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The Snail Darter Case: TVA Versus the Endangered Species Act (Landmark Law Cases and American Society)


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#1 mattknepley

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Posted 29 January 2014 - 04:57 PM

ISBN 0700615059. Anybody read it? If so, what did you think? I'm down to about two dozen books in my "to read" pile; need to add some more.
Matt Knepley
"No thanks, a third of a gopher would merely arouse my appetite..."

#2 Guest_Casper_*

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Posted 30 January 2014 - 02:26 PM

Matt...
That is one of several books written about the Snail Darter issue. I believe it is recent meaning in the last 10 years. I would enjoy reading it when you are through. Maybe we can do a trade of some sort.
A lot of folks considered it a land grab / emminent domain / Cherokee Indian / lake home developments and the Snail darter was a side issue. It did mark a turning point in TVA's constant dam projects. The book should be interesting. ( Much more so than Catcher in the Rye which i just finished. I do not understand all the fuss over JDS. )

#3 mattknepley

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Posted 31 January 2014 - 04:38 PM

Never understood the fuss over Catcher in the Rye either. It's down there with Steinbeck's Red Pony and Sinclair's The Jungle as American Literature Matt couldn't make himself finish. Melville's Moby Dick (or the Whale) and Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, now THOSE deserve the fuss.

As for the snail darter book, I'm wondering if it turns out to be more of a courtroom documentary, which isn't really my thing. But if it's more like Reisner's Cadillac Desert I might finish it in just a couple days.
Matt Knepley
"No thanks, a third of a gopher would merely arouse my appetite..."

#4 Guest_Casper_*

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Posted 31 January 2014 - 05:22 PM

I would enjoy being educated a bit more about the Snail Darter, it was a big big happening in this neck of the woods. Heck they are found in my backyard now and even behind Hooters and Gooney Golf. In 1998 David Etnier spoke on the Snail Darters in retrospec during the NANFA convention and it was fascinating. Also Ed Scott worked with them for years as a TVA biologist and has told me many stories. The lawyer and i have spoke a few times as well so i think it would be advantageous to split a copy. I will ask Ed and David if they have read the book...

#5 Guest_ashtonmj_*

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Posted 01 February 2014 - 08:00 PM

It's a pretty dry read. The title pretty much sums it up. The Snail Darter and the Dam was a better read. Zygmut Plater has at least a handful of books along with a few others out there. Warren Burger's opinion is what really matters and is a good read in itself.

Casper, don't forget that the failure to build a larger dam on the Duck in Columbia was really the what changed TVA from mainstem dam creation. They lost that because of birdwing pearlymussel. The snail darter was just a thorn in their side that the ultimately ignored on multiple fronts (construction and moving fish) and in the end one branch of government got out done by another by a slickster move. One of the more interesting points that is often over looked is many opponents and even the "God committee" voted against the Tellico project on its own merits. The numbers were cooked, it was way over budget, it did not bring a wave of industry up river, etc.

#6 Guest_Casper_*

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Posted 03 February 2014 - 05:13 PM

Based upon what Ed, Ashton Matt and David have said i just ordered "The Snail Darter and the Dam: How Pork-Barrel Politics Endangered a Little Fish and Killed a River", via Amazon 20 bucks. When i am through reading i will be willing to mail it to Knepley Matt. We sure have a lot of Matts around here.

Thanks for the additional comments Ashton. I have never seen the Tellico Dam oddly. Tellico Plains is still a fringe Tennessee town but the Cherohala Skyway has given it a bit of status and increased activity, especially for all the motobikers up and down.
Unfamiliar with a proposed Duck Dam. I know the Duck is praised but i have never had a good experience there. Bad timing, wrong access, turbidity. It's a weird univiting world at its headwaters. I need to try again.






#7 mattknepley

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Posted 03 February 2014 - 05:41 PM

Knepley Matt would appreciate that mailing when you are done, Casper. Thanks! Thanks also to all who provided feedback.
Matt Knepley
"No thanks, a third of a gopher would merely arouse my appetite..."

#8 Guest_fundulus_*

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Posted 03 February 2014 - 08:20 PM

Casper, I could give you an access point for Flat Creek in the middle Duck System. It has some interesting darters like E. luteovinctum and E. flavum.




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