New York Dam Will Flood Area Owned by Univ.

The Federal Power Commission today in Washington licensed the Consolidated Edison Company to construct a hydroelectric project on the Hudson River that would flood approximately 70 acres of Harvard's Black Rock Forest.

The $160 million powerhouse and reservoir, located in Cornwall and Highlands about 40 miles north of New York City, would be used to fill peak demands for power in the City and in Westchester County.

The Commission dismissed objections that the project would mar the beauty of the Hudson Valley, stating that it would have minimal effect on scenic values in the area.

Hugh M. Raup, Charles Bullard professor of forestry and director of the Harvard Forest in Petersham, Mass., said that the project would not seriously affect the experiments now under way at Black Rock. "They'll take part of our and," Raup said, "but not very much. They've been discussing it for some time," Preservation Conference, a conservationist Raup added. The Scenic Hudson Pre-group, had been fighting the construction of the project. The Conference stated yesterday in New York that the decision must be reversed, and indicated that it would take action to do so.

The 3700-acre Black Rock Forest near the town of Cornwall, N.Y., and the Harvard Forest were both donated by the late Dr. Ernest G. Stillman '08. Under the direction of the Institute for Research in Experimental and Applied Biology, they constitute Harvard's field facilities for research and instruction in forestry.