THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 
Published Quarterly by the 
ILLINOIS AUDUBON SOCIETY 
Roosevelt Road and Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Ill. 60605 
Number 138 June 1966 
THE PRESIDENT'S PAGE 
By Raymond Mostek 
The Dam Threat in Grand Canyon—One of the world’s great scenic wonders, 
the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, is in serious danger of being des- 
troyed by an agency of the government. The Bureau of Reclamation of the 
Department of Interior seeks to have Congress authorize the Marble Canyon 
and Bridge Canyon dams as part of the “Lower Colorado River Basin Pro- 
ject.” These dams are incorporated in H.R. 4671. The House Committee on 
Interior and Insular Affairs has held hearings on this and similar bills. 
As Richard C. Bradley pointed out in the Audubon Magazine for Febru- 
ary, 1966, “the water rise caused by these dams would destroy the river 
ecology of the area.” The two power dams would help destroy the birds 
and plants of the area; the bighorn sheep which inhabit the Grand Canyon 
would have their habitat wiped out. 
Bridge Canyon Dam would create a reservoir almost 100 miles in 
length; it would flood all of the Grand Canyon National Monument and the 
back waters would reach 13 miles into Grand Canyon National Park. Our 
National Parks are primeval parks; they were designed to preserve geo- 
logical and scenic wonders for all time. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, in 
defiance of laws against such practices, has carried on a strong campaign in 
favor of the project, and especially for the two controversial dams. 
Several years ago, I joined a party of 54 other persons to float down 
the exciting Colorado River on a rubber raft. The Gerogie White Expedition 
has done this many times; so have other groups. Now almost all of the 
great river is harnessed by dams. The scenic Glen Canyon, which few 
people knew, was sacrificed for a new Lake Powell, created by the flood 
waters of the Glen Canyon Dam. 
Many congressmen are unaware that H.R. 4671 would permit flooding 
of Grand Canyon National Park. It is up to us to tell them, for the legis- 
lation is hazy. Marble Canyon Dam and Bridge Canyon Dam are both 
power projects—neither one will supply California or Arizona with drink- 
ing water. As the National Audubon Society has pointed out, if these two 
dams are to be deleted from the bill, it will have to be done by the rest 
of the country, for the Western power bloc will insist the dams be built, 
regardless of the vast damage they will do not only to Grand Canyon 
National Park, but to the national park concept. 
te tome 
