Glacier View Dam
Encyclopedia
Glacier View Dam was proposed in 1943 on the North Fork of the Flathead River
, on the western border of Glacier National Park in Montana. The 416 feet (126.8 m) tall dam, to be designed and constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the canyon between Huckleberry Mountain and Glacier View Mountain, would have flooded in excess of 10000 acres (4,046.9 ha) of the park. In the face of determined opposition from the National Park Service
and conservation groups, the dam was never built.
to raise the level of Flathead Lake
by damming its outlet was rejected following local protests. Located in a relatively unpopulated area, the Glacier View reservoir would have flooded lower Camas Creek and would have raised the level of Logging Lake
by 50 feet (15.2 m), inundating much of the winter range for the park's white-tailed deer
, elk
, mule deer
and moose
. The proposed reservoir was to extend nearly to the Canadian border, at an estimated cost of $94,962,000. The dam was supported by Montana Representative Mike Mansfield
and Flathead Valley interests, but was opposed by former Senator Burton K. Wheeler
, local ranchers, the National Park Service
, the Glacier Park Hotel Company, the Sierra Club
, Society of American Foresters
and the Audubon Society. Public hearings were held in 1948 and 1949. Turnout at the 1948 hearings at Kalispell
was influenced by extensive flooding then occurring in the Flathead Valley. Exploratory drilling took place in 1944 and 1945 at Glacier View and Foolhen Hill. The project was terminated by a joint memorandum between the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of the Army on April 11, 1949, but Mansfield introduced an unsuccessful bill later in the year directing the Corps of Engineers to proceed with the dam, stating that the dam "would not affect the beauty of the park in any way but would make it more beautiful by creating a large lake over ground that ... has no scenic attraction." The Corps of Engineers report on the project noted:
Park Service Director Newton B. Drury
responded:
Drury went on to state that 19460 acres (7,875.2 ha) of land would be flooded, including virgin Ponderosa pine
. In order to show that the area was of recreational value, the Park Service constructed the Camas Creek Road through the area.
The dam was opposed by the Park Service and conservation organizations on principal as an intrusion into lands that had been made inviolate by their inclusion into a national park, with about a third of the reservoir on Park Service lands. The precedent established at Hetch Hetchy
in Yosemite National Park
was not to be repeated. A similar, more difficult fight followed over the proposed Echo Park Dam in Dinosaur National Monument
.
on the Clark Fork River just below its confluence with the Flathead
, was opposed by local interests. The Paradise project was considered by the Corps of Engineers as a more desirable project than Glacier Point, but was considered by the Corps to be difficult to develop compared to Glacier View, given the developed nature of the flooded area proposed at Paradise versus the relatively unpopulated Glacier View region. Other proposed dams were the Smoky Range, Canyon Creek and Spruce Park dams, none of which were built. Hungry Horse Dam
was, however, completed in 1953 by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on the South Fork of the Flathead. The Spruce Park reservoir to the south of the park was proposed to have been connected to the Hungry Horse reservoir, with a power generation plant at the conduit's discharge. Paradise Dam is described by the Corps of Engineers as preferable from the point of view of the overall plan, standing on both the Clark Fork River and the Flathead, but the flooding of towns and productive agricultural lands stirred intense local opposition.
The 1950 Corps of Engineers report that detailed the Glacier View project also mentioned the potential of the Middle Fork Flathead River
for development, and projected a dam at Belton
, with a 1190000 acre.ft reservoir behind a dam developing 330 feet (100.6 m) of hydraulic head, for a potential generating capacity of 152 MW. As the Middle Fork forms the southwest boundary of Glacier National Park, any reservoir on the Middle Fork near Belton would necessarily flood portions of the park. With the rejection of the Glacier View project, the Belton project never progressed beyond its listing as a potential project.
in the park.
and the small town of Polebridge
lie within the proposed reservoir. Within the park, the lower reaches of Camas Creek, Quartz Creek, Bowman Creek and Akokala Creek would have been flooded, along with most of Logging Creek and Logging Lake.
