A Selway River Love Story

Book Review: Doug Tims’ Selway: The Original Wild and Scenic River

Doug Tims has done it again. Taken the story of a river and turned it into the story of people, place, politics, and the preservation of America’s wild rivers and lands.

As in Merciless Eden, his ode to the Main Salmon, Tims has combined exhaustive research (the first-ever USFS smoke jumpers deployed from Moose Creek on July 12, 1940 – in the afternoon!) with personal stories (Tims is a 100+ time member of the exclusive Selway River Trip Team) to take us on an in-depth, wide-ranging journey down the Selway River and through all of the campaigns, crusades, decisions, and events that shaped not only the river, but also the wilderness of the West. It’s like getting a tour of the Louvre from someone who built it and then lived in it (and swam in it; Tims is also a three-time member of the notable – and even more exclusive – Selway River Swim Team).

Tims draws from a variety of interviews with Selway River luminaries and his vast repertoire of first-hand river experiences to segue between modern times and historical events. Oz Hawksley’s first full raft descent in 1960 leads to the story of the fight against the Penny Cliffs Dam and, eventually, to the Selway and Clearwater Rivers becoming cornerstones of the original Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. Tims’s serendipitous meeting with Joe Patterson, who floated part of the river as a 13-year-old on a 1957 family vacation – an incredible story in its own right – leads to a discussion of the Wilderness Act and the benefits and drawbacks of strict preservation. A layover-day incident in which Tims witnesses a black bear preying on an elk calf, evolves into a discourse about the Endangered Species Act and the controversy surrounding the eradication and reintroduction of wolves and grizzly bears. And the time Tims spent living at Campbell’s Ferry on the Main Salmon provides an authentic backdrop for the history of the 1862 Homestead Act as well as a brotherly introduction to the colorful cast of Selway Canyon settlers.

In the end, Selway is a love story to a special piece of American wilderness as well as a textbook about the mechanisms, ideologies, and laws that man has utilized to keep it that way; a footnoted Valentine to the river with the hardest-to-get permit you’ll ever apply for.

BONUS CONTENT: I asked my friend Mikey Biggwater what he thought of the book…

“I did the Selway in 1976, so, except for all the details and facts, I could have written this book. Good stuff. Also, what do those little numbers above some of the words mean?”

Please note that some of the links above are affiliate links and OARS will earn a small commission if you decide to make a purchase through one of the links.