This photo is of a section of the White River valley from the article “A Threat To The White” from the Summer 1971 issue of Vermont Life (Vol. 25, Iss. 4). The threat to the river is a proposed flood control dam. In this article there is a mix of different environmentalisms. There is the ever present narrative in Vermont Life of the preservation of the unspoiled, “many of its admirers travel great distances to be with it and its surrounding countryside, for much of the river and its valley is still wonderfully unspoiled”. Additionally, there is the importance of ecology for nature itself, “on top of this, many now think that dams in rivers radically change the chemistry and biology of the water and the surrounding land — usually for the worse.”

Lastly, a third lens shows up near the end of the article expressing the idea of humans not as simply a blight on the world but a species that simply needs to learn and fit into natural ecosystems, ‘more and more people are coming to see that really we can only work with nature — that we cannot “control” it as we once naively thought. I think we are also coming to see that plans and programs will work only if they are also ecologically sound — that to do otherwise is costly.’ Surprisingly missing from the article is the narrative of the importance of the material benefit that nature provides, while present in many other places in the magazine. The electricity potential from running water and dams is barely present and missing any kind of argument in its favor.