ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY AD HOC GROUP 

(AHAHG) STATUS UPDATE

LARRY STEVENS AND CRAIG ELLSWORTH, 

AHAHG CO-CHAIRS

TECHNICAL WORK GROUP MEETING, OCTOBER 15, 2020
History of the Administrative History Project

• Public Outreach Ad Hoc (Andre Potochnik, Mike Yeatts, Larry Stevens, Reclamation, others) started early in the AMP to

communicate more widely to the public about program process and success. Somewhat awkward.

• We quickly saw issues and questions re-emerge, particularly as new staff in the USGS took over the GCMRC, and as new DOI,

other state and federal agency, AMP, and TWG staff came on board.

• In the late 2000’s we started encouraging the AMP to develop an administrative history to:

a) Document AMP history

b) Acquire interviews of the program’s “shakers and movers”

c) Provide information to new-comers to help them climb the steep learning curve.

• AMP acceptance of the suggestion was slow, and there also was at least a perceived need

to provide more direct access to background and meeting information than was being

provided by Reclamation.

• The late Jason Thiriot simply took up the challenge and started the GCDAMP WIKI site,

now managed by Craig Ellsworth.

• But interviews with key AMP collaborators required special expertise. When funding became available, the Administrative History

Project was initiated by Dr. Paul Hirt, ASU Environmental Historian, a project now completed and archived.

Dr. Paul Hirt

ASU Environmental Historian
Secretary Ken Salazar and Jason Thiriot

at Glen Canyon Dam for an HFE.

We miss you Jason No sucker jokes, please! !
ORAL HISTORIES

• 31 interviews

• https://gcdamphistory.org/archive

/oral-histories/
AMP Members and Collaborators Interviewed

Bruce Babbitt Anne Castle Mary Orton Andre Jack Schmidt Rich Valdez Carl Walters Dave Wegner

Other Interviewees

Jan Balsom

Cliff Barrett

Angelita Bulletts

Kurt Dongowske

Dave Garrett

Paul Grams

Chris Harris

Leslie James

Leigh Kuwanwisiwma

Randy Seaholm

Potochnik

Many Other AMP Members and Collaborators: More Stories to be Told
ORIENTATION 

PACKET

• Key Readings:

https://gcdamphistory.org/archive/k

ey-readings/

• History of the program

• Information on the administrative

structure of GCDAMP

• Key web links, documents

downloadable

• Advice for new AMP members
WEBSITE

• https://gcdamphistory.org/

• Permanently preserve and make

publicly accessible and searchable

all the digital documents, images,

and objects

• Housed on the ASU Library’s new

Digital Repository

• Upfront fee: $1,000

• Annual fee: $50/yr

• WordPress: maintain and update

the site
ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY 

NARRATIVE

• Grand Adaptation: “A Dammed River and a

Confluence of Interests”

• Grand Canyon Centennial issue of the

Journal of Arizona History

• https://muse.jhu.edu/issue/41627
Bridging the Science-to-Management Transition

What is the value of archiving the AMP administrative history?

Is it useful to the AMP membership?

For example: 

• Remembering what the AMP has done/accomplished

• Understanding the timeline of the process

• Creating ready access to historic information and documents

• Remembering what the AMP has considered but rejected

• Understanding which giant’s shoulders we are standing on

How we are with keeping track of our AMP administrative history? Presently we have four ways of tracking

information, documents, people, and processes, each different and with different goals and information:

• Reclamation AMP site

• GCDAMP WIKI history

• GCMRC Library and Photo Archives

• GC Dam Administrative History (ASU)

How to better integrate AMP history 

Continued AHAHG discussion? 
Questions and Further Discussion?