The Western news. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1933-current, 1946-05-02
Write About
KOOtenai Dam

bv Chamber of Comerce relative
TO the proposed Kootenai Dam, the
Chamber has turned the material
over to this office for publication.
Following is a letter from Sena-
tor Burton K. Wheeler, written to
A. J. Agather, president of the Lib
bv Chamber of Commerce. A let
ter written to Senator Wheeler by
FEE. Wrather, director of the Geoli-
gical Survey, is also published, fol-
lowing the Senator's letter. The
letters follow:
March Is, 1916
Mr.. A. j. Agather
President
Libby Chamber of Commerce
Libby, Montana
My dear Agather:
l am in receipt of your letter OF
February Is, and apologize for not
having answered il sooner.
I note what you say about the
reservoir flooding timberland and
townsites. l can say to you that
am Fundamentally opposed to the
Government of the United States
coming in and making western
montana d
lish cheap power for the people Of
Seattle and Portland and for other
western states, but they Will have
to come to Congress to get an ap-
preparation for these things, and
when they do, you can rest assured
that I will oppose them with all
the vigor that l have. l think we
can stop them. A lot of this is be-
ing carried on by some Of the de-
partments. Why, l do not know.
I think you can rest assured, how /
ever that I will be able to stop a
lot of this nonsense when it comes .
to the Congress
With best wishes and kindest re- I
CARDS, I am
Sincerely yours,
B. K WHEELER.
Mar %, 1916
Hon. Burton K Wheeler,
United States Senate.
My dear Senator Wheeler:
Your letter of March 18, 1916,
encloses a letter from the Libby
Chamber of Commerce and a news
paper clipping.
These both relate to a proposed
plan for the joint regulation of the
Clark Fork and Kootenai Rivers by
constructing dams on these streams
to such an elevation that water
could be exchanged between their
respective reservoirs through a 40
mile transverse valley called the
Bull Lake Trench This plan was
proposed by an engineer of the Fed
eral Power Commission.
One Of the duties Of the Geologi- ]
cal Survey as you know, is to elias
sify and reserve vacant public lands
valuable for power or reservoir pur q;
poses. In order to determine lands
which are valuable for these puff
poses it has made surveys and pub s
liShed maps of the Kootenai and {
Clark Fork rivers 1t has also map
ped some of the proposed dam sites {
and made geologic Investigations and c
reports on these sites, but on the {
assumption that lower dams would
be built because of interference with
railroad and other property. When c
it was proposed that higher dams q
be erected it was necessary to ex-
tend the surveys at the dam sites
to greater elevation and to in ,
VeStigate the geologic conditions to
obtain the facts on which an ap-
praisal of the feasibility of the pro-
posed project could be based This
was the reason Tor the reconnais-
Sance examination of the geology
of the dam site areas by Mr.. Erd-
mann. A copy of his resport is en-
closed herewith together with a copy
of his earlier report on some of
the dam sites on the Kootenai River.
This is the only connection of the
Geological Survey with the pro-
Ject, namely to ascertain some of
the facts from which the construc-
ton agencies could determine the
feasibility of the project The feast
bility of the project is also of in
tereSt to the International Joint
Commission as it would affect lands
IN the United States and Canada
Exactly similar procedure to that
followed on the Kootenai River, it
may be pointed out, was followed
in connection with the Hungry
Horse Project on the South Fork
of the Flathead river. A copy of
the geological report on the latter
site IS also enclosed. The Bureau
OF Reclamation, a construction
agency, used these basic facts to-
gether with the maps of the reser-
voir site in considering the feast :
bility of the Hungry Horse project.
Likewise on the Kootenai River the
Corps of Engineers, another con-
struction agency, is doing the drill {
ing to which reference is made by
the Libby Chamber of Commerce.
The drilling, of course, is to deter
mine more definitely the suitabi-
lily of the dam sites for high dams.
The work of the Geological Sur
vey shows that there are no sur
face indications of geologic con-
ditionS that would prevent the con-
Struction of high dams. Its maps
show the lands that would be over
flowed by dams of different HEIGHTS