Sunday, March 22, 2015

Newness

On a sleepy Sunday evening, I seem to have a clear head. I've changed direction a bit on my project, both reluctantly (because, more work) and excitingly.

I'm working on an overview of the Kerr Dam sale on the Flathead River that looks at the sale of the dam from and eco-critical perspective (how the dam/modernity affects our river basins and surrounding landscapes, and how the sale will change the way consume and produce energy in a hydro-heavy state, etc.), but the main goal is to get it published before the sale in September of this year to create local knowledge of the presence of hydropower in Montana by fostering interest in place, which will hopefully turn into environmental interest in place.

If you don't know, the Kerr Dam was build on the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe reservation by the state who pays a $19 million tax annually to the tribe. It's slated to be sold back to the Kootenai in September for ~$18 million. It's the first time in U.S history that a sovereign nation will hold rights to large scale hydropower, or  be in control of such economic power. It has the potential to radically change the energy consumption and sales in northern Montana, and possibly the entire state... yet, no one seems to know about it, talk about it, or care about it here. 

I think I can go at this nicely with a mix of the poetic language I had been avoiding previously, and still keep it reserved enough that it will do work for me journalistically. I can use the research I'd done on the Powder River Basin and Montana's water rights system to fill the composition with well-understood information that will educate but also engage the reader, and examples of other areas where we have seen similar issues confronted in our state.

I'm off to write!
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1 comment:

  1. kbMarch 23, 2015 at 1:07 PM

    Super - I think this makes sense, and I really like the reasoning that you've done to get there. I look forward to reading it.

    Your work here is an example of how writing - and writing and writing - gets you places, even when it's not the place that you thought you were going. It also reminds me of my dictum to get lost when you write, which I don't think is something I have to convince you about. You've done a bunch of work, though, and what I like about that, in part, is that so much op it - so much of the prose that you've already generated - won't show up in the final draft, but will have been a necessary aspect of what you came up with there. I wish this aspect of writing were better explored and considered. We only really talk about it as pre-writing, but that doesn't get at the messiness and clumsiness of the process - just like the words messy and clumsy distract from the generative aspects of this kind of work.

    You're a fun writer to watch.

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