The Battle for the Buffalo River : The History of America's First National River

Under the auspices of the 1938 Flood Control Act, the U.S. Corps of Engineers began to pursue an aggressive dam-building campaign. A grateful public generally lauded their efforts, but when they turned their attention to Arkansas s Buffalo River, the vocal opposition their proposed projects generated dumbfounded them. Never before had anyone challenged the Corps s assumption that damming a river was an improvement. Led by Neil Compton, a physician in Bentonville, Arkansas, a group of area conservationists formed the Ozark Society to join the battle for the Buffalo. This book is the account of this decade-long struggle that drew in such political figures as supreme court justice William O. Douglas, Senator J. William Fulbright, and Governor Orval Faubus. The battle finally ended in 1972 with President Richard Nixon s designation of the Buffalo as the first national river. Drawing on hundreds of personal letters, photographs, maps, newspaper articles, and reminiscences, Compton s lively book details the trials, gains, setbacks, and ultimate triumph in one of the first major skirmishes between environmentalists and developers." Annotation Under the auspices of the 1938 Flood Control Act, the U.S. Corps of Engineers began to pursue an aggressive dam-building campaign. A grateful public generally lauded their efforts, but when they turned their attention to Arkansass Buffalo River, the vocal opposition their proposed projects generated dumbfounded them. Never before had anyone challenged the Corpss assumption that damming a river was an improvement. Led by Neil Compton, a physician in Bentonville, Arkansas, a group of area conservationists formed the Ozark Society to join the battle for the Buffalo. This book is the account of this decade-long struggle that drew in such political figures as supreme court justice William O. Douglas, Senator J. William Fulbright, and Governor Orval Faubus. The battle finally ended in 1972 with President Richard Nixons designation of the Buffalo as the first national river. Drawing on hundreds of personal letters, photographs, maps, newspaper articles, and reminiscences, Comptons lively book details the trials, gains, setbacks, and ultimate triumph in one of the first major skirmishes between environmentalists and developers ACKNOWLEDGMENTS; CONTENTS; AUTHOR'S FOREWORD; FOREWORD FOR THE OZARK SOCIETY PRINTING; 1. THE COMING OF CONCRETE; 2. THE CONSERVATION IDEA TAKES WING; 3. THE LEGACY OF LOST VALLEY; 4. THE BATTLE JOINED; 5. ENTER THE OZARK SOCI ETY; 6. THE DRY BUFFALO; 7. THE STATE FAIR FRACAS; 8. THE MARSHALL ARMORY-SECOND TIME AROUND; 9. THE BOARD OF ENGINEERS FOR RIVERS AND HARBORS; 10. A RUMBLE ON THE RIVER; 11. ORVAL FAUBUS COMES TO BAT; 12. THE ELECTION OF 1966; 13. ACTION IN D.C.-REACTION AT HOME; 14. THE BOOK AND THE BULLETIN; 15. ADVENTURES ON THE RIVER AND IN THE HILLS Neil Compton (1912-1999) was also the author of The High Ozarks: A Vision of Eden. He received the National Wildlife Federation's National Conservation Achievement Award and was a President George H.W. Bush Point of Light Recipient for his community service, and in 1990 President Bush presented him with the Teddy Roosevelt Conservation Award 16. THE TRANSMOGRIFICATION OF THE BRIA17. THE RIVER WAR WIDENS; 18. SENATE BILL 855, THE BEGINNING OF THE END; 19. DREAMERS AND SCHEMERS ON THE BUFFALO; 20. CONSERVATION-A POLITICAL CHESS GAME; 21. THE JUBILEE BUS; EPILOGUE; INDEX Drawing on hundreds of personal letters, photographs, maps, newspaper articles, and reminiscences, this book details one of the first major skirmishes between environmentalists and developers: the history of the Buffalo River.