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译者 ediver
Boundless
提内古克河
阿拉斯加州北极之门国家公园和保护区，44英里于1980年起受到保护
More than four decades after it became law, a little-known federal act safeguards hundreds of primordial waterways.
By
作者：小乔尹·K·伯恩（Joel K. Bourne, Jr.）
Photograph by
摄影：麦克·麦尔福得（Michael Melford）
The Middle Fork of the Salmon is not so much a river as an exuberant expression of water at play. It tumbles and turns and trips over itself for a hundred miles through the largest unbroken wilderness in the lower 48, the 2.3-million-acre Frank Church–River of No Return Wilderness, named for the pristine Salmon River gorge and the Idaho senator who made sure most of its vast watershed would stay that way. No dams temper its flow. No roads line its banks. It dances down its canyon much as it has since the glaciers receded 10,000 years ago—in spring as a raging, tree-felling torrent, in late summer as a spare, crystalline rivulet.
鲑鱼河的支流中叉河并不是一条欢乐嬉戏的小河。穿过美国大陆最大的连绵荒野、面积达230万英亩的弗兰克·彻驰——不归河荒原（不归河指的是原始的鲑鱼河谷，弗兰克·彻驰则是致力于让广大的鲑鱼河流域保持原貌的爱达荷州议员），中叉河一路跌宕腾转，蜿蜒上百英里。没有大坝阻挠它的前行，也没有道路切割它的堤岸。自从一万年前冰川退却以来，它就一直这样在峡谷中俯冲跳跃。春天，它的急流咆啸，斩木折树。夏末，它又细流涓涓，清澈见底。
Today it is one of the ultimate white-water experiences in the United States, drawing thousands of visitors each year. But 60 years ago its future—and that of hundreds of other rivers across the country—looked very different. For much of the 20th century, the federal government seemed determined to dam virtually all the major rivers in the country, harnessing their power for electricity, irrigation, navigation, water supply, and flood control. The dam binge was particularly acute in the arid West, where even the Grand Canyon was slated for flooding. The Army Corps of Engineers evaluated five prospective dam sites on the Middle Fork alone. The river would have morphed into a chain of man-made lakes if two brothers hadn't helped stem the tide of concrete.
中叉河——鲑鱼河的支流
爱达荷州鲑鱼河——查利斯国家森林公园，104英里于1968年起受到保护
今天，中叉河已经成为美国终极白水漂流的胜地之一，每年都会吸引数千人造访。但是六十年前，中叉河以及美国其它数百条河流的命运却完全不同。在二十世纪的大部分年头里，美国联邦政府似乎一心只想在所有大河上筑起大坝，利用这些大河来发电、灌溉、航运、供水和防汛。大坝热在干旱的西部尤为严重，甚至连大峡谷都砌上石板准备淹掉了。在中叉河上，美国陆军工兵部队一共评估了五处候选坝址。要不是因为两兄弟帮助阻止了这股混凝土的大潮，中叉河早就变成一串人工湖了。
John Craighead, now 95, is legendary in the field of wildlife biology, famous with his twin brother, the late Frank Craighead, for pioneering studies of grizzly bears in Yellowstone National Park and for numerous articles and documentaries published by National Geographic. Their groundbreaking work inspired efforts to save the species from extinction in the lower 48. Yet the proudest achievement of John Craighead's long and storied life, he says, is the passage of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.
现年95岁的约翰·克雷格亥是野生生物领域的传奇人物，他和他已经去世的双胞胎兄弟弗兰克·克雷格亥曾经因为对黄石国家公园北美洲灰熊的先躯性研究以及若干发布于《美国国家地理》的文章和纪录片而闻名。他们的开创性工作激励着人们去拯救美国大陆濒临灭绝的生物，不过约翰·克雷格亥说，在他漫长而又传奇的一生中，最让他感到骄傲的成就要属《国家自然与风景河流法案》的通过。
It took a decade of reports, lectures, and political wrangling, but when President Lyndon Johnson signed the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act in 1968, much of its language came from the Craigheads. The initial act spared eight rivers and narrow buffer zones around them from dams and development. Today the list has grown to more than 200 rivers in 39 states and Puerto Rico.
在历经十余年的报告、讲演和政治角逐后，当林登·约翰逊总统于1968年签署《国家自然与风景河流法案》时，其中的大部分文字竟然出自于克雷格亥兄弟之手。法案最初仅保护八条河流及其周围狭窄的缓冲带不得筑坝和开发，如今这一保护名单已经增加到39个州的200多条河，还包括波多黎各。
Craighead's memory fades in and out these days, but if you ask him which river inspired him most, his answer is quick and clear: the Middle Fork of the Salmon. My son, Sam, and I were headed there, but we'd stopped to visit Craighead at his Missoula, Montana, home on our way out to paddle that river. Before we left, Craighead gave Sam a dozen spider imitations tied just for the Middle Fork's native cutthroat trout. "You know, you can't buy that fly in a store," he said, as he shook Sam's hand and gave him a knowing smile.
