A Story That Stands Like a Dam: Glen Canyon and the Struggle for the Soul of the West

In 1988 more than three million people visited Lake Powell; the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Arizona is the most popular federal preserve in the interior West, outdrawing Yellowstone and Grand Canyon. An engineering marvel, the Glen Canyon Dam, dedicated in 1966, also represents wholesale destruction of a unique wilderness area. Its construction brought about and consolidated the environmental movement nationwide, and it was probably the last project of its kind, a swan song for the Bureau of Reclamation. Martin, author of Cowboy: The Enduring Myth of the West , gives a well-balanced account of building the dam, the controversy it caused and assessment of its value today (opinion divided). His lively narrative introduces us to engineers, environmentalists and politicians, all colorful characters. Readers who enjoyed Philip Fradkin's A River No More or Joseph Stevens's Hoover Dam should not miss this story. (Nov.)