Fishy Reprieve

The snail darter wins--for now

Work on the $116 million Tellico Dam across the Little Tennessee River was nearly finished in 1973 when an ichthyologist discovered the snail darter, a three-inch species of perch whose only known natural habitat is the 17 miles of water behind the dam. Completing the project would create a stagnant lake, killing the 10,000 tiny fish; the snail darter became a protected species under the federal Endangered Species Act in 1975, and construction was halted last year. Lawyers for the Tennessee Valley Authority went to court, arguing that no fish was more important than the dam.

Last week the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6 to 3 in favor of the snail darter's right to life. Wrote Chief Justice Warren Burger: "The plain intent of Congress was to halt and reverse the trend toward extinction." In dissent, Justice Lewis Powell noted dryly that this meant vital federal projects would have to be canceled if they "threaten some endangered cockroach." Indeed, the decision could affect at least eleven other projects, including the proposed $690 million Dickey-Lincoln Dam in Maine, which would endanger the Furbish lousewort, a rare plant that resembles the snapdragon.

But sentiment is growing in Congress to change the law. One amendment, backed by Tennessee Republican Senator Howard Baker, would enable a review committee to waive the law when an "irresolvable conflict" arose, as in the case of the Tellico Dam. "If all else fails," said Tennessee Governor Ray Blanton, "well promote it as the world's largest monument to the world's smallest fish." -

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