And leaking cyanide is the least of Seven Up Pete's scourges. Manning is one irritated cowpoke. Yet, his book presents few characters wearing hats precisely black or white. Logging's damage to rivers, Manning says, comes mainly from failure to leave bankside trees standing. At one point, Manning skids his car off a snowy mountain road.
Forests grow back.
In the meantime, environmentalist Robert Redford's movie had undesirable repercussions. But Manning admits that he and his friends also are immigrants in this country. Real ranchers, like loggers, says Manning, wreak real destruction. Bison enhanced these dry prairies. But cows, liking moisture, bunch along rivers, creating mucky havoc.