| Book Review | Environmental History, 13.2

You have not been recognized as a subscriber to Enviromental History online. About 179 words from this article are provided below; about 403 words remain.

If you are a individual subscriber to Environmental History, you may:: • login here if you have already registered for online access.; • Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
• Set up your online account for the first time.
If you are not a subscriber to the Environmental History, you can:: • get subscription information here.
• Purchase a research pass to gain two hour access to the entire History Cooperative web site. You will have full access to current issues of Environmental History (8.1-present).
Instititutions can:: • get subscription information here to receive print and electronic issues.
• Activate your existing subscription so that we recognize your IP number ranges.

| Book Review | Environmental History, 13.2 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Public Power, Private Dams: The Hells Canyon High Dam Controversy. By Karl Boyd Brooks. Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 2006. Weyerhauser Environmental Books Series. xxvii + 290 pp. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, and index. Cloth $35.00.

After World War II, hydropower proposals for the upper Snake River generated enormous political controversy. Proposed as an extension of the federally controlled Columbia River power system initiated by the New Deal, the Hells Canyon High Dam represented government expansion into a region historically served by privately financed electric power enterprise. Resisting the growth of publicly controlled electric power, the Idaho Power Company countered with plans for a smaller, privately financed dam (eventually the company proposed three hydropower dams in Hells Canyon, but with a total generating capacity smaller than the government's single high dam). With this, the battle was joined: public power versus investor-owned utilities. In a politically charged debate, key questions were posed: How best to serve the interests of the American people and the citizens of southern Idaho? And what in fact constituted the "public interest?"

. . .

There are about 403 more words in this article. Please log in (or, if you are not yet an authorized user, please go to the User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.