 In June 1964 the Natural Resources Council asked Stephen H. Spurr , dean of the Graduate School of the University of Michigan and an authority on forestry and forest ecology , to form a group to evaluate the proposed Rampart Dam . The Spurr report determined that the scenarios offered as justification for the project were overly optimistic with respect to Alaska ’ s projected long @-@ term population growth , its per capita use of electricity , and the predicted rate of entry of electroprocess industries like the aluminum industry ( which had substantial power requirements ) into Alaska . Moreover , the proposed dam would have greatly reduced the catch of five species of Pacific salmon , especially the chinook ( king ) , chum ( dog ) and coho ( silver ) salmon . It would also eliminate vast numbers of migratory waterfowl , including an estimated 1 @.@ 5 million ducks and 12 @,@ 500 geese that migrated annually from the Yukon flats . There would also have been a sharp decline in both large mammals - the moose , black and grizzly bear , and caribou - and smaller mammals : muskrats , mink , beavers , and river otters in aquatic habitats , and marten , wolverines , weasels , lynx , snowshoe hares , red fox and red squirrels in terrestrial or upland habitats . Spurr ’ s report noted : " [ It ] is a truism of wildlife ecology that displacement of a population from the area where it normally lives is tantamount to eliminating it completely . Adjoining habitats ordinarily are carrying all the wildlife that the local resources will support . In short , loss of habitat is synonymous with loss of the animal population supported by the inundated habitat . " 
