R I v e R a l C h e M Y
if not for David Brower the West would have been won.
Photo richArd frAnk
a giant among riVers
thaNK the late DaViD BroWer, he SaVeD the GraND CaNYoN
fOR Such A gIAnT in river conservation’s history, One of the rivers where I guide is still flowing screens, photographers and lighting assistants
from the water he looks frail and diminutive—just because of David Brower. In 1954, he made it working around an old man hunched on a stool with
a very old man sitting on a stool, in his thin and his personal crusade to keep utah’s echo Park in his back turned to us.
fraying best suit. Dinosaur national Monument from being dammed. My raft was the last to scrub to shore. excited
If someone were to write a book about me, I It is a magical place on the green River of serpentine clients whispered the same urgent question back
would want a title as good as the one written about sandstone canyons. It is a place that enchants to me: “Is that David Brower? Is that the guy who
David Brower: Encounters with the Archdruid. As clients and lifetime guides alike. saved our rivers?”
a founding member of the Sierra club, friends of Before we reach the proposed dam location four I couldn’t tell.
the earth, and the earth Island Institute, Brower was days into a trip, I always make a point of stopping As we pulled to the boat ramp the old man was
three times nominated for the nobel Peace Prize. on a beach just upstream. In the sand I draw a big off his stool and gingerly over the rocks to meet us.
he famously defeated the damming of the grand map of the west and make mountains and canyons he was pale and thin; his crystal blue eyes clouded
canyon in 1966, and in doing so launched the and use blue cam straps for rivers, red ones for with age. I’m not sure why, but I remember his
environmental movement. David Brower has more state lines. By the time I’ve finished, clients have cheap velcro running shoes and threadbare suit.
to do with how we think about the environment gathered to see what’s going on. I use the map to Before he had a chance to speak, my clients
today than any other factor. tell the story of the damming of the west, and how surrounded him. “Thank you Mister Brower. Thank
Written in 1971 by the incredibly prolific John the place where we are standing would be under you for everything you’ve done.” They lined up to
McPhee, Encounters with the Archdruid is now in its water if it wasn’t for the impassioned defence of shake his hand, and one by one all thanked him.
27th printing. It confirmed Brower as the articulate, David Brower. People are always hooked by the Brower’s eyes welled with tears. he just stood there,
driven and absolutely fearless spokesperson for presentation, and I hope it changes the way they surrounded, flooded by an outpouring of appreciation.
the environment. At a time when the idea of “the view our endangered rivers. I stood at a distance tying up my raft. I was
environment” was only just beginning to have a There is one trip in particular I’ll never forget. speechless and deeply regret not thanking him
place in public consciousness, McPhee somehow The dam talk went as usual, with the usual client myself. quite frankly I couldn’t. A little more than a
convinced Brower to spend a week rafting the grand reaction of disbelief and anger and promises to year later he died at the age of 88.
canyon with floyd Dominy, the man in charge of do something themselves. Also, as usual, the next A giant indeed. I still don’t know how the clients
damming the west’s rivers. McPhee’s genius as a day and last on the river, the showers and thoughts knew it was him.
journalist captures the interaction between these of home replace yesterday’s resolutions. except
polar opposites and ideological figureheads and this time, as we neared the take-out, there was
JEFF JACkSON is a professor of Outdoor Adventure at Algonquin
College in Pembroke, ON
captures Brower at his best. a commotion on the riverbank. There were drop
RAPID

Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52