This Rough Magic: At Home on the Columbia Slough

by Nancy Henry, Bruce Campbell

Moving to a log house bordering the Columbia Slough, a couple discovers a vest-pocket Valhalla within the city, a place where nature's rough magic captivates them. The rich floodplain that once nourished Chinookan peoples is gone, its wetlands channelized by 20th century landowners to form today's nineteen mile slough.




As the authors walk, kayak, and bike an industrialized landscape, they celebrate a wealth of wildlife holding fast against the heavy-metal bedlam of development. 




With evocative language and self-deprecating humor, Henry and Campbell tell an intensely personal story and highlight creative efforts to rewild the slough's denaturalized habitats. Amanda Marisa Williams' vivid pen and ink illustrations illuminate each chapter. 

Genres: Nonfiction

245 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 14, 2023

Reviews

[Rosie Goity · Rating 5 out of 5]

Felt really good to learn something new again and the narrative writing style was a great way to get through what could have been a super dense topic

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I would have found this book enjoyable even if it was written about somewhere else. It is beautiful. But it is not written about somewhere else. It is written basically about my home since 2018. Over and over reading this, it seemed like it was written just for me. I ran google maps, and walking the google maps route, it is 1.7 miles from their house to ours. We've done one of those planting projects looking across the water from their house - I'm pretty sure their house is in one of my pictures. Their closest garden shop is our closest garden shop. We've never walked to the slough, but we've walked the Children's Arboretum and Kelly Point Park quite a few times and Whitaker Ponds a few as well. We even used the public storage visible from the 33rd street bridge when we moved to the neighborhood - and we garden and we hike - and one of these days we probably will kayak the slough. The book itself is relatively short but quite readable. The switching of the chapters between the two authors worked quite well. Well done. As the third reviewer and sixth rater, I say thank you.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Rough Magic: At Home on the Columbia Slough is a must read for anybody interested in urban environments and ecosystems. Campbell and Henry tell the story of living on the Columbia Slough, one of America's most polluted human-built waterways, in a mixed urban-industrial zone of Portland, Oregon. Although focused on serious topics, ranging from the socio-demographic politics of urban environments to their battles with neighbors and animals living on the slough, the authors' fine story telling and humor bring us into their world. The often whimsical illustrations by Amanda Marisa Williams at the beginning of each chapter are wonderful additions that really make this book sing!

[John Addiego · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful story of environmental stewardship on the one hand and a collaborative personal journey of discovery about home on the other. The authors made me think of Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim on Tinker Creek taken many degrees deeper into the brutal history of our human tendency to abuse the Earth, and yet celebrating the beauty of this rich, watery oasis, a system of sloughs and wetlands on the fringe of Portland’s industry along the Columbia River. The authors combine their lifetimes of literary, ethical, and socially progressive perspectives and tell a very personal story, pulling no punches about extreme pollution, invasive predation, frustration, despair and, ultimately, hope. It’s the most realistic primer on how to help heal the planet that I’ve read. And did I mention that it’s funny? Lots of terrific humor is woven throughout! A must-read!

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read and very close to home!

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

interesting write up of their experiences and the compromises of moving to the columbia slough. Very readable and informative

[Kate Belt · Rating 5 out of 5]

The authors bought and renovated an 80 year old home on the Columbia Slough in Portland’s Sunderlund neighborhood, which “rests on a floodplain that once nourished Chinnokan Peoples and much wildlife.” Avid nature lovers, birders, and gardeners, they committed to doing their part to remediate damage inflicted by industrial contaminants and other pollutants. Their partners include government, nonprofits, and the unlikely Prologis “an international developer of industrial logistics real estate.” Prologis purchased the property next door, formerly Broadmoor Golf Course. The authors took turns writing alternating chapters of the book, which is rich in lyricism, metaphor, and humor. I learned a lot about the science of wetland restoration (which I won’t remember), and would recommend this to anyone interested in stories about loving the land. I love this quote they included from neuroscientist Abhijit Naskar, “If we don’t have a place for nature in our heart, how can we expect nature to have a place for us?”

Reread May 2025 for CG Book Group; had to purchase because I wanted to highlight so much!