Study for the Lincoln School Dam

April 1, 1981 Resolutions

Number: 1981-40

 

WHEREAS, the National Wildlife Federation has opposed the Dickey-Lincoln project on the upper St. John River in Maine because the project would be economically unsound, environmentally destructive, and socially disruptive; and

WHEREAS, the project has met with increasing resistance to the point where even the project’s proponents admit that Dickey-Lincoln will not be funded for construction in the near future; and

WHEREAS, the possibility exists that the Lincoln School Dam by itself might supply a substantial amount of hydroelectric power without most of the deleterious effects of Dickey-Lincoln;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, in meeting assembled March 26-29, 1981 in Norfolk, Virginia, hereby expresses its continued opposition to the Dickey-Lincoln project and supports final deauthorization of the Dickey Dam as soon as possible; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation in order to insure that action preserving the option of a dam at Lincoln School does not serve as phase I of the Dickey-Lincoln project, hereby supports a one-year feasibility study and economic analysis of the Lincoln School dam site only if the following conditions are met:

  1. Deauthorization of the Dickey Dam;
  2. A benefit/cost analysis using the current federal water project interest rate (7-3/8% in 1981), as well as benefit/cost analyses performed for comparison at rates of 12% and 15%;
  3. Evaluation of the Lincoln School dam site not only for the present 90 foot design height, but also at a lower elevation which would preserve the village of Allagash. This should be an integral part of the study; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation supports the following actions by Congress:

  1. Authorization for a study of the St. John River upstream of the bridge at Dickey for inclusion in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System; and
  2. A moratorium on all studies for hydrodevelopment on the St. John River above the bridge at Dickey by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers for a period of three years.