Demographics

• Page, Arizona, the chosen site of the Glen Canyon Dam, was originally a Navajo Reservation. Without much consideration, the government enacted a land exchange with the Navajo, giving them land in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah so the dam could be constructed at the chosen site. The Native Americans had inhabited this area for over 40,000 years and now were being forced to move off their religious land or join the workforce constructing the dam. The Bureau of Reclamation was in charge of deciding on a location for the dam and finding a workforce to construct the dam

• The B.O.R. advertised for a doctor, dentist, pharmacist, teachers, etc. to come settle on one of the last American frontiers, ignoring the fact this land had been owned by the Navajo for thousands of previous years. They constructed houses, hospitals, government buildings and roads to attract settlers. The community consisted of about 3000 inhabitants in the beginnings, mostly construction workers. Much of the community lived in "trans-housing", or trailer parks, due to the red sand and lack of vegetation. These people knew the true meaning of community since they depended on each other for mostly everything. After the completion of the dam, the population dropped to around 1,500, those that stayed to preserve.

Current Knowledge

In the Glen Canyon Dam controversy there are many institutional affiliations contributing scientific facts. Institutions include departments of the Federal Government and non-profit organizations. Departments of the Federal Government include the National Park Service and the Bureau of Reclamation. There are a variety of non-profit and other organizations that are involved in the Glen Canyon Dam project such as the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program, the Glen Canyon Natural History Association, and the Navajo Nation. Scientific facts about the Glen Canyon Dam can be found in the Environmental Impact Statement. The majority of the opposition comes from the members of the Navajo Nation. The Navajo Nation was in opposition for the creation of the Glen Canyon Dam as they believe it would destroy areas of archaeology and religious importance, such as Rainbow Bridge. The Federal Government issued its own environmental impact statement, and the Navajo Nation also does their own environmental assessments as seen on their website of the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency. The Navajo Nation employs scientists and legal aid to help further their cause. Local residents look to these organizations for authoritative answers and there does not seem to be any residents using personal attacks as a way of opposition.

Betrayal!!

After 1962, the Secretary of Interior was no longer in a position to actively pursue protecting Rainbow Bridge; however, environmental groups were not ready to abandon the fight. Brower and Packard lobbied everyone they could think of to compel federal officials to honor the protective terms of the CRSP. Brower believed that Congress and the Secretary of the Interior would never skate past the legal imperative of protection. To Brower, not protecting Rainbow Bridge was the same thing as wantonly breaking the law. Until 1960, Secretary Seaton was sending Brower all the right messages: while Congress was defunding protective measures, the Department of the Interior announced it would lobby Congress for funds at Rainbow Bridge. In early 1960, Seaton penned a personal note to Brower at the bottom of a press release that said, "let me assure you that it is my firm policy, as well as that of all personnel of my department, that any actions or activities of this Department will be in conformance with existing law. By 1971, the water had reached the monument. A court case filed under the American Indian Religious Freedom Act was lost and failed to protect the site.

• Premeditated- pursuing course of action to put the Rainbow Bridge in harms way- uses lies and deception to conceal their own culpability
• Structural- Gov't viewing problem threw a narrow lens- only looking at their benefits, not the harm they will be causing the community and environment, by trying to alleviate the problem of water appropriation, they infringe on the rights of the Native Americans and put the Colorado Ecosystem in harms way- feedback loop creating everlasting resentment between the Indians and the government- gov't thinks money will make up for the land they are taking
  

Historical Perspectives

• Harbinger- The Navajo have always been oppressed, being forced off land they have lived on for 40,000 years, forced to adapt to new methods of farming, hunting and herding, or relocation. They have a history of resistance against exploitation and injustice, by opposing other dams located in their area, opposing relocation of their tribes, and opposing anything that would affect their sacred religious monuments such as Rainbow Bridge. The Navajo had signed the Colorado River Storage Project in 1956 to protect the future of their sacred land. It stated that the government was to prevent losses of, and improve conditions for fish, wildlife, and public recreational facilities, as well as paying for protective measures if they were constructing a dam that would harm sacred Navajo land or monuments.

