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

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

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.

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