The Return of the Cuyahoga
Conservation • 56m
Directed by Lawrence R. Hott and Diane Garey • Documentary • 2008 • 57 minutes
For centuries, the Cuyahoga River has been on the frontier. When the United States was a new nation, the river literally marked the western frontier. But by 1870, the river was on the industrial frontier and its banks sprouted a multitude of factories, a booming display of what was called progress. The river, as it flowed through Cleveland, became a foul-smelling channel of sludge, with an oily surface that ignited with such regularity that river fires were treated as commonplace events by the local press.
But then, in 1969, the river burned again, just as a third kind of frontier swept across the nation: an environmental frontier. And the Cuyahoga River became a landmark on this frontier too—a poster child for those trying to undo the destruction wrought by progress in America.
The Return of the Cuyahoga is about the death and rebirth of one of America's most emblematic waterways. In its history we see the end of the American frontier, the growth of industry, the scourge of pollution and the advent of a political movement that sought to end pollution.
Up Next in Conservation
-
Symbiotic Earth
Directed by John Feldman • Documentary • 2018 • 147 minutes
SYMBIOTIC EARTH explores the life and ideas of Lynn Margulis, a brilliant and radical scientist, whose unconventional theories challenged the male-dominated scientific community and are today fundamentally changing how we look at our se...
-
A Sea Turtle Story
Directed by Kathy Shultz • Animation • 2012 • 10 minutes
Under the cover of night, a sea turtle secretly digs a hole on a tropical beach and lays her eggs in the sand before returning to the ocean. With each tide, the hatchlings grow until they are strong enough to emerge, climb to the surface a...
-
The Time of Forests
Directed by François-Xavier Drouet • Documentary • 2018 • 103 minutes
As the symbol of authentic, preserved wild nature, forests are undergoing an unprecedented phase of industrialization. Heavy mechanization, monoculture, fertilizers and pesticides, loss of traditional know-how, forest manageme...
