datistiw oe ON Bb UTS la et TN 25 
The Threat of Rampart Dam 
By Preston S. Davtes 
Have you heard of the Rampart Canyon Dam? Where it is located? The rea- 
son for its construction? And finally, what will be the effect of the dam on 
wild life within the immediate area? 
Rampart Canyon Dam site is in northeastern Alaska, in the geographic 
center of the state. The dam will be constructed on the Yukon River, the fifth 
largest river in North America, 756 miles upstream from its mouth. The pur- 
pose of this dam would be for the production of electrical power. It will be 
a gigantic construction effort. The engineers have suggested a gravity-type 
dam, 530 feet high, with a top length of 4700 feet. This dam: would create 
a reservoir which would inundate 400 miles of the mainstream of the Yukon 
River, not including the many miles of tributaries. It would create a lake 
280 miles long and 80 miles wide covering an area equal to one of our smaller 
Great Lakes. 
In the I. A. S. we are concerned with the preservation and conservation 
of birds and wild life which inhabit this wild Artic Circle area. The land which 
will be inundated is called Yukon Flats; it contains the best waterfowl] breed- 
ing habitat on this continent. This is, also, home for a great variety of big 
game, small game, and fur animals. 
The Yukon Flats are laced with sloughs, closed-basin bog lakes, and 
river channels, creating excellent nesting sites for waterfowl. This area con- 
tributes substantially to recreational activities of people in North America. 
The dam would destroy 36,000 lakes and ponds covering 760,000 acres. The 
acres of water are interspersed among the Flats and are regarded as a high 
density duck breeding ground. 
The contribution of Yukon Flats yearly to the waterfowl count is 1,500,- 
000 ducks and 12,500 geese. Many of these birds, such as mallards, canvas- 
backs, teal and pintails, find their way to the four major waterfowl] flyways 
in the United States. Yukon Flats gain in significance when we consider the 
losses of nesting habitat in the United States through continued drainage of 
marshes and the advance of civilization in Canada. The present waterfowl 
management programs sponsored by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service can- 
not match the productivity of the Yukon Flats. 
If the Yukon Flats are flooded, where would ducks and geese go to nest 
when their ancestral nesting grounds no longer exist? Alternate nesting areas 
are crowded already, taxing food supplies. The demand for nesting and feed- 
ing space would be detrimental to the raising and feeding of young. The pro- 
duction of birds could not be sustained to contribute 1,500,000 ducks and 
12,500 geese to the hunting harvest annually. 
Rampart Dam presents a tragic threat to 10,500 square miles of the 
largest, most productive, and stable blocks of waterfowl habitat found in 
North America. These Flats can produce a flight of 1.5 million ducks, but if 
there is no replacement of habitat, these birds will be lost to us. 