克雷格亥现在的记性时好时坏，不过如果你要问哪条河流给他最多的灵感，他一准儿会快速而又清晰地回答：鲑鱼河的支流中叉河。我和儿子山姆在前往中叉河划船的路上，中途去拜访了克雷格亥位于蒙大拿州米苏拉的家。临要告辞时，克雷格亥给了山姆十几只假蜘蛛——那是专为中叉河里的切喉鳟所绑扎的钓饵。"你要知道，在商店里是买不到这样的假蝇的，"他握着山姆的手，给了他一个会意的微笑。【译者注：这里指的是溪流边的假蝇钓鱼，即以假蝇为饵甩向河面，抖动鱼竿，使鱼误把鱼饵当作落水的昆虫而上钩。】
It took two attempts before our backcountry pilot could penetrate the fog nestled in the deep valleys of the Frank Church, whose endless ridges bearded with whitebark pine keep the modern world at bay. But by midday our party of 20 was gathered by the roaring river to listen to Diana Yupe, a Shoshone-Bannock archaeologist, tell us about her people. The Sheep Eaters lived in the river corridor for thousands of years before the U.S. Cavalry drove them out. She asked us to respect the old campsites that occupy nearly every river terrace, as well as the many pictographs, including child-size red handprints, that adorn the canyon walls. Then she sent us off with a Shoshone blessing for safe travel on the river and a safe journey through life.
我们的乡间飞行员试了两次，才冲出弗兰克·彻驰荒原深谷中重重紧锁的云雾，那些长满白皮松的绵延山脊把现代世界挡在了外面。到中午时分，我们一行二十人已经在奔腾的河边会集，听肖肖尼——班诺克族的考古学家戴安娜·玉普给我们讲述她的部落历史。在美国骑兵部队入侵之前，食羊族在这个河谷已经生活了几千年。戴安娜请求我们尊重那些遍布河流阶地上的古老营地，还有峡谷崖壁上的许多象形文字，包括其中那些红色的孩子手印，然后她跟我们告别，并以肖肖尼人的方式祝福我们沿河的旅行顺利，一生平安。
The day was raw and gray, the big, dry rafts inviting. Sam nonetheless picked a pair of inflatable kayaks, because nothing makes you feel more 11 than bouncing down a river in an oversize inner tube. He'd never been in white water before, and he soon discovered that paddling the little kayaks, called duckies, was hard work. We struggled with headwinds, grounded on rocks, and paddled hard to keep up with the rafts. Yet tired as we were, Sam came off the river almost skipping.
天色冷峻阴沉，让人很想坐上那些巨大干燥的橡皮艇。尽管如此，山姆还是选了一对充气皮划艇，因为再没有什么比坐在超大号内胎里顺河而下更让人热血澎湃了。山姆此前从来没做过白水漂流，不久他便发现，划这种叫做鸭子的小皮划艇着实不易。我们逆风挣扎着，不时跌落在岩石上，然后使劲划着浆以便跟上橡皮艇。尽管累得要命，山姆却几乎是连蹦带跳地下的船。
That night the Milky Way choked the sky, and we couldn't find the Big Dipper in the twinkling throng. Sam turned in early, so I went down to the water to listen to the river's simple symphony. Something splashed at my feet, and when I flicked on my headlamp, I beheld a tiny fish darting around the shallows: a native chinook salmon, offspring of the big shadows we'd seen lurking in the deeper pools. Chinook fed the Sheep Eaters for millennia. Once tens of thousands of them came to spawn annually in the Middle Fork; now, eight major dams on the Snake and Columbia Rivers have exacted a toll on the fish in their 900-mile journey to the sea—one of the greatest migrations in nature.
