Dr. George Frederick Clarke

A man of wide and passionate interests fights his last battle against dams on the Saint John River.

r. George Frederick Clarke (1883-1974) was a Woodstock dentist, author, historian, archaeologist, sport fisherman, and conservationist. In Song of the Reel (1960) and Six Salmon Rivers and Another (1963), he reveals the thrill of the hunt for trout and salmon, the camaraderie on the rivers, and the mystical joy of quiet moments. He also expresses his deep concern for the province's fishing waters, especially the Saint John River.

Clarke saw industrial pollution as a severe threat to fish stocks, but even worse were three hydro-electric dams, the first across the mouth of the Tobique River (1953), the second at Beechwood (1957), above Woodstock, and the third, by far the largest, to be constructed at Mactaquac, above Fredericton, in the late 1960s. Clarke crusaded against the Mactaquac Dam at meetings and in the press. Although he lost the battle, he galvanized the river conservation movement that remains strong and vigilant today.