Echo Park Dam opposition
The opposition to the Echo Park Dam, which took place between 1952 and 1956, represents a significant moment in the history of the American environmental movement. Proposed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the dam was intended to be built in Utah's Dinosaur National Monument, an area that was initially perceived as having limited scenic value. However, following a pivotal trip by a Sierra Club member, awareness of the region's natural beauty grew, leading to increased opposition to the dam. The Sierra Club, along with other conservation groups, rallied against the dam, emphasizing the importance of preserving natural landscapes and ecosystems. Their coalition included prominent figures and organizations who recognized the potential environmental impact of the dam. Ultimately, in 1956, advocates successfully halted the project, marking a key victory for environmentalists. This opposition not only highlighted the need for conservation within national parks but also illustrated the emerging power of environmental activism in the United States. The decision came with a complex compromise, as environmentalists agreed to support another dam project, a choice that has been subject to reflection and regret in subsequent years.
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Echo Park Dam opposition
THE EVENT: Environmentalists’ efforts to halt the building of a dam in the Echo Park river bottom in Utah’s Dinosaur National Monument.
DATES: 1952-56
The Sierra Club’s successful attempt to stop construction of the proposed Echo Park Dam in Dinosaur National Monument during the 1950s signaled the emergence of the environmental movement as a powerful political force in the United States.
The US Bureau of Reclamation first suggested building a high at the Echo Park site, located 3.2 kilometers (2 miles) below the confluence of the Green and Yampa rivers on the border of Utah and Colorado, during the 1930s. No formal request was made to the US Congress for authorization of the project until 1950, however. The terms of the Organic Act of 1916, passed following the controversy surrounding construction of the Hetch Hetchy Dam in Yosemite National Park in California, prohibited such a project, but administrators within the bureau believed legislators would be willing to make an exception for Echo Park. Subsequent events proved them wrong.
At the time that the Bureau of Reclamation asked Congress for permission to build a high dam within the boundaries of Dinosaur National Monument, few people expected any significant opposition. In the years following the Great Depression, both the US government and the public saw dam development as good for the economy and thus good for the country. Noted photographer Ansel Adams had helped mobilize opposition to hydroelectric development on the Kings River in California a decade earlier, leading to the creation of Kings Canyon National Park, but the Kings River area was home to giant sequoia trees—making its scenic wilderness value obvious. Dinosaur National Monument, in contrast, appeared barren. As long as the Echo Park Dam would not inundate the dinosaur fossil quarries, advocates of wilderness preservation initially voiced few objections. According to David Brower, executive director of the Sierra Club at the time, even members of his organization described the monument as being nothing but sagebrush.
This changed in 1952 following a Sierra Club member’s trip through Dinosaur National Monument. The home movie footage he shot of the canyons within the monument persuaded Brower and others to take a closer look. In 1953 the Sierra Club began organizing rafting trips along the Green River through Dinosaur National Monument. As more people traveled through the spectacular river canyons, opposition to dam construction within the boundaries of the monument grew. Other wilderness preservation and conservation groups, such as the Wilderness Society and the Izaak Walton League, along with prominent writers and politicians, joined with the Sierra Club in fighting the Echo Park Dam proposal.
In 1956 this coalition of preservationists and conservationists was successful: The Bureau of Reclamation dropped its plans for the Echo Park Dam. The victory for the environmental preservationists proved bittersweet, however. In exchange for the cancellation of the plans for Echo Park, the environmentalists agreed not to fight the Bureau of Reclamation’s plan to build Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River, a decision Brower later regretted. Still, by preventing construction of the Echo Park Dam, the environmentalists reaffirmed the important principle that no industrial development should ever take place within a national park.
Bibliography
"Controversy in Echo Park." Utah Division of Archives and Records Service, 12 Sept. 2022, 168.177.21.21/research/exhibits/colorado-river/echo-park.html. Accessed 17 July 2024.
Harvey, Mark. "Echo Park Dam Controversy." Colorado Encyclopedia, 16 June 2022, coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/echo-park-dam-controversy. Accessed 16 July 2024.
Lowry, William Robert. Dam Politics: Restoring America’s Rivers. Georgetown UP, 2003.
Palmer, Tim. “The Beginnings of River Protection.” In Endangered Rivers and the Conservation Movement. 2d ed. Rowman & Littlefield, 2004.