Participation Type
Paper
Session Title
Session 2.02 Environment
Presentation #1 Title
“United We Stand, Divided We May Be Dammed:” Grassroots Environmental Activism and the TVA
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
The Upper French Broad Defense Association (UFBDA) was a grassroots environmental organization that united the efforts of concerned citizens from five counties in western North Carolina. These individuals all faced a common impending environmental crisis: the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) plan for Appalachian North Carolina. The TVA began surveying western North Carolina in 1961, and by 1966 the federally owned organization released a plan to dramatically alter the landscape. This plan consisted of 14 dams and 54 miles of river channelization, both of which would result in the relocation of more than 600 families and the flooding of thousands of acres of fertile agricultural land. This TVA project encountered a formidable opponent in the residents of Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Madison, and Transylvania counties. By a combination of relentless letter-writing campaigns, bumper-sticker distributions, covered dish suppers, and shrewd appeals to state and federal politicians, the UFBDA members were instrumental in halting the TVA plan and saving their own communities. The “unlikely environmentalists” of the UFBDA, mainly retired farmers and factory workers, possessed a considerable amount of insight about what was best for their local environment and a willingness to act upon this knowledge to preserve the landscape for future generations. The legacy of the UFBDA has largely been ignored in the historical record, but its illumination brings a new perspective to the dynamics between Appalachian communities, the Appalachian landscape, and the TVA.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Savannah Paige Murray is a senior at Wofford College studying Environmental Studies (B.S.) and History (B.A.). A native of Asheville, NC, she plans to pursue a M.A. in Appalachian Studies in the fall.
“United We Stand, Divided We May Be Dammed:” Grassroots Environmental Activism and the TVA
The Upper French Broad Defense Association (UFBDA) was a grassroots environmental organization that united the efforts of concerned citizens from five counties in western North Carolina. These individuals all faced a common impending environmental crisis: the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) plan for Appalachian North Carolina. The TVA began surveying western North Carolina in 1961, and by 1966 the federally owned organization released a plan to dramatically alter the landscape. This plan consisted of 14 dams and 54 miles of river channelization, both of which would result in the relocation of more than 600 families and the flooding of thousands of acres of fertile agricultural land. This TVA project encountered a formidable opponent in the residents of Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Madison, and Transylvania counties. By a combination of relentless letter-writing campaigns, bumper-sticker distributions, covered dish suppers, and shrewd appeals to state and federal politicians, the UFBDA members were instrumental in halting the TVA plan and saving their own communities. The “unlikely environmentalists” of the UFBDA, mainly retired farmers and factory workers, possessed a considerable amount of insight about what was best for their local environment and a willingness to act upon this knowledge to preserve the landscape for future generations. The legacy of the UFBDA has largely been ignored in the historical record, but its illumination brings a new perspective to the dynamics between Appalachian communities, the Appalachian landscape, and the TVA.