蛇河的源头
怀俄明州布瑞哲——太顿国家森林公园，387.5英里于2009年起受到保护
那天晚上，银河堵满了天空，在那条闪闪发光的带子上，我们连北斗七星都没找到。山姆早早地睡了，我则走到水边，倾听河流奏响简单的交响曲。不知什么东西溅到了我的脚上，等我打开头灯，却发现一只小鱼正在浅水区里横冲直撞。那是本地奇努克鲑鱼的幼鱼，白天在深潭里我们曾经看到它们成年后的巨大身影。奇努克鲑鱼养育了食羊族上千年。曾经，每年都会有成千上万的奇努克鲑鱼到中叉河来产卵繁殖，而如今，蛇河和哥伦比亚河上的八座大坝【译者注：中叉河是鲑鱼河的支流，鲑鱼河是蛇河的支流，蛇河又是哥伦比亚河的支流】却截断了这种鱼漫漫900英里直到大海的旅程——那可是大自然最伟大的迁徙之一呢。
蛇河的源头
怀俄明州布瑞哲——太顿国家森林公园，387.5英里于2009年起受到保护
A wild and scenic river designation is no guarantee that a river will remain truly wild. In fact, several of the nation's most cherished waterways have landed on the annual Most Endangered Rivers list produced by the advocacy group American Rivers. They include southern Oregon's Chetco, where gold miners plan to suction-dredge some of the best salmon spawning grounds in the state. Maine's legendary Allagash, the river that taught Henry David Thoreau the meaning of wilderness, has long been mired in controversy over bridges and additional access points in its protected corridor. And former Vice President Walter Mondale, a co-sponsor of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, says of the treasured St. Croix, which runs by his Minnesota summer home: "If this river is ever destroyed, it'll die of nicks and cuts. A bridge here, a power line there. These threats are everywhere," he adds, "and they have to be fought everywhere. Just go to one of the unprotected rivers in the Northeast or South and see how polluted they are."
阿拉加什河
缅因州阿鲁斯图克县，92.5英里于1970年起受到保护
把一条河定为自然与风景河流，并不能保证这条河始终保持真正自然。事实上，好几条在美国最受珍视的水道都已经被"美国的河流"这一保育团体列入年度"濒危河流"的名单里了，其中包括俄勒冈州南部的切特哥河，那里的金矿想要在该州几个最好的鲑鱼产卵地抽挖河泥，还有缅因州充满传奇色彩的阿拉加什河，那条河曾经教导享利·大卫·梭罗懂得荒原的意义，但是它受到保护的河廊长久以来却一直深陷于修桥和修路的争执中。《国家自然与风景河流法案》的共同发起人、前副总统沃特·蒙代尔，曾经就那无比宝贵的、从他位于明尼苏达州夏季度假屋旁流过的圣克罗伊河说："如果有一天这条河被毁了，它一定是死于伤痕累累。不是这里建一座桥，就是那里拉根电线。这样的威胁无处不在，"他接着说，"人们必须跟这些威胁斗争。去东北或南方看看那些没有受到保护的河流吧，看看它们被污染成了什么样。"
阿拉加什河
月光洒在缅因州阿拉加什河上的一艘桦皮舟上，这里是泛舟人所爱的宁静之所。
The stream of my youth, North Carolina's aptly named Tar, is one such river, though my friends and I were too young to know the difference then. We caught bass and bluegills from beneath the rafts of old soda and bleach bottles that floated at each logjam. We shot the ducks that exploded from the quiet bends where discarded washing machines and tires lay. We waded when the water dropped to knee-deep in summer and carried a faint whiff of the sewage treatment plant upstream. Though I caught countless fish from the Tar's waters, I released them to their turbid home. My parents drew the line at eating them.
我小时候的河流，位于北卡罗来纳州名符其实的沥青河，就是这样一条河，不过当时我和朋友都还年幼，并不懂得其中的分别。河上漂流的原木周围浮满了旧汽水瓶和漂白剂瓶，我们就在那下面捉鲈鱼和蓝鳃太阳鱼。在河流的拐弯处尽是人们丢弃的洗衣机和轮胎，我们就在那一片寂静中捕射鸭子。夏天的河水只有没漆深，而且还带着上游污水处理厂的些微气味，我们就在里面涉水而过。虽然我从沥青河里捉过不计其数的鱼，却总是把它们放回混浊的家。我的父母坚决不吃它们。
Such threats seemed many miles and moons from the clear, clean water of central Idaho. The next day the sun rose white-hot above the ridgeline, turning the Middle Fork into an undulating strand of emeralds. A herd of bighorn sheep joined us for breakfast. Bald and golden eagles glared at us from their perches as American dippers flitted from rock to rock. The guides filled our water jugs from springs we passed while the anglers among us hooked hungry trout on what seemed like every other cast. It was a living page from America's past, when every river was clean, potable, and full of life.
这样的威胁距离爱达荷州中部这片清澈干净的水面似乎无比遥远。第二天，当白热的太阳从山脊上升起时，中叉河变成了一缕波状的绿宝石。一群大角羊跟我们一起共进早餐，秃鹫和金雕从它们的栖息处瞪着我们，美洲河乌则从一块块岩石上轻快地掠过。向导用路上的清泉灌满我们的水壶，那些垂钓者好象每甩两次竿就能钓到一条贪婪的鳟鱼。这是美国过去的生活，那时每条河都是干净的，可以直接饮用，生机勃勃。
After lunch on a gravel bar I sat in the shade and watched Sam struggle with the fly rod as most beginners do, flailing it like a whip instead of achieving that "art … performed on a four-count rhythm between ten and two o'clock," as Norman Maclean wrote in A River Runs Through It. But gradually he checked himself and stopped the rod close to ten. The line uncurled on the water like a prayer, dropping the Craighead spider fly into an alluring eddy. He was too pleased with himself to notice the shimmering torpedo emerge from the depths. Only when he tried to back-cast did he find himself hooked into a living, breathing dynamo. This was no video game, no virtual walleye of Wii. This was barefoot boy against bantamweight pisces, and the age-old fight was on. As the two splashed in the cool, green water, whoops rose from the bank. The bronze bomber skittered onto shore, the same westslope cutthroat with its jaunty red sash that so delighted Lewis and Clark.
