Dawn at Mineral King Valley

by Daniel P. Selmi

The story behind the historic Mineral King Valley case, which reveals how the Sierra Club battled Disney’s ski resort development and launched a new environmental era in America.

In our current age of climate change–induced panic, it’s hard to imagine a time when private groups were not actively enforcing environmental protection laws in the courts. It wasn’t until 1972, however, that a David and Goliath–esque Supreme Court showdown involving the Sierra Club and Disney set a revolutionary legal precedent for the era of environmental activism we live in today.

Set against the backdrop of the environmental movement that swept the country in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Dawn at Mineral King Valley tells the surprising story of how the US Forest Service, the Disney company, and the Sierra Club each struggled to adapt to the new, rapidly changing political landscape of environmental consciousness in postwar America. Proposed in 1965 and approved by the federal government in 1969, Disney’s vast development plan would have irreversibly altered the practically untouched Mineral King Valley, a magnificently beautiful alpine area in the Sierra Nevada mountains. At first, the plan met with unanimous approval from elected officials, government administrators, and the press—it seemed inevitable that this expanse of wild natural land would be radically changed and turned over to a private corporation. Then the scrappy Sierra Club forcefully pushed back with a lawsuit that ultimately propelled the modern environmental era by allowing interest groups to bring litigation against environmentally destructive projects.

An expert on environmental law and appellate advocacy, Daniel P. Selmi uses his authoritative narrative voice to recount the complete history of this revolutionary legal battle and the ramifications that continue today, almost 50 years later.

Genres: History, Conservation, Nonfiction, Politics

344 pages, Hardcover

First published June 28, 2022

Reviews

[Tuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read , lawyerly story of Walt Disney and us forest service trying to build a giant ski resort in Sierra nevadas. They ultimately failed, and became part of sequoia national park.
Court case is Sierra club vs Morton, and established standing for citizens and groups to litigate fed govt environmental decisions.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sierra Club v. Morton was an important case on the issue of standing. The issue in this case was whether the Sierra Club had a sufficient stake or sufficient injury to bring about an environmental law suit. The doctrine of standing ensures that courts will only decide cases brought by individuals with a sufficient stake/harm in a dispute to vigorously litigate it. Traditionally, the harm that would support a plaintiff's standing to sue was economic injury. In 1970, the Supreme Court expanded standing to include noneconomic standing such as aesthetic, conservational and recreational injury. However, the damage still had to be done to individuals personally. The Sierra Club tried to argue that standing should be expanded to include anyone who had a bona fide special interest in the case. The Supreme Court held that broadening the categories of injury that may be alleged in support of standing is a different matter from abandoning the requirement that the party seeking review must himself have suffered an injury in the outcome of an issue.

Special thanks to NetGalley and University of Chicago Press for a free copy in exchange for my review.

[Peter Zingg · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating account of how a small group of activists within local Sierra Club chapters at the dawn of the environmental era was able to build support to first delay and then cancel a massive ski resort project that Walt Disney conceived for an unspoiled (and nearly inaccessible) valley in the high Sierra Nevada.

No part of the debates and decision-making are left out of the book, but the story is presented as a concise and captivating timeline. There are real heroes here, as well as politicians and officials who were only beginning to understand the importance of reducing the impacts of tourism on pristine areas of the West. We learn from Selmi of the milestone events that happened from the time of the ski development boom of the mid 1950s, to the beginning of the fight against the Mineral King project in 1965, to the landmark hearing and decision of the US Supreme Court in 1971, and to the ultimate abandonment of the Disney Company's plans in 1978. During this period, Congress created the Environmental Protection Agency, passed the Wilderness Act, and greatly expanded the areas contained within western National Parks, and new legal theories of who has the right to fight for the environment were codified. It was an extremely important 25 years.

Thanks to good lawyering on the part of Michael McCloskey for the Sierra Club, and to the good conscience of a few pro-wilderness decision makers like Stewart Udall, the Mineral King valley now remains a remote and stunningly beautiful resource for those who can make the trip. Selmi's detailed and enjoyable documentation of how it all happened can help provide a roadmap for the future struggles of conservationists. Thank you, Professor Selmi!

