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002'~j ::1=." . ~ Battle of the Films There occurred at about this time, in the conflict between Arizona and the Sierra Club, a related skirmish which might go down in history as the Battle of the Films. Both contestants produced. films to win adherents to their points of view. And both films became themselves the subjects of controversy. Arizona's film was produced by the Central Arizona Project Association. It was made primarily for Eastern viewing, because it was in the East that conservationists had mustered some of the strongest opposition to the dams. The controversy developed when CAPA tried to bpy time to show the film in Washington on station WTOP-TV, owned by the IFashi-ngton Post and News- week. The sbltion refused it and cited two reasons for. its deci- sion: (1) The film lacked broad enough appeal for its audience, and (2) the station had a policy against selling time to present material on controversial issues which it felt should be developed and produced by' its Own news and public affairs department. WTOP officials said also that there was a precedent for their action: They had turned down a request to buy a half-hour of time for a Medicare program. Arizonans conjectured, too, that a policy of the- Federal Communications Commission may have had something to do with the station's decision. The FCC might have required WTOP, if it showed the CAP A film, to give the Sierra Club equal time. The Sierra Club film was called Glen Canyon and was; in effect, a warning that if Hualapai and Marble Canyon Dams were built, the Grand Canyon would be flooded as was Glen Canyon in 1962. The club tried to show the film at a Yosemite Park hotel, lodge and camp but was refused permission to do so by the park superintendent. He said he did not believe the park should be used as a platform "to debate controversial issues" and explained: "If we permit opponents of the dams to have their say, we have to give the other side a chance to present its story. . ." The Sierra Club appealed to George Hart- zog, national parks director, but he upheld the decision of the Yosemite superintendent. Majority Report Filed On August 11 the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs filed the majority report on CAP. This formally cleared the way for a request to the Rules Committee that it bring the bill to the floor. The report stated the case for the Colorado River Development Project and took sharp aim at critics who, it said, were circulating "inaccurate and misleading" informa- tion. These critics, said the majority, "painted a picture of devastation and ruin wholly unsupported by the facts." Huala- pai Dam and its 94-mile reservoir actually would be "an infin- itesimally small work of man in a magnificently immense work of nature," said the report. It would not be visible from any existing road, trail or overlook on south or north rims. -16- ,-.-40,4i:':'-_";,;';',-: . ~. -:'- ..... . ...... '.,- ". ~' :.\: ,:.'-,-- -, .' .-:.....-.::..:.<' -.'. ....... ............. .:. .." . : ." :.". ~ . .... "-.':~' .' ':::".: :;':;:::. ~~;;:~V.::;.?: ~~:::::. ':::::':.:':;.'.:\~ ~. / .- .~.:,;-.~~,(,:~..~.._...\>.~..>:.;.~.:\\: I