Power Project Menaces Section Of University's Black Rock Forest

The University will lose slightly more than 200 acres of its Black Rock Forest, if the Consolidated Edison Company goes through with its plans to build a hydro-electric power project in Cornwall-on-Hudson, N.Y., just north of West Point.

In a letter to the New York Times, printed June 19, President Pusey objected to Con Ed's "radical proposal for altering the scenic beauty and scientific value of a largely unspoiled section of the Hudson Valley."

He explained that the 3700-acre Harvard Black Rock Forest is "remarkable for its hardwoods characteristic of the middle Appalachian region and important for the study of silviculture and conservation practices."

Numerous Organizations Protest

Pusey joined numerous conservation organizations in protesting Con Ed's plan. The Times and the New York Herald-Tribune have both printed editorials, calling for an alternative location.

L. Gard Wiggins, administrative vice-president, said that there is nothing further Harvard can do to prevent Con Ed from taking the land by eminent domain.

The Federal Power Commission will decide sometime later this summer, whether to grant Con Ed a permit.

Present plans call for the construction of a storage basin beside Storm King Mt. in Cornwall, to which Hudson River water will be pumped during the night, when New York City's demand for electricity is low, and from which the water will be dropped, to generate electricity during the day.

Other Sites Possible

Con Ed engineers admit that other sites in the same area could be used. They claim, however, that the Cornwall location, is by far the most economical, and would save the company $13 million a year.

Estate and farm owners around Cornwall are planning legal action against the projected dikes, "so flimsy they could burst and flood the lush slopes and valleys with a billion gallons of sewage-polluted saline water pumped from the Hudson."

Lines Underground at Start

Under present plans, the power lines will be underground for the first 1.6 miles south of Cornwall. After that they will be overhead. Four towns in Putnam and Westchester Counties are planning court action to prevent this.

About the only people favoring Con Ed's plans are the Cornwall villagers. The plant will add $50 million to the present $6 million assessed valuations, and produce $500,000 a year in additional taxes. This year the village budget is only $119,954.

Mayor Says Plant Hidden

Cornwall's Mayor Michael J. Donahue claims that the plant will be hidden in a glen. He also said he thinks the conservationists are much too concerned with the foliage: "Not once at the hearing in Washington did they mention the needs of man."

The Black Forest and the 2700-acre Harvard Forest in Petersham were both given to the University by the late Dr. Ernest G. Stillman '08, who also gave the IAB. The forests are used by candidates in Harvard's small Master of Forest Science program.