The Clark Fork and Blackfoot Rivers flow west from rugged and wild country at the headwaters of the Continental Divide. These same waters are some of the most polluted in America. This paradox manifests itself at the rivers’ confluence in western Montana, at the edge of wilderness and civilization. A place of stunning beauty, but where decades of extractive industry comes up headlong against the Milltown Dam, which holds back tons of toxic sediment. But for better or worse, the American West is changing with breakneck speed. Here, at the confluence of the two rivers, human society rushes forward. Where extractive industries once dominated, the landscapes new moniker is change. Here, the dam is slated for removal, the largest timber mill in the Northwest is closed down and dismantled, and major housing development goes up in its place. This is the the New West-a place where change is the rule, and the future is anything but certain.