeast Los Angeles. They resided in a house that they’d built for themselves with durable material when a debris flow slammed through their house and nearly killed them, though their house withstood the blow. The family sued the city, stating that the debris basin near their home had been improperly maintained. Before the debris flow, the Genofiles had never believed they were in danger. Instead of leaving, the Genofiles stayed in the same spot and built reinforcements in case of another debris flow.