Greater Grand Canyon Ecosystem Listed As One Of America's Most Endangered Wildlands

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Greater Grand Canyon Ecosystem Listed As One Of America's Most Endangered Wildlands

Grand Canyon-Parshant National Monument & Grand Canyon National Park Threatened As Corporate Interests Placed Before Environmental Protection

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, WASHINGTON, Apr. 25 -/E-Wire/-- The Wilderness Society, the leading national organization focused on the protection of U.S. public lands released its fifth annual "15 Most Endangered Wildlands" list today. The Grand Canyon Ecosystem, including Grand Canyon National Park and the new Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, are on The Wilderness Society's list of "15 Most Endangered Wildlands," because corporate interests threaten to prevail, rather than sound environmental policy.

The last week of March, U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton sent letters to state and local officials soliciting suggestions on ways to best manage the country's newest national monuments. Chairman of the U.S. House Resources Committee Representative Jim Hansen (R-UT) also sent letters to 15 House members whose districts include new monuments and offered to redraw boundaries or even erase the monuments if that is the desire of those members. As a result of the efforts of Secretary Norton and Representative Hansen, Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument could be opened up to mining, other forms of development, readjustment of monument boundaries, and possibly even abolished. Both Norton and Hansen claim there was no public input in the designation of recently designated national monumentsâa claim that doesn't stand up to scrutiny.

A poll conducted in 2000 showed that 78 percent of Arizonans supported the protection of Grand Canyon-Parashant area as a National Monument. What this polling data indicates is that despite opposition from some members of Arizona's congressional delegation, voters throughout the state overwhelmingly support efforts to protect Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument areas.

"Grand Canyon National Park was created and originally protected by President Teddy Roosevelt as a National Monument," said Pam Eaton, Four Corners regional director, The Wilderness Society. "Its only fitting to preserve this conservation legacy by protecting some of the special places adjacent to the Canyon as a new national monument. The Bush administration's current strategy in dealing with national monuments is nothing more than a classic case of a 'solution in search of a problem' tactic."

There is simply no denying that one of the most spectacular ways to view the Grand Canyon is from the air. And yet, the sound of helicopter and plane tours immediately swallows the silence that the majority of visitors have come to experience. The U.S. Air Tour Association has suggested the possibility of seeking an injunction in federal court to prevent the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) from replacing two scenic air routes along the Colorado River from Las Vegas to Grand Canyon National Park with more direct routes. The FAA said the routes would reduce noise and improve safety as required by the Overflights Act of 1987.

"Our national parks represent only a fraction of our nation's public land, yet they are the treasures that define who we are as a nation," said Rose Fennell, National Parks director, The Wilderness Society. "The National Park Service operates 384 national parks on a budget of only $1.65 billion. That is about a half billion dollars less than the Pentagon spends to build and outfit one B-2 bomber."

Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument encompasses the Shivwits Plateau region, a vast tableland and adjacent low desert lying north of the western end of Grand Canyon National Park in northwestern Arizona. It is a unique landscape of sweeping cliffs, majestic mountains and a labyrinth of canyons. The eastern and western edges of the Shivwits Plateau form dramatic escarpments, and one of the nation's most remarkable ecotones (zones of ecological transition).

The effects of the loss of natural sound in the Grand Canyon go far beyond the serenity visitors expect. Disturbance â measured at more than four times the normal background level â has forced the peregrine falcons to abandon their nests and bighorn sheep to leave their isolated mountaintops. The sonic vibrations of helicopters are disturbing enough to damage cliff dwellings preserved in the Southwest since their construction as early as 500 AD. The NPS predicts that by 2010, no part of the park will retain naturally quiet conditions unless further steps are taken to restrict air tours.

The Bush Administration should adopt a "hands-off" policy when it comes National Monuments. The National Park Service and the FAA must come up with a Noise Management Plan that will significantly restore natural quiet to Grand Canyon by reducing the amount of noise produced by low flying aircraft in the Park.

Founded in 1935, The Wilderness Society works to preserve America's wilderness and to develop a network of wildlands through public education, scientific analysis and advocacy. Our goal is to ensure that future generations will enjoy the clean air and water, wildlife, natural beauty, opportunities for recreation and spiritual renewal that protected forests, rivers, deserts and mountains provide.

http://www.wilderness.org/newsroom/15most/2001

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