9298

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 9298
• Author: Water Education Foundation.
• Title: Colorado River Project
• USFW Year: 1999.
• USFW - Doc Type: Symposium Proceedings.
• Copyright Material: NO

Philosophically, I was committed to preservation of
the environment but I was equally, if not more,
committed to the orderly development of natural
resources in the best interest of my state. Getting the
CAP authorized had been the paramount issue in
Arizona politics since I was a boy and more than 90
percent of my constituents favored the dams in the
Grand Canyon. Grappling with the pros and cons
brought me face-to-face with my heritage."
Of course, those dams did not get built. Other
dams did get built. One of them was Glen Canyon
Dam. Udall was not in Congress when Glen Canyon
was authorized but he talks in his book about his
relationship with Barry Goldwater, who was in the
Congress when Glen Canyon was authorized.
Goldwater has since said if he had it to do over again,
he might reconsider that vote.
This is what Udall says about his relationship with
Barry Goldwater. He said, "Barry and I have had our
public differences during our years together in
Congress but I don't have a better friend, nor is there
a public official I admire more for his conviction,
candor and honesty. Barry and I reside at different
ends of the political spectrum. On his car, he has a
bumper sticker with a picture of an American flag
that reads, "I support the right to bear arms." On my
car, I have a bumper sticker and a picture of Smokey
the Bear that reads, "I support the right to arm
bears."
One more passage to set the stage for our conver-
sation. Udall said, "Being in Congress during the
decade of the 1960s allowed me to watch and
participate in the flowering of the environmental
movement. A truly historic, some say revolutionary,
sea change in the way Americans view the land, air
and water that surrounds and sustains us."
We have a very able panel this morning. We tried
put together some questions for the panelists.
Hopefully, they've had some time to think about
them. The first question for the panel is, "What do
you think balancing the human and environmental
needs means and how will we know when those are in
balance?"

BOB Mum, INSTREAM COORDINATOR,

COLORADO RIvER FISH RECOVERY

PROGRAM

My initial philosophical take on this question is
there is an implication that humans' needs are
removed from those of the natural environment. The
fact is we are part of the environment. We are
governed and constrained by the same sets of
ecological principles and processes as other living
components of the ecosystem. In simple words, we

can't fool Mother Nature forever.
As human populations increase, we place greater
and greater burdens on the environment. For that
reason, I believe that our challenge now and in the
future is to restore some semblance of the natural
system that has been seriously degraded and to
manage our needs within the bounds of nature so
that we do not irreversibly damage the environment
and lose ecosystem integrity and stability.
As far as balance is concerned, I'm not sure we will
ever reach a true balance. I think that because of
human population increases and because of the
dynamic and ever changing landscape we will never
achieve a true balance. For that reason, our manage-
ment needs to be adaptive, needs to be responsive to
changes and also
uncertainties.
Part of the
question had to do
with how will we
know when a
balance is met and
what measure could
we use to determine
if that balance is
close to being met?
Endangered species
are a good measure
of whether we are
approaching some
sort of balance. I
consider endangered species to be the so-called
canaries in the coal mine. They serve as indicators of
overall environmental health.
To me, the bottom line is, we need to be good
conservationists. We need to be wise stewards of the
environment. We need to be mindful of the ecosys-
tem, which we are part of. We need to be mindful of
how; when we meet our needs, we may adversely
impact the system. I believe we need to be ready to
offset those impacts.

To me, the bottom

line is, we need to be

THE
BALANCI NG
ACT

We need to be wise

good conservationists.

stewards of the

environment.

- Bob Muth

WILLIAM RINNE, .AREA MANAGER,

U.S. BUREAU OF RECLAMATION,

LOWER COWRADO REGION

Just a couple of remarks that build on what Bob
sardo I thought about this idea of human needs and
environmental needs. On the Colorado River Basin,
usually what's being said by most people when they
talk about human needs are more traditional uses
associated with man's development on the river. By
this, I'm talking about agriculture, urban uses and
hydropower. On the environmental side, focusing
more on the natural environment.

SYMPOSIUM
PROCEEDINGS
SEPTEMBER 1999

o