在沙砾滩上吃过午饭，我就在荫凉里坐下，看着山姆象其他初学者一样，跟他的假蝇钓竿较劲儿。他的动作好象在抽鞭子一样，尚不能做到"很艺术地……在十点和两点之间，完成一套四拍的动作，"这是诺曼·麦克莱恩在《一条大河从中流过》一书中所描述的。不过慢慢地，山姆能够控制自己了，可以在靠近十点的位置停住钓竿了。钓钱在水面舒展开来，仿佛一位祈祷者，克雷格亥的蜘蛛假蝇便落进一个诱人的水涡中。山姆对自己的表现满意极了，以至于完全没有注意到那从水底深处窜上来的闪闪发光的水雷，直到他想要回甩钓竿时，才发现自己已经跟一台活生生、能喘气儿的发电机连在了一起。这可不是打游戏，不是在Wii上模拟钓鼓眼鱼，这是一个赤脚男孩对雏量级大鱼的大战，那场古老的战斗又上演了。他们两个在清凉透绿的河水里水花四溅，岸上则响起一片呐喊。然后那青铜色的轰炸机掠过水面飞上了岸，正是那曾经让刘易斯和克拉克【译者注：刘易斯和克拉克是于1804-1806年间、由杰斐逊总统发起的一支美国西部远征队的领队，西坡切喉鳟就是在这次远征中发现的】无比开心的披着得意洋洋红肩带的西坡切喉鳟。
Sam was beaming, caught deep in Craighead's web. I once asked Craighead why wild rivers were such a crucial issue for him, thinking he would wax philosophical about the need for wild things in an increasingly man-made world. He shrugged. "I just loved rivers," he said.
克雷格亥的圈套让山姆喜气洋洋。我曾经问过克雷格亥，为什么自然的河流对他那么重要。我以为他会说些充满哲理的话，比如这个日益人为的世界需要自然的东西，但是克雷格亥只是耸耸肩说："我就是热爱河流。"
It was enough. Because he and others loved moving, living, untarnished waters, we now have some left to cherish. To help us think more like a river, less like a dam.
这就够了。正是因为他和其他人对于流动不息、充满生命、毫无污染的河流的热爱，我们现在才留下了一些可以去珍惜，去帮助我们更多地象河流、而不是象大坝那样地思考。
Merced River
默塞德河
加州优仙美地国家公园，114.5英里于1987年起受到保护；1992年又增加8英里
Yosemite National Park, California
114.5 miles protected since 1987; 8 additional miles since 1992
Owyhee River
奥怀希河
爱达荷州奥怀希河荒原，120英里于1984年起受到俄勒冈州保护，1988年又增加67.2英里；171.1英里于2009年起受到爱达荷州保护
Owyhee River Wilderness, Idaho
120 miles protected in Oregon since 1984 and 67.2 more since 1988; 171.1 miles protected in Idaho since 2009
Chattooga River
查图加河
南卡罗来纳州萨姆特国家森林公园，58.7英里于1974年起受到北卡罗来纳州、南卡罗来纳州和乔治亚州共同保护
Sumter National Forest, South Carolina
58.7 miles protected in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia since 1974
Upper Rogue River
罗格河上游
俄勒冈州罗格河——西斯基右国家森林公园，40.3英里于1988年起受到保护
Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, Oregon
40.3 miles protected since 1988
Loxahatchee River
罗克萨哈奇河
佛罗里达州乔纳森·迪金森州立公园，7.6英里于1985年起受到保护
Jonathan Dickinson State Park, Florida
7.6 miles protected since 1985
Fossil Creek
化石溪
亚历桑那州可可尼诺国家森林公园，16.8英里于2009年起受到保护
Coconino National Forest, Arizona
16.8 miles protected since 2009
Bruneau River System
布鲁诺河系
爱达荷州布鲁诺——查比奇河流荒原，94.7英里于2009年起受到保护
Bruneau-Jarbidge Rivers Wilderness, Idaho
94.7 miles protected since 2009
Tlikakila River
特利卡基拉河
阿拉斯加州克拉克湖国家公园和保护区，51英里于1980年起受到保护
Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, Alaska
51 miles protected since 1980
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