137 



power, the public interest in preserving reaches of wild rivers and wilderness areas, 

 the preservation of anadromous fish for commercial and recreational purposes, and the 

 protection of wildlife." (Hells Canyon, The Deepest Gorge on Earth, William Ash- 

 worth, Pgs. 138 and 139) 



This decision bought new life to the movement to protect the canyon from dam 

 construction and culminated with passage of the Hells Canyon Act in 1975, including 

 designation of 67.5 miles of the Snake River as wild or scenic. 



Many people and organizations were important in passage of the Act, but no one 

 was more instrumental than Floyd Harvey, a power boat outfitter. Harvey mobilized 

 support among environmental organizations and played a key role in forming the 

 Hells Canyon Preservation Council. He also elevated Hells Canyon' s issues to na- 

 tional attention by jet boating celebrities into the canyon and enlisting their support. 

 These included radio personality Arthur Godfrey and singer Burle Ives. (Hells Can- 

 yon, The Deepest Gorge on Earth, William Ashworth, Pgs. 144-195) 



This law (PL94-199, December 31,1975) designated 652,0(X) acres in Oregon and 

 Idaho as the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area. Within the recreation area it 

 also designated (as amended) 214,000 acres of wildemess and 171 miles of wild and 

 scenic rivers. These acres and miles include additions from the Oregon Wildemess 

 and Omnibus Rivers Acts, both of which postdate the HCNRA Act. The Snake River 

 is designated Wild from Hells Canyon Dam north to Pittsburg Landing (31.5 miles), 

 Scenic from Pittsburg Landing north to the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest's north 

 boundary (36 miles) and Study from the W-W's north boundary to the HCNRA's north 

 boundary and the Oregon / Washington state line (4 miles). 



The National Park Service completed its study in 1980 and recommended designa- 

 tion of the "study" river as "scenic" from the present scenic boundary to Heller Bar 

 and "recreation" from Heller Bar to the upper end of Lower Granite Reservoir at 

 Asotin. The study was held in the Department of Interior until 1983, when it was 

 finally released to the President with a cover memo saying that designation was not 

 recommended at that time. When no legislation to designate the study river was intro- 

 duced by 1986, the study protection expired and three organizations immediately filed 

 to build the Asotin Dam. The resulting outrage was so widespread that Senators 

 Symms and McClure introduced legislation which prohibited further dams on either 

 the Middle Snake or Lower Salmon Rivers. It quickly became law. 



None of the Wild or Scenic Snake River is within wildemess, although its approxi- 

 mately half mile wide corridor is bordered on both sides by wildemess for 18 miles 

 and on one side for an additional 32 miles. 



Some important sections of the act are: ^ 



• Section 7 which establishes objectives for management; 



• Section 8 which requires a Comprehensive Management Plan; 



• Section 10 which addresses the promulgation of regulations and 



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