Thursday, March 28, 2024
46.0°F

Book shares untold story of Hells Canyon

by Matthew Gwin Staff Writer
| May 4, 2018 1:00 AM

For generations, Hells Canyon has offered visitors a natural recreation area unique to anything else in the region.

“Very few people, including Idahoans, are aware of what a hidden gem Hells Canyon is,” Chris Carlson said. “It’s a truly unique experience. Many people, once they take the trip, are converts, so to speak.”

Carlson, former press secretary under Gov. Cecil Andrus, shares the behind-the-scenes story of how the canyon received designation as a National Recreation Area in his new book “Hells Heroes: How an unlikely alliance saved Idaho’s Hells Canyon.”

“I had a feeling that the legacy of Gov. Andrus still needed telling,” Carlson said.

The book tells a tale of two compromises, one led by Brock Evans of the Sierra Club and another by Sandra Mitchell of the Hells Canyon Alliance.

“Politics is the art of the compromise,” Carlson said. “What I did was delve into a lot of the background of the politics.”

According to Carlson, the first part of the book explores how Hells Canyon came to be protected.

Evans pushed for the park to receive National Park designation, but Gov. Andrus opposed such a measure, partially because hunting is prohibited in National Parks.

However, both sides eventually reached an agreement to name the canyon a National Recreation Area, a designation still held today.

Carlson said Evans was instrumental in that process.

“Brock is an icon in the environmental community,” he said. “He’s won more awards than I can remember. He worked tenaciously and he did see the fruits of his labor.”

Evans now lives near Hells Canyon in La Grande, Ore., and serves as the head of the Hells Canyon Preservation Council, according to Carlson.

The second half of the book explores Mitchell’s push for a compromise to keep the Snake River — which runs through the canyon — open to jet boats and other motorized watercraft.

“Engines aren’t permitted in wilderness areas, so there was an effort to ban jet boats and other man-made machines,” Carlson said. “Sandra fought tooth and nail to preserve the right of jet boats to operate along the river.”

Under the terms of the agreement, jet boats would be allowed four days a week during the 12-week period each summer when the river reaches a high enough level.

On the other three days, visitors to the canyon would be prohibited from using watercraft with engines.

“She forced a compromise — it wasn’t perfect, but it was a compromise,” Carlson said.

Mitchell currently serves as the executive director of the Idaho Recreation Council.

Moving forward, Carlson said it’s still possible that Hells Canyon receives National Park status, something environmental groups continue to push for.

He cautioned that modern leaders would have to invoke the spirit of compromise used by Evans, Mitchell and Andrus years ago.

“There’s a lot more work to be done and a lot more compromises to be made before that happens,” Carlson said.

In the meantime, he said Idahoans should simply enjoy the canyon and its natural resources.

“It’s worth trying to protect,” Carlson said, “not exploit.”

“Hells Heroes” was Carlson’s fourth published book, and he said he has already begun work on a fifth.

The book was published by Caxton Press in Caldwell and is available for purchase on caxtonpress.com and Amazon for a cost of $16.