DAMMING THE GRAND CANYON

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

It is very disturbing that few people know about the extreme danger facing the Grand Canyon of the Colorado this year. Congress is scheduled to act soon on the construction of the Bridge and Marble Canyon Dams as part of the Colorado River Reclamation Bill (HR4671). These dams will flood over half the canyon left unspoiled after the Glen Canyon Dam was built, including the entire Grand Canyon National Monument. Neither dam is designed to trap irrigation water, a job accomplished too effectively by the existing dams upstream. They are proposed for hydro-electric power to pay for the rest of the irrigation project, but their great size would make them more expensive even in the long run than conventional generating plants. In any case, priceless, spectacular canyon scenery and ecology will be forever lost under lake sediment if the dams are built.

The bill's supporters are trying to push it through Congress before the public can object, and they have a powerful enough lobby for success if there is no publicity. Harvard and Radcliffe students can help fight the threat by signing the petitions now circulating and by writing their congressmen and President Johnson. Charles V. Martin '66