On March 12, following an unprecedented request by the state of North Carolina, Interior Secretary Thomas S. Kleppe designated a 26.5-mile stretch of the New River in North Carolina as a component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers system. The decision, however, included the caveat that it could not take precedence over a Federal Power Commission (FPC) license previously granted to the Appalachian Power Company (Appalachian) to construct a large pumped-storage hydroelectric facility, called the Blue Ridge project, on the New River, should the license survive judicial review in a case pending before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Secretary Kleppe's designation came hard on the heels of a concerted media effort by American Electric Power Company, Appalachian's parent corporation, to convince the public of the worth of the Blue Ridge project.¹ Coming roughly one week before the North Carolina primary, it reinforced prior speculation that the Administration timed the decision to advance President Ford's chances in the primary.² The Secretary's astute move served both to placate North Carolina and conservationists who had strenuously lobbied to protect the New River, and to hold out to Appalachian the promise that its project could yet be revived.