Overview

Between 1963 and 1968, environmentalists were outraged when western water interests sought to construct two dams in Grand Canyon as part of the Central Arizona Project. The Sierra Club led a national campaign opposed to the project, which most environmental historians credit with defeating the dams. In the wake of its victory, the Sierra Club has been lauded as the saviour of Grand Canyon. Byron Pearson now takes a closer look at history to show that the Sierra Club's ability to mobilize public opinion did not appreciably influence Congress, where the issue was actually decided. When Arizona congressman Stewart Udall became Interior Secretary in 1960, he promoted a plan to import water from the Pacific Northwest to California in order to placate that state's opposition to the CAP with its proposed dams. When this support dissolved in the face of resistance from Washington senator Henry Jackson, who chaired the Senate Interior Committee, the pragmatic Udall sought passage of a bare-bones CAP bill without the dams before he and Arizona senator Carl Hayden retired. Despite this congressional deal-making, the Sierra Club received credit for blocking the dams and was propelled to the undisputed leadership of the environmental movement. Using the myth that it had saved the Canyon, the club transformed its image of power into real political influence after Congress passed the National Environmental Policy Act in 1970, giving environmental advocates access to the policy-making process for the first time. In revealing how the Sierra Club played a much lesser role in blocking the dams than they would have had the public believe, Pearson contrasts the ways in which the controversy unfolded in the court of public opinion versus the actual political process. He takes readers into congressional chambers and conference rooms, reconstructing the legislative process to convey the full flavor of this political give-and-take. Based on research in archives from all over the country, Still the Wild River Runswill itself be a subject of controversy as it challenges long-standing notions about the power of environmental lobbies. By putting this chain of historical events in clearer perspective, it can give citizens concerned with future causes a better understanding of the political process and what really moves it.

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9780816520589

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Reviews

Settle in for a good read. If you love the Grand Canyon, politics, or the environmental movement, this one has it all. -- Farmington Times Pearson includes material on proposals and actions that are both amazing and appalling. . . . Vital reading for anyone wanting to understand the complex decision-making process regarding water resources in the Southwest. -- Southwestern American Literature This well documented and written narrative is sobering for those who believe in political activism. Not only educational, the book is an exciting read about an important even in the history of the American West. -- Utah Historical Quarterly A substantial and well-researched addition to the case study literature on western reclamation politics. -- Western Historical Quarterly The author's purpose is not to discount the environmentalists' role so much as to enrich our interpretation by highlighting four years of complicated political maneuvering. In so doing, he has brought balance to a

Settle in for a good read. If you love the Grand Canyon, politics, or the environmental movement, this one has it all. -- Farmington Times Pearson includes material on proposals and actions that are both amazing and appalling. . . . Vital reading for anyone wanting to understand the complex decision-making process regarding water resources in the Southwest. -- Southwestern American Literature This well documented and written narrative is sobering for those who believe in political activism. Not only educational, the book is an exciting read about an important even in the history of the American West. -- Utah Historical Quarterly A substantial and well-researched addition to the case study literature on western reclamation politics. -- Western Historical Quarterly The author's purpose is not to discount the environmentalists' role so much as to enrich our interpretation by highlighting four years of complicated political maneuvering. In so doing, he has brought balance to a previously one-sided interpretation. -- Journal of American History

Author Information

Byron E. Pearson is Assistant Professor of History at West Texas A&M University.

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