In 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Act, setting into motion one of the great land-use experiments of modern times. The act struck a compromise between protection for one of the West's most stunning landscapes and encouragement of compatible economic development. In Bridging a Great Divide, Kathie Durbin draws on interviews, correspondence, and research to tell the story of the major shifts in the Gorge since the Act's passage.