North Fork Flathead River
The North Fork Flathead River is a river flowing through British Columbia , Canada south into the U.S. state of Montana. It is one of the three primary forks of the Flathead River, a tributary of the Pend Oreille River, via Clark Fork. The river is sometimes considered the upper headwaters of the...
, on the western border of Glacier National Park in Montana. The 416 feet (126.8 m) tall dam, to be designed and constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the canyon between Huckleberry Mountain and Glacier View Mountain, would have flooded in excess of 10000 acres (4,046.9 ha) of the park. In the face of determined opposition from the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
and conservation groups, the dam was never built.
Proposal
The Glacier View project was proposed after an earlier proposal by the Corps of Engineers and the Bonneville Power AdministrationBonneville Power Administration
The Bonneville Power Administration is an American federal agency based in the Pacific Northwest. BPA was created by an act of Congress in 1937 to market electric power from the Bonneville Dam located on the Columbia River and to construct facilities necessary to transmit that power...
to raise the level of Flathead Lake
Flathead Lake
Flathead Lake is the largest natural freshwater lake in the western part of the contiguous United States. With a surface area of between and , it is slightly larger than Lake Tahoe. The lake is a remnant of the ancient inland sea, Lake Missoula of the era of the last interglacial. Flathead Lake...
by damming its outlet was rejected following local protests. Located in a relatively unpopulated area, the Glacier View reservoir would have flooded lower Camas Creek and would have raised the level of Logging Lake
Logging Lake
Logging Lake is located in Glacier National Park, in the U. S. state of Montana. Logging Lake is one of the longest lakes in Glacier National Park at in length. The Lower Logging Lake Snowshoe Cabin and Boathouse are two structures located near the southwestern end of Logging Lake, and are on the...
by 50 feet (15.2 m), inundating much of the winter range for the park's white-tailed deer
White-tailed Deer
The white-tailed deer , also known as the Virginia deer or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States , Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru...
, elk
Elk
The Elk is the large deer, also called Cervus canadensis or wapiti, of North America and eastern Asia.Elk may also refer to:Other antlered mammals:...
, mule deer
Mule Deer
The mule deer is a deer indigenous to western North America. The Mule Deer gets its name from its large mule-like ears. There are believed to be several subspecies, including the black-tailed deer...
and moose
Moose
The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...
. The proposed reservoir was to extend nearly to the Canadian border, at an estimated cost of $94,962,000. The dam was supported by Montana Representative Mike Mansfield
Mike Mansfield
Michael Joseph Mansfield was an American Democratic politician and the longest-serving Majority Leader of the United States Senate, serving from 1961 to 1977. He also served as United States Ambassador to Japan for over ten years...
and Flathead Valley interests, but was opposed by former Senator Burton K. Wheeler
Burton K. Wheeler
Burton Kendall Wheeler was an American politician of the Democratic Party and a United States Senator from 1923 until 1947.-Early life:...
, local ranchers, the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
, the Glacier Park Hotel Company, the Sierra Club
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...
, Society of American Foresters
Society of American Foresters
The Society of American Foresters is a scientific and educational 501 non-profit organization, representing the forestry profession in the United States of America...
and the Audubon Society. Public hearings were held in 1948 and 1949. Turnout at the 1948 hearings at Kalispell
Kalispell, Montana
Kalispell is a city in and the county seat of Flathead County, Montana, United States. The 2010 census put Kalispell's population at 19,927 up 5,704 over 2000. At 40.1% this is the largest percentage of growth of any incorporated city in Montana. Kalispell is the largest city and commercial center...
