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This book is a chronicle of the myopia and gamesmanship that dominated Americans' understanding of their environment on the eve of the nation's ecology crisis. Based almost entirely on primary sources, Elmo Richardson's study examines the interplay between the national policies and programs for development and preservation of natural resources in the centralist Truman administration and the localist, enterprise-oriented Eisenhower administration. He shows that the decade examined brought about very little change in the values held by federal policy makers. Although the development of resources was a prominent issue in the elections of 1948, 1952, and 1956, what emerges from Richardson's account is the shallowness of understanding on the part of the decision makers and the public, and the ease with which policy direction could be deflected. The book demonstrates the persistence of the tradition of development and the nonpartisan character of the movement for preservation, which crossed party lines, regional lines, and economic interest groups.
A lively study of America's first environmental battle describes how, in 1913, Congress authorized the construction of the Hetch Hetchy Dam and Reservoir within the bondaries of Yosemite National Park, chronicling the intrigues that surrounded the project, profiling participants in the debate, and the implications of Hetch Hetchy for American attitudes toward environmental stewardship. 10,000 first printing.
Dam removal wasn't a realistic option in the twentieth century, and people who suggested it were dismissed as fringe environmentalists. Over the past twenty years, dam removal has become increasingly common, with dozens of removals now taking place each year in the US. Same River Twice tells the stories of three major Northwestern dam removals - the politics, people, hopes, and fears that shaped three rivers and their communities. Brewitt begins each story with the dam's construction, shows how its critics gained power, details the conflicts and controversies of removal, and explores the aftermath as the river re-established itself.
CLICK HERE to download the first chapter from Elwha: A River Reborn (Provide us with a little information and we'll send your download directly to your inbox) A compelling exploration of one of the largest dam removal projects in the world—and the efforts to save a stunning Northwest ecosystem * Co-published with The Seattle Times * 125 color photographs, including rare historic images * Dam removal started in September 2011 while restoration work continues today In the fall of 2011, the Times was on hand when a Montana contractor removed the first pieces from two concrete dams on the Elwha River which cuts through the Olympic range. It was the beginning of the largest dam removal project ever undertaken in North America—one dam was 200 feet tall—and the start of an unprecedented attempt to restore an entire ecosystem. More than 70 miles of the Elwha and its tributaries course from the mountain headwaters to clamming beaches on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Through interviews, field work, archival and historical research, and photojournalism, The Seattle Times has explored and reported on the dam removal, the Elwha ecosystem, its industrialization, and now its renewal. Elwha: A River Reborn is based on these feature articles. Richly illustrated with stunning photographs, as well as historic images, graphics, and a map, Elwha tells the interwoven stories of this region. Meet the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe, who anxiously await the return of renowned salmon runs savored over the generations in the stories of their elders. Discover the biologists and engineers who are bringing the dams down and laying the plan for renewal, including an unprecedented revegetation effort that will eventually cover more than 700 acres of mudflats. When the dam started to come down in Fall 2011—anticipated for more than 20 years since Congress passed the Elwha Restoration Act—it was the beginning of a $350 million project observed around the world. Elwha: A River Reborn is inspiring and instructive, a triumphant story of place, people, and environment striving to come together. Winner of the Nautilus Awards 2014 "Better Books for a Better World" Silver Award!
Harvey details the first major clash between conservationists and developers after World War II, the successful fight to prevent the building of Echo Park Dam. The dam on the Green River was intended to create a recreational lake in northwest Colorado and generate hydroelectric power, but would have flooded picturesque Echo Park Valley and threatened Dinosaur National Monument, straddling the Utah-Colorado border near Wyoming.
First Published in 2011. During the 1970s, land managers in the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) often must have felt they lived in interesting times. The decade began with the first Earth Day, an event that revealed the increasing strength and militancy of the environmental movement; as it ended, western commercial users of the public lands, disaffected by environmentalist policymaking victories, had launched the "sagebrush rebellion." Those managers were expected to reconcile often sharply polarized interest group pressures with professional values, as well as with diverse federal statutes and regulations that reflected uneasy compromises among group and professional influences. Although the technical specifics of public lands management differ from those in other fields of natural resources management, the political tensions in public lands policymaking are similar to those in other natural resources fields. Thus, this description of the Forest Service's xiii xiv PREFACE and BLM's handling of those tensions should be of interest to many in the natural resources management community as a whole. This study should also be useful to students of public administrative politics generally.
As the Democratic congressman from Colorado's Fourth District from 1949 to 1973, Wayne Aspinall was an advocate of natural resource development in general and reclamation projects in particular. A political loner, considered crusty and abrasive, he carved a national reputation by helping secure the passage of key water legislation—in the process clashing with colleagues and environmentalists alike. Fiercely protective of western Colorado's water supply, Aspinall sought to secure prosperity for his district by protecting its share of Colorado River water through federal reclamation projects, and he made this goal the centerpiece of his congressional career. He became chair of the House Interior Committee in 1959 and ruled it with an iron fist for more than a dozen years—a role that placed him in a key position to shape the nation's natural resource legislation at a time when the growing environmental movement was calling for a sharp change in policy. This full-length study of Aspinall's importance to reclamation in the West clarifies his role in influencing western water policy. By focusing on Aspinall's congressional career, Stephen Sturgeon provides a detailed account of the political machinations and personal foibles that shaped Aspinall's efforts to implement water reclamation legislation in support of Colorado's Western Slope, along the way shedding new light on familiar water controversies. Sturgeon meticulously traces the influences on Aspinall's thinking and the arc of his career, examining the congressman's involvement in the Colorado River Storage Project bill and his clash with conservationists over the proposed Echo Park Dam; recounting the fight over the Frying Pan-Arkansas Project and his decision to support diverting water out of his own district; and exploring the battles over the Central Arizona Project, in which Aspinall fought not only environmentalists but also other members of Congress. Finally he assesses the Aspinall legacy, including the still-disputed Animas-La Plata Project, and shows how his vision of progress shaped the history of western water development. The Politics of Western Water portrays Aspinall in human terms, not as a pork-barrel politician but as a representative who believed he was protecting his constituents' interests. It is an insightful account of the political, financial, and personal variables that affect the course by which water resource legislation is conceived, supported, and implemented—a book that is essential to understanding the history and future of water in the West.
Crane with dam in background.
A dam proposal sparked the first great conservation battle in the United States when John Muir fought to safeguard Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park. Since then, people have worked to preserve free-flowing rivers from Florida to Alaska, and in doing so, they have changed the way natural resources are managed in America. In Endangered Rivers, Tim Palmer traces the growth of this movement and he chronicles the development of a national consciousness that values our rivers as lifelines for wildlife, fisheries, parks, wilderness, recreation, and communities. Based on careful research and hundreds of interviews, Palmer's information-packed narrative is regarded as a classic in the field of conservation. The first edition of this book is now updated and includes two new chapters that chart the course of conservation during the past twenty years and explore how the movement to protect rivers will likely change in the twenty-first century. This book will fascinate all who care about rivers and it will engage those who seek to understand environmental history, resources management, and the evolution of government programs in response to people's changing needs.