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SEA OF GRASS: The Conquest, Ruin, and Redemption of Nature on the American Prairie
Random House Hardcover, May 27, 2025
Black & white photos included throughout, along with a color photo insert and a map
The American Prairie rivals the tropical rainforest in its biological diversity and is disappearing even faster.
SEA OF GRASS is an historical look at the prairie and an urgent call to better understand this natural wonder and to learn to pay attention and prioritize saving it.
When Euro-Americans encountered the prairie nearly 200 years ago, rather than seeing the land as a natural wonder, to their minds they found challenging, root-tangled soil. But, with the development of the steel plow, drainage technology, and introduction of nitrogen fertilizers, they set about turning the prairie into some of the most productive farmland on earth--one of the most remarkable and complete ecological transformations in history--feeding the industrial revolution well beyond cities near the plains.
This transformation, though, came at a cost in the forced dislocation of Indigenous people, the pollution of waterways, depletion of soil nutrients, and the catastrophic loss of insect, animal, and plant species, all building to a point of crisis for the environment and American food systems. Today, American farmers face an impossible dilemma. Urgent action is needed to restore the soil and the region's biodiversity. At the same time, any deviation from generations of agricultural practice are too risky in a business with razor-thin margins, where one bad year could mean the loss of the family enterprise. Whether it's the threat of climate change, the devastating and dangerous pollution of the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico, or the loss of pollinator species, American grasslands face urgent challenges that will require the buy-in of US farmers to meet.
Dave Hage oversaw environmental and health reporting at the Minneapolis Star Tribune for a dozen years, editing projects that won a Pulitzer Prize, an Edward R. Murrow Award, and other national journalism honors. His previous books include No Retreat, No Surrender: Labor’s War at Hormel and Reforming Welfare by Rewarding Work. He is a Minneapolis native whose parents grew up in the small prairie towns of western Minnesota. He lives in St. Paul with his wife, a florist and master naturalist.
Josephine Marcotty is an award-winning environmental journalist who has spent her life in the Midwest of the U.S. She was a reporter for the Star Tribune in Minneapolis where she chose to cover complex, science-based topics critical to the community, including economics, healthcare, and the environment. SEA OF GRASS is a natural expansion of the in-depth reporting she did for the newspaper on the vanishing prairie, the importance of natural landscapes, and the consequences of intensive agriculture.
These veteran journalists follow the history of humanity's relationship with this incredible land, and SEA OF GRASS offers a deep, compassionate analysis of the critical, difficult decisions as well as opportunities facing agricultural and Indigenous communities and an incredibly vivid portrait of one of the world's most significant ecosystems, making clear why the choices made are of essential concern far beyond America's heartland.
“This exploration of the American grasslands – from soil, water, and insects to farmers, plows, and buffalo – dismays, yes, but also invigorates. In the face of soil degradation, water pollution, and punishing economics, innovators are making a difference. The authors’ arguments in defense of the prairie and its people deserve attention.”
—Christian Science Monitor
“As epic in its scope as the prairie itself, Sea of Grass deftly chronicles the tragic destruction of North America's grandest ecosystem and the inspiring movement to restore it. Hage and Marcotty balance heartbreak and hope in this wise, impassioned ode to the prairie and its inhabitants, human and wild alike. Like an expanse of tallgrass, this book bursts with surprising life — you'll meet maverick farmers, rogue environmentalists, and ornery bison, all engaged in the vital project of saving our most vital biome from the vast forces that imperil it.”
—Ben Goldfarb, award-winning author of Crossings and Eager
More praise for Sea of Grass:
“Now this is a book well worth the read—it describes, in loving, living prose—one of the world's greatest and most important landscapes. And it does so while there's still time to save some serious part of it, and in the process to save much else. Balanced, nuanced—but overpowering.”
—Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature
“Dave Hage and Josephine Marcotty chronicle an environmental crisis most Americans are unaware of: the ongoing destruction of the country's great prairies. Sea of Grass is eloquent both on the complexity of this amazing ecosystem and its fragility.”
—Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Under a White Sky
“As radiant as its subject, Sea of Grass reclaims the North American prairie—too long dismissed as a wasteland—as a true wonderland of ecological brilliance and beauty, reminding us that like all of nonhuman nature, the prairie is wiser and more resourceful than the species determined to conquer it.”
—Jack E. Davis, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Gulf
“One of our human frailties is a short memory; Sea of Grass is an antidote, freshening our cultural recollection with abundance, beauty, and ecology of what was. This captivating book offers tears of repentance wiped away with renewed hope for the future.”
—Joel Salatin, co-owner of Polyface Farm and editor of “The Stockman Grass Farmer”
“[A] scintillating study ... Hage and Marcotty excel at elucidating the complex workings of prairie ecosystems, and they provide cogent explanations of how to undo the damage of industrial agriculture by, for instance, preserving next to crop fields uncultivated 'buffer strips' that would absorb fertilizer and pesticide runoff. This troubling wake-up call will galvanize readers.”
—Publishers Weekly (*starred review!*)
“A sweeping history of the American prairie, “a region we have exploited almost to death….” To battle the negative effects of pollution, climate change, and industrial agriculture, Hage and Marcotty argue for restoring large sections of grassland to their original state and, even more politically sensitive, eliminating the federal subsidy for corn ethanol. They also propose a different crop regime that would increase ground cover, preserve the soil, and—importantly—allow farmers to make a profit at the same time. A welcome addition to the literature of America’s grasslands, which need all the champions they can get.”
—Kirkus (*starred review!*)
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