Saving Grand Canyon: Dams, Deals, and a Noble Myth

In a year that marks the Grand Canyon National Park’s centenary, this thoroughly researched and documented study from Pearson, a West Texas A&M University history professor, revisits the persistent struggles to keep the park dam-free. But beyond this specific focus, his work also captures key pivot points in the changing national mood, particularly from the general optimism of the early 1960s, when “no dream seemed too farfetched,” to the more contentious tone that followed John F. Kennedy’s 1963 assassination. Noting that the political tumult of the mid-’60s included the “rise of modern environmentalism,” Pearson emphasizes the Sierra Club’s role in opposing development of the park. After the Sierra Club issued a series of “Battle Ads” challenging the construction of dams within the park, the IRS revoked the club’s tax-deductible status. Though Pearson concludes by describing how, in 1968, legislation was passed to keep dams out of the Canyon, he warns that it is still “far, far, too early to pronounce [the project] dead.” Nature-loving readers will find value in his insights both into a specific conservation milestone and into the broader sweep of the environmentalist movement’s history. (Sept.)