A “conspiracy” exists to destroy the Savage Rapids
Dam in Oregon, say Oregon residents who are suing Interior
Secretary Bruce Babbitt, the Oregon governor, 15 state and federal
agencies and 10 environmental groups. “If the preservationists win
here, they’ll want to go after all the dams in the state,” said
John DeZell, attorney and founder of the Association to Save Savage
Rapids Dam and Lake. The group wants to stop the impending
destruction of the 72-year-old dam on the Rogue River and force the
federal government to write an environmental impact statement.
Organizers with the Oregon Natural Resources Council, which is
named first among the 51 defendants, say the case really is an
attempt to intimidate environmental reformers and win publicity for
plaintiffs John DeZell and Jim Newkirk. Both are campaigning for
the U.S. Congress on anti-environmental tickets. “The suit is
clearly intended to harass us and mute our ability to talk about an
important public issue,” council spokesman Jim Middaugh told the
Associated Press. Middaugh helped run the campaign to lobby for the
removal of Savage Rapids Dam. Ironically, one of the defendants is
the Grants Pass Irrigation District, which owns the dam. The
district board reluctantly voted last February to tear the dam down
as the cheapest way to restore the Rogue River’s declining salmon
runs and keep the fish off the endangered species list (HCN,
2/7/94).
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline A savage SLAPP suit.
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