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On the edge of common sense Filling up Lake Powell . By BAXTER BLACK SPECIAL TO THE PSN The Sierra Club is back, seeking more funds! I've got to give the!!! credit. The}' don't think small. Now they wantto drain Lake Powell and reclaim Glen Canyon. When it's fourth down and 25 yards to go, you're behind and time is run- ning out, a drastic play is necessary! The Sierra Club, as well as many other "anti" groups, have experienced a decline in membership and income over the last several years. "Chicken Little Overkill" has numbed the public. But what better way to shock the wallet our of people's pants than with a giant Goliath. Some cause so great, and so insurmountable that it can become the symbol of fund-raising campaigns lor generations beyond our time. Granted, enthusiams may wear thin OI'er the years, bur it is a great market- ing str.ltegy for a business in decline. This cynkal view of the motives of th~ Sit:rra Ciub leadership does an injus- tice to those members and others who harbor an idealistic view of nature and man's interlen:nce thereot: There are mOlflV larmers and ranchers who would prcti.:r to keep power sta- tions, nuclear reactors, airports, malls, landfills, city limits, strip mines, free- ways, testing grounds and toxic waste dumps Irom being built next to them. But they have had little luck getting them dismantled after the fact. Civilization is a mighty force. This "back to nature movement" falls on deaf ears when you start aflecting peo- ple's costs ofliving, Skyrocketing electric bills, water shortages and declining Iivabil. ity are things people take personally. The Glen Canyon Dam backs up the Co!or;:do River tor 186 miles and fo:-ms Lake Powell, the second largest man- made lake in the U.S. It now supplies power and water to 6 million rate payers and recreation for 400,000 boaters each year. The price of civilization. If the Sierra Club wanted, they could start smaller. Take the face off Mount Rushmore, for instance. Restore it to its natural beauty. The land under Washington D.C. was originally a wetland with habitat lor birds, reptiles and plants. Now it is. overun with predators, The Golden Gate Bridge mars the grandeur of the San Ft:lncisco Bay. ~ . All those unsightly locks and dams that disrupt the natural flow of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers could be removed to restore their ancient ecosystems. Theil move on to the Tennessee Valley 1\uthority. But the Sierra Club has declined these options and picked an area th,lt they con- sider more practical as a nll1d -raiser. And the)"re right, regardless of their motives. Most potential donators don't even know where it is. They can rail)' to thc cause without thinking because, afier all, it will never afleet their own costs of living. Bein' green is easy when it's 1I0t per- sonal. ;~. ;"1 i} >/: ';."'; ';jl .., BnxUr Black is Olll oftl1e IllItioli's best- kl/oll'n cOll'bll;Y ports.