was influenced by extensive flooding then occurring in the Flathead Valley. Exploratory drilling took place in 1944 and 1945 at Glacier View and Foolhen Hill. The project was terminated by a joint memorandum between the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of the Army on April 11, 1949, but Mansfield introduced an unsuccessful bill later in the year directing the Corps of Engineers to proceed with the dam, stating that the dam "would not affect the beauty of the park in any way but would make it more beautiful by creating a large lake over ground that ... has no scenic attraction." The Corps of Engineers report on the project noted:
The park lands that will be inundated and required for freeboard of 5 feet above normal pool elevation amounts to 10175 acres (4,117.7 ha), or about 1 percent of the total Glacier National Park area. This area does not lie within the rugged, glacier-covered portion of the park for which it is noted, but rather is on the western boundary line, in a little-used valley. The reservoir area is covered with lodge-pole pine, an inferior species of limited use. Other species of pine timber such as ponderosa pine, are predominate above the normal full reservoir and will not be injured by the project. Other lands inundated or required by this project are in private, State and United States Forest Service ownership and hence should be of no concern to the Park Service. Although there would be some effect on the wildlife in the area, the construction of Glacier View Reservoir would inconvenience but relatively few people as it is situated in a sparsely populated area.
Park Service Director Newton B. Drury
Newton B. Drury
Newton Bishop Drury was the fourth director of the American National Park Service and the executive director of the Save-the-Redwoods League.-Early life and career:...
responded:
The effects of the proposed impoundment of the North Fork of the Flathead River upon Glacier National Park would be extraordinarily serious upon the very values with the National Park Service is obliged by law, and expected by the public, to protect ... The flooding of park land would reduce the winter range of [white-tailed deer] by 56 percent. In order to prevent extensive starvation, it would be necessary for the Park Service to undertake the slaughter of most of these animals ... We cannot afford, except for the most compelling reasons - which we are convinced do not exist in this case - to permit this impairment of one of the finest properties of the American people.
Drury went on to state that 19460 acres (7,875.2 ha) of land would be flooded, including virgin Ponderosa pine
Ponderosa Pine
Pinus ponderosa, commonly known as the Ponderosa Pine, Bull Pine, Blackjack Pine, or Western Yellow Pine, is a widespread and variable pine native to western North America. It was first described by David Douglas in 1826, from eastern Washington near present-day Spokane...
. In order to show that the area was of recreational value, the Park Service constructed the Camas Creek Road through the area.
The dam was opposed by the Park Service and conservation organizations on principal as an intrusion into lands that had been made inviolate by their inclusion into a national park, with about a third of the reservoir on Park Service lands. The precedent established at Hetch Hetchy
Hetch Hetchy Reservoir
Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is a reservoir in Yosemite National Park, about northeast from the city of Merced, California. The reservoir has a capacity of and is formed by the concrete gravity O'Shaughnessy Dam in Hetch Hetchy Valley on the Tuolumne River...
in Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park is a United States National Park spanning eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in east central California, United States. The park covers an area of and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain...
was not to be repeated. A similar, more difficult fight followed over the proposed Echo Park Dam in Dinosaur National Monument
Dinosaur National Monument
Dinosaur National Monument is a National Monument located on the southeast flank of the Uinta Mountains on the border between Colorado and Utah at the confluence of the Green and Yampa Rivers. Although most of the monument area is in Moffat County, Colorado, the Dinosaur Quarry is located in Utah...
.
Related projects
A related project, the Paradise projectParadise Dam (Montana)
Paradise Dam was a proposed dam on the Clark Fork River in Montana. It was proposed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as an alternative to the construction of Glacier View Dam on the western boundary of Glacier National Park, to capture the flow of the Flathead River. The earth embankment dam was...
on the Clark Fork River just below its confluence with the Flathead
Flathead River
The Flathead River, in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Montana, originates in the Rocky Mountains near Glacier National Park and flows southwest into Flathead Lake, then after a journey of , empties into the Clark Fork. The river is part of the Columbia River drainage basin, as the Clark...
