Floyd Dominy died

[WileEcoyote]

The old coot finally kicks the bucket...


http://www.hcn.org/hcn/wotr/floyd-dominy-the-colossus-of-dams-dies-at-100

Floyd Dominy, who made it his mission to improve nature by, among other things, damming the Colorado River at Glen Canyon and creating the more user-friendly Lake Powell, died at the age of 100, on April 20.

Some had hoped that Glen Canyon Dam would go first, draining Lake Powell and restoring the river’s ecosystem. But Dominy, who was commissioner for the Bureau of Reclamation from 1959 to 1969, spoke of his pride in his achievement during an interview a decade ago: “Glen Canyon Dam and the creation of the most wonderful lake in the world, Lake Powell, is my crowning jewel."




Dominy was one amazing villain. Hero to some people as well. I didn't like what he did but he surely lived a long life and was one tough son of a bitch.

Dominy was pushed out of his job as Bureau of Land Reclamation Commissioner in 1969 because an FBI investigation came up a thousand page file on his extra marital affairs. The guy who gave him his pink slip was James Watt.

"The FBI knows every woman i ever fucked" Dominy was quoted as saying in the late Marc Reisner's book "Cadillac Desert"

Don't that kind of fit the bill?

I shouldn't say this but i will:

Rest in peace Floyd. Had I been your neighbor I probably would have liked you.

And you were the best villain the Southwestern environmentalists ever had.

[closeupready]

1. What can I say.

I'll reserve my remarks for the time being.

[tularetom]

2. He was my boss for a year back in the mid 60's

Worked for BuRec as a surveyor right after getting my BS.

I never met him but my supervisor hated his guts.

[WileEcoyote]

3. I heard he ran the Bureau like a terrorist

That in addition to intimidating his whole staff he propositioned ALL their wives at parties.

[tularetom]

5. I was so far down the food chain his policies would barely affect me

But if he ever made a move on my supervisor's wife he'd be talking in a high voice for the rest of his life.

She was a cowgirl and pretty handy with firearms. Plus I once saw her deck some drunk who grabbed her ass in a bar one night.

[Xolodno]

4. Damn! Didn't know he was still alive.

Under his oversight, the Bureau of Reclamation had one thing in mind.....Dam every river they could find. This is the guy who said it was "acceptable" to flood part of the Grand Canyon in order to build a dam just south of it. He and William Muholland could have been best of friends (he's the guy that said they should dam Yosemite Valley to stop the god-damn waste).

[WileEcoyote]

6. Oh no doubt he did many evil things

Oddly the picture Marc Reisner (he is REALLY missed!) paints of Dominy in "Cadillac Desert" isn't completely unflattering.

Though not an engineer he excelled in a field run by them. An outcast among his own staff. I can kind of get a kick out of a guy like Dominy ribbing all those egg headed engineers who couldn't see the big picture. Dominating a legion of highly educated engineers but who didn't know diddly about public relations.

Floyd Dominy was an extremely hard working man. And despite his intimidation of Land Reclamation staffers and other delinquencies he did seem to have a strong sense of concern for farmers and others who lived off the land. At least in his early days with BLR. Later when he sold out to Big Agra a different picture emerges.

Had he worked for the good guys Dominy would have been a great union organizer or similar. the hard driving, hard drinking SOB who came through for the little guy.

Instead he's mostly known as the guy who pissed off second graders who read that he was pushing to drown the Grand canyon in "My Weekly Reader".

talk about missing the big picture.

Reisner dies at age 52.

Abbey dies at 64.

Dominy outlives these and many more of his detractors. The bad guy won. Life ain't fair. Or maybe it's just that people with no real conscience live longer. No shame or guilt...