Foreword by Sara Parker Pauley
In his memoir, Loring Bullard reflects on his 73 years, from his 1950s and ’60s urban and rural American childhood to the present day, all woven seamlessly in with the historical events that shaped him, the state of Missouri, the nation, and the world. In 225 colorful pages, this book tackles the Cuban Missile Crisis, nuclear testing, Earth Day, the contamination of Spring River and the ghost town of Times Beach, the production of Agent Orange in Missouri, lead mining controversies in the eastern Ozarks, rivers that caught fire, the rise of factory farming, legislative progress and setbacks, and much more. Along the way, Bullard provides ideas and resources for protecting the land, water, and air that we all share.
Chapter 1: The Human Yard
I spent my entire career working in environmentally related fields. When I retired, I had visions of relaxing on my back deck, surrounded by the birds, bees and butterflies attracted to my native plantings. But events and actions in the outside world convinced me that my environmental journey was far from over.
Chapter 2: Rain of Ruin
I was in the 5th grade in Kansas City when the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred, and I was terrified by the specter of World War III. What I didn’t realize at the time was that a more insidious threat, radioactive fallout, had already been sprinkled across the Missouri countryside.
Chapter 3: The Promise of Earth Day
Twenty million Americans, nearly a tenth of the population, participated in the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970. I was 18 at the time, and largely oblivious to the first Earth Day, but would soon be sucked into the rising tide of environmentalism.
Chapter 4: Old King Coal
My high school years were spent in Henry County ― coal country. I swam in the leftover strip pits and climbed the gigantic abandoned coal shovels, learning only much later about the environmental legacies of mining and burning coal.
Chapter 5: Laying Waste
This is the story of Times Beach, the town that was abandoned because of hazardous wastes. I didn’t find out until recently that I might have been exposed to the same toxic chemical that made Times Beach into a ghost town.
Chapter 6: Heavy Metal with a Weighty Past
Southern Missouri has the largest deposit of galena, the primary lead ore, in the world. The mining and processing of this dull gray metal has led to contamination of land, water and air. Most troubling, the detrimental effects of lead on the human nervous system are irreversible.
Chapter 7: Hidden Treasures
We used to think our groundwater was protected by the overlying earth. We now know better. In the 1970s, officials in one Missouri city learned this lesson the hard way, watching helplessly as millions of gallons of sewage poured into the subsurface.
Chapter 8: The Big River State
The South Grand River, near my hometown, was a straight, muddy ditch. I eventually learned that it had once been a clear, meandering prairie stream. We have drastically altered rivers all over the state, but we’re now doing a better job of protecting high-quality rivers.
Chapter 9: Hellbender Blues
These salamanders have been called some of nature’s ugliest creatures, but that is no reason to mistreat them. Unfortunately, they are only one of many species suffering from the careless or misguided actions of mankind. How many species can we save?
Chapter 10: The Rise of Big Ag
In Missouri, agriculture is big business, and the agribusiness lobby is extremely powerful. That’s why it has been difficult to switch to more regenerative farming methods that will build healthy soil, conserve water, and increase biodiversity. But there are bright spots here and there across the state.
Chapter 11: An Unparalleled Experiment
We keep spewing out greenhouse gases, raising levels of carbon dioxide and warming the planet. It’s an experiment unprecedented in scope or scale, the results of which could prove disastrous to mankind. Many people are fighting for climate resilience and adaptability, providing a measure of hope.
Chapter 12: Landscape of Hope
Missouri’s environmental problems are very serious, but not insurmountable. Many people are working to find better ways forward, providing good reasons for hope. We have seen great success in the past when people work together with common purpose. Americans, after all, are famous for rising to the occasion when times get tough.