, was opposed by local interests. The Paradise project was considered by the Corps of Engineers as a more desirable project than Glacier Point, but was considered by the Corps to be difficult to develop compared to Glacier View, given the developed nature of the flooded area proposed at Paradise versus the relatively unpopulated Glacier View region. Other proposed dams were the Smoky Range, Canyon Creek and Spruce Park dams, none of which were built. Hungry Horse Dam
Hungry Horse Dam
Hungry Horse Dam is an arch dam on the South Fork Flathead River in the Rocky Mountains of the U.S. state of Montana. It is located in Flathead National Forest, in Flathead County, about south of the west entrance to Glacier National Park, southeast of Columbia Falls, and northeast of Kalispell...
was, however, completed in 1953 by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on the South Fork of the Flathead. The Spruce Park reservoir to the south of the park was proposed to have been connected to the Hungry Horse reservoir, with a power generation plant at the conduit's discharge. Paradise Dam is described by the Corps of Engineers as preferable from the point of view of the overall plan, standing on both the Clark Fork River and the Flathead, but the flooding of towns and productive agricultural lands stirred intense local opposition.
The 1950 Corps of Engineers report that detailed the Glacier View project also mentioned the potential of the Middle Fork Flathead River
Middle Fork Flathead River
The Middle Fork Flathead River is a river in western Montana in the United States, forming the southwestern boundary of Glacier National Park. Its drainage basin lies to the east of the South Fork Flathead River and the Hungry Horse Reservoir...
for development, and projected a dam at Belton
West Glacier, Montana
West Glacier is a small unincorporated community in eastern Flathead County, Montana, United States. The town is at the west entrance to Glacier National Park and is located on U.S. Route 2 and a main line of the BNSF Railway. The headquarters complex for Glacier National Park is located nearby...
, with a 1190000 acre.ft reservoir behind a dam developing 330 feet (100.6 m) of hydraulic head, for a potential generating capacity of 152 MW. As the Middle Fork forms the southwest boundary of Glacier National Park, any reservoir on the Middle Fork near Belton would necessarily flood portions of the park. With the rejection of the Glacier View project, the Belton project never progressed beyond its listing as a potential project.
Description
The proposed Glacier View Dam was to be a 416 feet (126.8 m) high, 2100 feet (640.1 m) long earth embankment dam, impounding a reservoir with a capacity of 3160000 acre.ft and covering an area of about 48 square miles (124.3 km²). A gate-controlled spillway was to be built to one side, feeding a tunnel through the abutment. A powerplant at the toe of the dam was planned to house three 70 MW generating units, fed by an intake tower and equipped with a surge tank. The chosen site was to be at river mile 176.5. Alternate sites at Fool Hen Hill (river mile 167) and Bad Rock Canyon (river mile 150) were rejected. The Fool Hen Hill site was found to have a permeable alluvial channel in the right abutment. The Bad Rock Canyon site would have been on the main stem of the Flathead and would have flooded the Hungry Horse damsite, which was under construction, as well as Lake McDonaldLake McDonald
Lake McDonald is the largest lake in Glacier National Park. It is located at in Flathead County in the U.S. state of Montana. Lake McDonald is approximately 10 miles long, and over a mile wide and 472 feet deep, filling a valley formed by a combination of erosion and glacial activity...
in the park.
Present
The Camas Road joins the Outside North Fork Road just to the east of the damsite. The Forests and Fire Nature Trail is just upstream from the site. The Logging Creek Ranger StationLogging Creek Ranger Station Historic District
The Logging Creek Ranger Station is the oldest continually operating administrative site in Glacier National Park. The rustic log cabin is an early example of what would become a typical style of western park structure...
and the small town of Polebridge
Polebridge, Montana
Polebridge is an unincorporated community in Flathead County, Montana, United States, northwest of Columbia Falls in the northwestern part of the state. This community is named for the log bridge that formerly connected the North Fork Road in Glacier National Park to Montana Secondary Highway...
lie within the proposed reservoir. Within the park, the lower reaches of Camas Creek, Quartz Creek, Bowman Creek and Akokala Creek would have been flooded, along with most of Logging Creek and Logging Lake.