'How Safe is the Wabash?,' Newspaper Asks Prof. Emeritus Jim Gammon

July 31, 2006

July 31, 2006, Greencastle, Ind. - "(Jim) Gammon, a professor emeritus of zoology at DePauw University in Greencastle, spent more than 20 years studying wildlife in the Wabash River," reports today's Journal and Courier of Lafayette, Indiana. Dr. Gammon is one of several experts quoted in the story, which examines the health of the Wabash, the largest southward-flowing tributary of the Ohio River, which flows generally westward across Indiana.

The newspaper's Dan Shaw writes, "When (Gammon) first started collecting fish from the water in the late 1960s, he was surprised by the abundance of some species, he said. Most of them, though, were bottom feeders: catfish and carp. 'It was a selective group -- not the ones that would be of use to sport fisherman,' he said. "'They were not the bass and the sauger, walleye and crappie.' Around the same time, Congress began to pass a series of bills, culminating in the Clean Water Act of 1977, with the goal of cleaning up the nation's rivers, lakes and streams. Gammon credited the legislation for reducing pollution from large sources, such as factories and waste treatment plants."

Read the complete article by clicking here.

Earlier this year, Jim Gammon was featured in a documentary produced by Indianapolis PBS television affiliate WFYI, The Wabash: Life on the Bright White River. Learn more in this previous story.

Source: Lafayette (Ind.) Journal and Courier

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