Posted: 8/13/2014
Trigger
The Opinion piece published in the New York Times intones “[Grand Canyon area]]confront a challenge that some are calling one of the most serious threats in the 95-year history of Grand Canyon National Park. … a small group of investors the power to irreparably harm the crown jewel of America’s park system.” (emphasis added) .
In addition, on my daily commute I have heard now twice on NPR radio the same story about one of the two projects mentioned in the article. Guess, it was not positive and opposed to the project.
The Two Projects
Here are relevant excerpts from the article above (emphasis added):
- “On the South Rim plateau, less than two miles from the park’s entrance, the gateway community of Tusayan, a town just a few blocks long, has approved plans to construct 2,200 homes and three million square feet of commercial space that will include shops and hotels, a spa and a dude ranch.”
- “Less than 25 miles to the northeast of Tusayan, Navajo leaders are working with developers from Scottsdale to construct a 1.4-mile tramway that would descend about 3,200 feet directly into the heart of the canyon. They call it Grand Canyon Escalade.
The cable system would take more than 4,000 visitors a day in eight-person gondolas to a spot on the floor of the canyon known as the Confluence, where the turquoise waters of the Little Colorado River merge with the emerald green current of the Colorado. The area … would feature an elevated walkway, a restaurant and an amphitheater.”
My Side Of The Story
It is about high time that there is more commercial development in the Grand Canyon South/North Rim and southern Utah area. Anyone who ever travelled there will probably have noticed that there are e.g. few hotels, often old and expensive, far away from the attractions of nature you want to see.
Moreover many attractions can only be accessed either by a several mile one way hike (sometimes on unmarked trails through wilderness) or only with a high clearance, four wheel drive off road vehicles driving 10s of miles on unpaved roads towards the attraction (e.g. The Wave in the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument).
The extreme preservation and protection applied to federal lands is way overboard. The federal government owns most of the land around the Grand Canyon. Preservation for preservation’s sake is nonsense!
The Grand Canyon is almost 300 miles long thus, these two projects do not really diminish or severely impact the overall natural beauty of the Grand Canyon. As to the religious significance of the Convergence area for native people there appears to be some doubt or controversy about that, even NPR did not fail to mention it.
To give more leisurely or physically challenged tourists more access to the stunning beauty of the Grand Canyon is highly desirable and long overdue! To argue, like the author of the above article, that there are mules, helicopters, trails already available to reach the bottom of the canyon or to get close to the canyon is ludicrous.
Theodore Roosevelt
In my view, he is one of the most controversial U.S. Presidents of the 20th century right next to his relative Franklin D. Roosevelt. To use hyperbole, he was an imperialist (e.g. Panama Canal); a big government advocate; an enemy of big business in the wrong way; responsible for the FDA; responsible for the expansion of National Parks (e.g. at the expense of state parks) and so forth.
The author of the article above does not want to be remiss by quoting Theodore Roosevelt speech of 1903 at the South Rim (emphasis added):
““I want to ask you to do one thing in connection with it, in your own interest and in the interest of the country — keep this great wonder of nature as it now is,” Roosevelt declared. “I hope you will not have a building of any kind, not a summer cottage, a hotel, or anything else, to mar the wonderful grandeur, the sublimity, the great loneliness and beauty of the canyon. Leave it as it is. You cannot improve on it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it.””
Well, this was this man’s opinion! Unfortunately, his opinion has carried the day until now!I I respectfully disagree! Of course, humans can improve on nature’s beauty. How can humans appreciate the beauty, if they cannot access it.
A Gross Violation of FDA
The federal government I would assert is actually one of the worst offenders of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Just check out how many National Parks/Monuments etc. are to what extent accessible to handicapped people.
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