"Great Lakes Journey is a follow-up to William Ashworth's earlier book The Late, Great Lakes, published in 1986. Fifteen years after his first trip, Ashworth journeys to many of the same places and talks to many of the same people to examine the changes that have taken place along the Great Lakes since the 1980s. Great Lakes Journey is a poetic account of his 6,000-mile trip, mixed with explanations of the scientific and political realities behind the observed changes, reminiscences of his 1983 trip, and conversations with local residents - some of them scientists, and others simply people who care.". "Through personal observation, research, and numerous interviews with scientists, activists, and government agencies, Ashworth creates a detailed picture of the status of the Great Lakes at the end of the twentieth century. Among the most prominent changes he finds are the arrival of the zebra mussel and other exotic species, the rise and fall of the RAP process for pollution cleanup, a growing public mistrust of government action, a substantial loss of habitat and biodiversity, and an explosion of urban sprawl along the shores of the Lakes."--BOOK JACKET.