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0": ..... ~ -- (~~j ~~J But they need to watch out for the: ECHO * ECHO ECHO * ECHO ECHO * * Opponents of the Echo Park and Split Mountain projects in the fifties leaned heavily on legalisms and emotional appeals to renege on promises and to obfuscate the issue in the public mind. There can be only one conclusion after examining the evidence presented by utah Sen. Arthur V. Watkins: there were valid "promises," there were legal withdrawals and all were cancelled out by emotional appeals and a failure to challenge the stonewalling in the courts. The failure to challenge undoubtedly was dictated by the hostile public opinion encountered by Echo park-Split Mountain dam pro- ponents. Foes of the projects had so whipped up public feeling that a legal test, even if won, probably would have been for naught. Senator Watkins in a speech before the Senate on March 28, 1955, wrapped up his case regarding power withdrawals and agency promises although the issue had been simmering for years. According to the Congressional Record, the Utah senator made these points: "The opponents of Echo Park and Split Mountain Dams contend that this 1938 proclamation made all the area along those streams...a part of a national monument, and they challenge not only the pro- priety but also the legal right of public use of these reservoir and dam sites for water, power, and reclamation purposes. "..,I...now state categorically, after an extensive search of Interior Department and Federal Power Commission records, that the areas now in controversy are not now and never have been under the exclusive possession and jurisdiction of the National Park Admini- stration. In fact, it is extremely doubtful that the National Park Service has now, or ever has had, jurisdiction over these areas, except in a subservient capacity. "...opponents of the Echo Park and Split Mountain Reservoirs are attempting to invade areas which were withdrawn from the public domain and set aside for the specific purpose of water and power development and conservation, by duly constituted agencies of the united States many years before the extension of the Dinosaur National Monument was ever thought of. And these withdrawn areas enjoy the same status now as they did the day they were withdrawn." . "...Second. From October 17, 1904, through April 16, 1925, 11 w1thdrawals or reservations of large tracts within the areas in con- troversy, and including the Echo Park and Split Mountain Reservoir sites, were made either by the Secretary of Interior or the Federal Power Commission...1I Watkins also quoted from a letter carrying the "head" of The -4-