• Tradition- The Navajo way of life has been rooted in the land and they want nothing more than to live simply within the natural limits of the land. The land has been considered sacred for centuries, and the construction of the dam would prevent the Navajo from performing religious ceremonies on the spot and desecrate the sacred nature of the site

Timeline

1902: President Roosevelt signs the Newlands Reclaimation Act, enabling engineers to begin investigations and produce reports on control and possible uses of the Colorado River, funding provided from western land sales and irrigation water
1905: torrential rains lead to the Colorado River breaking into Imperial Valley creating an inland sea of a hundred and fifty square miles
1920: Kinkaid Act is passed, allowing the Secretary of the Interior to investigate problems in Imperial Valley
1922: February- Fall-Davis report on the "Problems of Imperial Valley and Vicinity" is produced, recommending construction of a high dam on Colorado River
November- Arizona, Colorado, California, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, and Nevada sign the Colorado River Compact in Santa Fe, New Mexico
1928: Boulder Canyon Project Act is passed by the House and Senate and signed by President Coolidge- authorized construction of Boulder Dam
1935: construction of Hoover Dam completed
1954: Friends of Glen Canyon created, led by Ken Sleight, in order to save 1928 monument proposal
1956: Colorado River Storage Project authorized the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam, passed by a slim Congressional vote in March
- Construction begins a year later with no Environmental Impact Assessment whatsoever
1957: Western Area Power Administration of the DOE now in charge of the marketing and selling of hydropower under the Department of Energy Organization Act
1963: Glen Canyon Dam completed, standing at a height of 710 feet, creating Lake Powell
1968: Colorado River Basin Act outlines the priorities of the Glen Canyon Dam
1970: Friends of the Earth along with Ken Sleight sued federal government for violating the CRSP
1974: Badoni vs. Higginson, Navajo tribe members sued Department of Interior, Commissioner of BOR, and Director of National Park Services for denying their sacred prayer spot and desecrating the sacred nature of the site
1981: environmentalist group Earth First! launched itself by unfurling a three-hundred foot plastic "crack" along the front of Glen Canyon Dam
1982: Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center created as a result of concerns about the health of the system
1992: Grand Canyon Protect Act- requires an Environmental Impact Statement be completed by 1994 on Glen Canyon
1995: Final EIS issued, calling for the leveling out of wide daily fluctuations in water flow from Glen Canyon Dam to lessen downstream effects
1996: March 22-April 7- 9 day trial flood of Lake Powell to stir up and relocate settled sediments from the bottom of the lake
1999: Glen Canyon Action Network was formed to build the citizen's movement to drain Lake Powell
2008: March- Lake Powell flooded again

Opposition/Supporters

Opposers

• basically fighting for preservation of the Colorado River ecosystem and its species
• Dam would change patterns of erosion and sediment deposition

• archaeological sites once protected by sandbars would become exposed to erosion and ultimately destruction

Navajo Indians: opposed the dam because it would flood their sacred religious land, forcing them to adapt to new conditions and new ways of farming and herding, or face relocation
Sierra Club: Originally fought hard to stop the construction of the Echo Park Dam, which they won, insisting that Glen Canyon would be a better site and they would not oppose that, until they say the beauty of Glen Canyon it was too late
Council of Conservationists: Fought to prevent the construction of the Echo Park Dam
National Park Service: opposed building dams inside national monuments. The purpose of the NPS was to "conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects . . . and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." In 1954 they accepted the dam would be build and began fighting to protect Rainbow Bridge and build protective measures.
National Parks Association: argued that the Park Service and the BOR had not considered all the threats to Rainbow Bridge
Living Rivers: nonprofit organization empowering the movement to instill a new ethic of achieving ecological restoration, balancing meeting human needs. They work to restore inundated river canyons, wetlands and the delta, repeal antiquated laws which represent the river's death sentence, reducce water and energy use and their impacts on the river, and recruit constituents to aid in reviving the Colorado. Their solution is to decommission the Glen Canyon Dam.


Supporters

Secretary of Interior: Steward Udall- under Kennedy administration- denied funding for protective measures against the destruction of the sacred monument-his brother Morris Udall- Arizona congressman also enthusiastic supporter
Bureau of Reclamation: goal- to water the arid west-In charge of choosing a location for the dam and providing a workforce
Community: much of the community of the lower basin states wants to secure their water rights from the river