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2013 Group Reads
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Summer 2013 Read: "Encounters with the Archdruid"
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Great review, Lynn--I'm curious about this Floyd Elgin Dominy. I read his obituary in the NY Times (he died at 100 in 2010). http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/29/us/...When it mentioned that he was a child of the Dust Bowl, I'm wondering how much that had to do with his dedication to building dams--bringing water to arid places must have partially been a way of coping with the Dust Bowl horror. Timothy Egan's The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl opened my eyes to that terrible time.
It does seem his main goal dealt with bringing water for agriculture; the obit says: "Mr. Dominy argued forcefully that fruits and vegetables grown during the winter months improved the health of all Americans, and that reservoirs created by the bureau attracted more vacationers than national parks."
Do I think he was wrong? Absolutely. However, I do think Dominy would be appalled at the waste of fresh water (he said: "“It almost staggers my mind when I fly over Phoenix,” he said, “and see all those swimming pools.”)
He and Brower show the difference in attitude toward the natural world. Dominy (like so many today) saw the earth as something for humans to develop and use. Brower saw the Earth as something to protect and guard. We're still suffering from the attitude that we "own" the natural world, rather than following Brower's lead in seeing ourselves as custodians of the planet.
Thanks, Lynn--
Julia wrote: "Great review, Lynn--I'm curious about this Floyd Elgin Dominy. I read his obituary in the NY Times (he died at 100 in 2010). http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/29/us/...When it mention..."
His upbringing did have a lot to do with why he was interested in water reclamation. They go into that a bit in the book. If he was on the "right" side, I would like him. Early in life, he was forward thinking, helping his neighbors, etc.
But he did bring the develop and use mentality to an extreme with little regard for any type of preservation.
Good to see, though, that he didn't like the swimming pools in Phoenix. They are appalling.
I wouldn't mind reading a book on him as well. So we can really understand the mentality behind the develop and use folks. Some is greed, but I think it is like a lot of the businesspeople I worked with for decades. They truly believe that they are doing something that will help the overall population. And that people like us - the Druids - are standing in the way of progress.
BTW - the water fights in the west are extremely interesting to read about. A number of famous tales from Hetch Hetchy to Glen Canyon Dam. California is one big water battle. And one of my favorite books/films, The Milagro Beanfield War, is also all about who gets the control of water.I think it is important to study the history because water wars aren't just going to be in the west in the U.S. in the future. (Thanks for the tip, Julia, on Egan's book.) It is going to be all over. For example, we are having a mini-battle in Connecticut over water for the University of Connecticut.
And obviously, all over the world, especially in developing nations, clean water is a constant battle.
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Because it was written, however, in 1971, we miss much of what David Brower did throughout his life - for example, he founded Friends of the Earth.
The book is set up in three sections: A Mountain, An Island, and A River. And in all three sections, it is the fight from conservative vs. development (i.e., land use with a purpose). In the first two chapters, the argument can be nuanced. I'm not a pro-development person so I was on Brower's side, but I could see the points of the other side's arguments. However, in the last chapter, could not side with the Grand Canyon becoming the Grand Canyon Dam.
In "A Mountain," Brower has conversations with Charles Park who was a geologist and mineral expert as they are hiking Glacier Peak. Park's arguments ring true; we do need cooper and other minerals to maintain our lifestyles. But in my humble opinion, he goes too far. As Brower argues, humans have most of the earth; let's leave some for nature. Park even says, if there was copper under the White House, he would want to mine it.
The second chapter, "The River," is on the fight to save Cumberland Island in Georgia (it was saved in the end saved for preservation). In it, we meet Charles Fraser, a real character. He developed Sea Pine Island in Hilton Head in South Carolina. Fraser actually wanted to maintain a lot of the natural environment along with development, and developed Sea Pine Island with the environment in mind. As Brower said, if something is going to be developed rather than saved, you would want Fraser to do it. A nice example of what all development should be like. Fraser wants to do the same in Cumberland Island as he did in Sea Pine Island, but the activists - who Fraser calls Druids, people who want to only preserve - win the day.
The last chapter, "The River," we meet Floyd Elgin Dominy. If you've ever read any Ed Abbey, you might not know his name, but you know what he has done: Glen Canyon Dam. And Abbey even mentions him in Desert Solitaire. In "Encounters with the Archdruid," Dominy wants a new trophy: Grand Canyon Dam. Fortunally, Brower and the Sierra Club carried the day. But very interesting to hear Dominy's reasonings. He really felt that Glen Canyon Dam was just as beautiful as the original canyons. As if man could do better than nature. And you get the feeling that he has - like many very successful people - a "master of the universe" view of himself. Even after rafting the lower Colorado into the Grand Canyon, he believes that the Grand Canyon would be more beautiful as a dam than in its natural state. All the rapids that he goes through would be two hundred below the surface of the dam, and that fact doesn't bother him.
I want to know more about Brower now. The book does include the fights between Brower and the Sierra Club - he was booted out as Director (before coming back two more times) and that is depicted in the book.