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f o r e w o r d f o r T h e o z a r k s o c i e T y P r i n T i n g The Battle for the Buffalo River tells a story that ended in March  when Congress authorized the creation of the Buffalo National River,essentially ending the ten-yearlong controversy of park versus dam.When thinking about the history described in this book, I see a fortunate coincidence of the right man and the right time. The Right Man Neil Compton, who led the campaign to protect the free-flowing river, was the one person—the only person—who could assume that role. He was, first of all, a serious person, serious of purpose, with a creative bent. He was intensely curious about and in love with the world of nature. In college he studied geology and biology and in  first visited the Buffalo River. During later years, he ventured out at every opportunity to learn more about the Ozarks backcountry. When it fell his lot to lead the river campaign, he came as a small-town doctor, his medical practice established, his social credentials well regarded, his daughters and son grown or soon to be. His wife, Laurene, was supportive. His mother-inlaw , Edna Putman, who shared the Compton home, would become a behind-thescenes positive influence. All of that, plus his skill in photography, would help in the campaign. At times through the s Neil would show me the latest movie he had made to promote saving the river. He would use a hand-held mm camera and put his own voice on the soundtrack as well as music, nineteenth-century classical music (no need there to get permissions or pay royalties, Neil told me). So he added melodious flowing music to the river’s canoeing sequences, and grand operatic passages for the Buffalo’s majestic scenery. Technically, Neil’s home movies were a bit rough, but the photos were telling and the narrator obviously sincere.These qualities together had power to influence people. xiii Neil spoke and showed his movies to any group that would listen. Month after month, year after year throughout the sixties and into the seventies, Dr. Compton labored for the river,devoting not only his leisure time but also time from his medical practice. Through his efforts he attracted others to the cause—many from home in Arkansas, many also from nearby Missouri, still others from farther away. Neil conceived, and then led, a new organization—the Ozark Society—whose first purpose was to save the Buffalo River from being dammed. This campaign was a great grassroots effort to create a new national park. Many joined as leaders and foot soldiers; together they gave the campaign more visibility, a sense of rightness, and, very importantly, critical mass. Beyond anyone else, however ,Neil provided a long-term,personal commitment.No one else ever came forth to match his own combination of passion, creativity, and stamina. The Right Time The s became favorable for promoting a park for the Buffalo,the Ozarks’ most spectacularly beautiful river. The Corps of Engineers had already taken the region’s best dam sites, but now they were being stopped from damming the Current River in the Missouri Ozarks, where in  the Current and its Jacks Fork became the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. Other battles were being fought and won in the sixties to create or expand national parks—in Arizona’s Grand Canyon, among California’s redwoods, in Washington’s North Cascades. In each case—the Buffalo River and all the rest— the battle was between those who saw the area’s natural resources to be used for material gain (often to benefit local interests) and those who saw the resources as having intangible, even spiritual, benefits (with the park advocates usually living outside the immediate area). In simplest terms, locals versus outsiders, exploiters versus preservationists. The s economy also permitted protecting the river. There was war in Vietnam,but then-president Lyndon Johnson had a full domestic agenda,and there was widespread confidence that all was possible. Park advocates suggested that a Buffalo National River would cost less than a Corps of Engineers dam,or not much more than the cost of a single combat airplane. And so,as this book describes,after ten years of struggle Congress in  authorized creation of the Buffalo National River. Neil Compton, as leader of the conservation forces, would...

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