[Alex Baron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prior to reading this book I was familiar with Disney's failed attempts to build a ski resort at Mineral King, but I did not know much of the story following Walt's death in 1966. I also did not realize the importance the ensuing legal fight with the Sierra Club would be for environmental law in the U.S.

This book is mostly for those that are interested in environmental law. It is written in a very academic style, which is fine, but it means it can be a dry read at times. It also helps if you have a general understanding of the American judicial system, as Selmi does not explain that in much detail.

As someone who has read a lot of Disney books on a variety of topics, I found the Disney perspective in the book to be adequate, but not overly detailed. I understand that this was not the main goal of the book, but there are definitely some key anecdotes that I would have included to give more colour to the story. Like the fact that while Disney is fighting to build this ski resort, it is also building and opening Walt Disney World in Florida, one of the largest private construction projects in American history. Selmi might not have had information to corroborate this, but I'm sure Disney executives were annoyed at having so much pushback in their home state, while seeing so much progress in Florida.

Also, with so much talk of monorails and trains, I think it would have been a nice mention to highlight how these modes of transportation have been used successfully in the Disney parks since Disneyland's opening in 1955. Disney would not have been unfamiliar with these modes of transporting guests in the late 1960s.

[Geoffrey Nutting · Rating 3 out of 5]

I belong to the Sierra Club, but I didn't know anything about this case (barely heard of it). It was interesting to become better acquainted with the issues. Still, I think the author could have drilled into it better by going top down & not le4aving the reader in the legal weeds, wondering why all of this detail was important. Then, at the end, Mineral king gets incorporated into Sequoia National Park and the book drops the reader off the cliff. (because, as the reader undoubtedly knows from all the preceding material) because all of the preceding suits become moot. The material is all there, but poorly organized to my mind -- the reader should be reminded more often why certain actions were important and what they would accomplish.

I felt sorry for Disney occasionally for having put so much time & effort into the project to get nothing out of it . Disney could have done better for themselves if they'd tried harder at critical points, though.

It is difficult to totally admire the Sierra Club when it is one of the pioneers of suits designed to kill a project by delaying it forever in the courts.

[Gay · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story of the battle for Mineral King, a beautiful valley in the high Sierras of California.

It follows the eventual court cases that pitted the Disney Corporation’s attempt to build a ski resort in the secluded valley against the new interest in the USA by groups in saving the natural aspects of the area. All the different factions: the US Forest Service, the county of Tulare, the Sierra Club, the Sequoia National Park, the Supreme Court of the US, and the various interested citizens had to rethink and resolve the complicated issues around saving a natural wonder and commercial use of public lands.

This book is for you if you want to follow the long battle that led to Mineral King becoming part of Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park and the birth of the strong environmental movement.

[Dayna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have done a lot of backpacking in the Mineral King, area and had always heard about this controversy. It was great to get the whole drawn-out story. But the book really got lost in the legal weeds for a while. I understand that is the author’s interest and the Mineral King legal case is significant to environmental law. The author could not tell the story properly without doing that. But, just a warning to anyone who’s interested, there is a lot of back-and-forth in the judicial system which makes for dry reading.
Also, please intersperse the pictures throughout the text. I kept wondering what that map would look like and then searching online. When I got to the end of my ebook I realized there were photographs and maps.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an electronic ARC via NetGalley.

This is a well-written and engaging book, and for someone interested in the topic, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. That being said, my own lack of familiarity with California and with ski resorts made it difficult for me to stay engaged reading it. For someone who knows the area, I imagine it would be rather fascinating.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story but read much like a law textbook.

[Lizzie Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very helpful for those needing information on the Mineral King case for academic or personal interests! I love how the story was structured by starting from the first important events and following an easy to follow and detail oriented order. This case is insane and it shows so much about the development of environmental law, a private corporation's values and behavior in reference to the environment, and how those in government and non profit will navigate the legal field.

[James P. Taft · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is well written and explores the interesting twists and turns that kept Disney in check.

Especially interesting with Disney’s Florida power struggle going on with DeSantis.