Dawn at Mineral King Valley The Sierra Club, the Disney Company, and the rise of environmental law

Daniel P. Selmi

Book - 2022

"In Dawn at Mineral King: The Sierra Club, the Disney Company, and the Rise of Environmental Law law professor Daniel Selmi chronicles a seminal case that opened a new field of law: environmental protection. It shows how, against long odds, the Sierra Club prevented the Walt Disney Company from building a massive ski resort in the magnificent Mineral King Valley of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Proposed in 1965, the vast Disney development would have irretrievably altered the relatively untouched Mineral King Valley in the Southern Sierra Nevada mountains. The Sierra Club's lawsuit against the development went to the United States Supreme Court and resulted in an immensely important decision that not only ultimately preserved the M...ineral King Valley but also opened the way for environmental groups to challenge other destructive projects throughout the country by finding that public interest groups had "standing" or the right to bring lawsuits like this. The story is set against the backdrop of the environmental movement that suddenly emerged and swept the country in the late 1960s and early 1970s"--

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Subjects
Published
Chicago : The University of Chicago Press 2022.
Language
English
Main Author
Daniel P. Selmi (author)
Physical Description
xiv, 347 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN
9780226816197
  • Principal Participants
  • Prologue: In the Supreme Court
  • A Ski Development at Mineral King
  • 1. A Resort in the American Alps
  • 2. An Invitation from the Forest Service
  • 3. Dueling Applications
  • 4. A Cabinet Brawl
  • 5. A Recreation and Conservation Plan
  • The New World of the Courts
  • 6. Formulating a Lawsuit
  • 7. A Shocking Injunction
  • 8. The Shutout
  • 9. Standing Front and Center
  • 10. Opening the Courthouse Door
  • The Fate of Mineral King
  • 11. Cracks in the Wall of Support
  • 12. A Park-Barrel Bill
  • Epilogue: The Inflection Point
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes on Sources and Abbreviations
  • Notes
  • Bibliography
  • Index
  • Figures follow page 138.
Review by Choice Review

The environmental movement of the 1960s inspired protective attitudes toward the wilderness, and in this evolving political and social climate, Disney Productions presented a plan to build an enormous ski resort deep in the Sierra Nevada. The proposal initially received positive responses: skiing was popular, generated fees for the Forest Service, and could be deeply profitable. The problem was that the proposed location, Mineral King, was a small valley 25 miles into the wilderness through the protected area of Sequoia National Park. The Sierra Club sued to stop the project, and the resulting national trial had far-reaching consequences. This book is the comprehensive story of the seminal legal decision, which became the precedent by which wilderness development projects are judged. Selmi (law, Loyola Marymount Univ.) conducted extensive research and included both the miscalculations and successes of all participants: the Sierra Club, Disney, the Forest Service, the National Park Service, and the Departments of Interior and Agriculture. Because of the author's meticulous analysis of this pivotal story, this book would be an excellent resource for students of public relations, environmental studies, political science, public administration, law, journalism, and more. Summing Up: Essential. Undergraduates through faculty. --Cynthia W. Bruns, emeritus, California State University--Fullerton

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review

When Walt Disney took up the sport of skiing in the 1960s, he had a vision of converting California's Mineral King Valley wilderness into a recreational wonderland. Disney's dream could have become an environmental nightmare, with hotels, restaurants, and ski facilities capable of attracting millions of annual visitors to this pristine alpine valley. The Sierra Club, then a nascent coalition, vowed to stop Disney in his tracks. What followed was a legal battle that would endure for more than a decade, involve numerous government agencies and courts, and pit a relatively unknown group of conservationists against one of the most powerful and popular entertainment brands in the world. Environmental law was barely a thing when the injunctions and suits began, but thanks to a growing awareness of the region's ecological fragility, a stalwart team of lawyers succeeded in keeping the valley free from development. Land use and environmental legal scholar Selmi's career began in the California district attorney's office in the early 1970's, allowing him to bring a first-person perspective to this instructional David versus Goliath preservationist struggle.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review

When the Disney Company submitted its 1965 bid to open a ski resort in California's Mineral King Valley, nestled between Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks, company administrators were unaware of the vast legal and public ramifications the project would withstand in the coming 13 years. Selmi (Loyola Law Sch., Loyola Marymount Univ.) deftly describes an era when environmental protection was taking center stage in the public eye and how the Sierra Club's fight to conserve the valley from development ushered in a new era for law wherein citizens could sue for environmental cause. The book is broken into three parts--the history of the valley, which falls under the purview of the U.S. Forest Service, and the ski resort proposal; the legal battle between the Sierra Club and the government; and the fate of the valley following the Supreme Court decision granting its conservation. Readers will appreciate that Selmi considers multiple angles of the debate and enjoy the suspense built from shifting narratives throughout each chapter. VERDICT A superb addition to environmental law collections.--Mattie Cook

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