The Colorado River became a battleground in the 1950s over the proposal of several large dams by the Bureau of Reclamation, including one sited in Echo National Park, which would flood Dinosaur National Monument. The Sierra Club and other environmental organizations vehemently opposed its construction, publishing a coffee table book, This is Dinosaur, helping rally the public against it and prompting congress to reject the plans in 1955. However, the organizations failed to recognize the scenic, historic, and ecological importance of other canyons slated for damming, such as Glen Canyon. By focusing solely on preserving national parks, the Sierra Club lost a momentous battle in saving the Colorado River. In lamentation for Glen Canyon, the Sierra Club published The Place No One Knew and vowed to never make the same mistake again. The dam was completed in 1966 and since then has disrupted ecological functions downriver by slowing the water flow and ending the characteristic spring floods that deposited nutrient-rich silt.
Contributed by Gregory Hitch
Course: Modern Global Environmental History
Instructor: Dr. Wilko Graf von Hardenberg
University of Wisconsin–Madison, US
- Cohen, Michael P. The History of the Sierra Club, 1892-1970. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1988.
- Brower, David. For Earth's Sake: The Life and Times of David Brower. Salt Lake City: Peregrine Smith Books, 1990.
- Dunaway, Finis. Natural Visions: The Power of Images in American Environmental Reform. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005.
- Gross, Mathew Barrett. The Glen Canyon Reader. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2003.