Posted on 12/05/2014 8:35:46 AM PST by SeekAndFind
On the rim of the Grand Canyon, there is an area that is not part of Grand Canyon National Park. This land does not belong to the federal government. It belongs to the Navaho people. The Navaho tribe, as such, has the right to develop its tribal land to bring tourism, money, and jobs to its population. But this kind of thing gives out-of-town environmentalists and the government employees who run the park a sad.
The New York Times article on a proposed $1 billion development actually features quite a few viewpoints, mostly fairly, but it frames the whole story with an anecdotal lede featuring a Navaho environmental activist— the most sympathetic anti-development activist in the piece— and calls all such development “threats from the outside” to the park, which is “under siege,” so you know where they’re coming from. There are plenty who won’t get past that lede, will curse the evil developers antagonizing nature and indigenous peoples and the saintly government, and move on with their fair-trade coffee in whatever hipster enclave they’re sitting.
But who does support such development? Environmentalists and park employees call it “making money off the Canyon”—which aren’t they making their livings in Canyon-related activities, but I digress. The local tribes often support such development because of a record of success at another Grand Canyon site about which environmentalists complain:
A skywalk finished in 2007 over the western rim of the Grand Canyon, on land owned by the Hualapai tribe, has become an overwhelming success, drawing thousands of visitors a year, most from Las Vegas. Some then take a helicopter ride to the bottom of the canyon, to the distress of conservationists.
Also, local communities who don’t exactly have the amenities of their environmental lecturers residing in urban centers:
Greg Bryan, the mayor of Tusayan and manager of a Best Western there, said that development was needed to accommodate park workers as well as people who might want to live near this national park.
“We want people to own their own home,” he said. “It’s awfully nice that the environmental community that lives in Chicago or Boston or Los Angeles — who live in their nice homes and who can go down to the corner grocery store and get whatever — can complain about what’s taking place here, without realizing that the people who live here need to have some quality of life as well.”
And, the Navaho National Council, which would have to approve the plan. In a sentence that must feel grimly ironic considering Native American history, the departing president of the Navaho nation reminds the U.S. government and the New York Times, that this land belongs to the Navaho people, not Uncle Sam:
Ben Shelly, the departing president of the Navajo Nation, is one of the project’s biggest champions, arguing that it would bring jobs and revenue to the tribe. “The president is for business development and job creation,” said Desmond Tome, Mr. Shelly’s senior adviser. “The Grand Canyon Escalade project is a huge step in that direction.”
“If it’s going to do irreparable damage, we need to close the entire canyon off to commercial projects,” he said. “Tell the Hualapai to take down the skywalk. We are not building on the Grand Canyon National Park. We are choosing to develop the land that belongs to the Navajo people.”
Look, I actively enjoy the national parks. I love to climb mountains, hike long distances, camp by the banks of America’s beautiful rivers and lakes. (Federal control is not necessarily required for such enjoyment, but I’m not fighting that battle right this instant.) I’m cognizant of the need for responsible development when it happens, and frankly, quite happy to trust the Navaho people to make the decision about what constitutes responsibility. Roads and hiking paths and the occasional bathroom or wheelchair accessible overlook allow Americans who aren’t well-heeled, young, white, liberal backpackers or park employees to get a load of what wild America has to offer. Treating every bit of development as if it’s inherently horribly destructive ends up narrowing the population that can enjoy the nation’s natural wonders to a group not much bigger than the group vociferously complaining. And, maybe that’s the point, but it shouldn’t be, especially on federal lands meant to be enjoyed by a wide range of people. If you consolidate land in the name of preserving a treasure for all Americans, you better be willing to let a bunch of Americans come see the treasure, even if they might require, gasp, a Best Western or a moving walkway in the vicinity. All that’s a moot point in this case anyway because this is Navaho land over which the government has little control no matter how “under siege” it feels on behalf of the Canyon.
Yesterday’s related thread with maps and other info
Where 2 Rivers Meet, Visions for Grand Canyon Clash
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3233836/posts
Yesterday’s related thread with maps and other info
Where 2 Rivers Meet, Visions for Grand Canyon Clash
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3233836/posts
This give me "a sad", too. It seems that wherever problems crop up regarding local land use issues, the enviro-activists are always from 'out of town'.
Is this why Obama recently had a meeting with the ‘tribal leaders’ ?
It’s such a huge monster. It’s not destroying it. It’s making it more accessible.
What’s wrong with these Navajo? They should take their money from the U.S. taxpayers and let the Democrats contemplate their navels.
I’m with the Navajo on this one. If they want this to work, they won’t degrade the canyon too much, or they will lose the tourists. It’s in their own best interest to balance the community needs and the environmental and aesthetic issues.
I don’t think they will screw up.
The tribe should show the environmentalists what the rim looks like.
Just a personal feeling about what we do for "bucks".
Is she trying to be cool? Do me a "solid" and skip that crap, okay.
A skywalk finished in 2007 over the western rim of the Grand Canyon, on land owned by the Hualapai tribe, has become an overwhelming success, drawing thousands of visitors a year, most from Las Vegas. Some then take a helicopter ride to the bottom of the canyon
My Wife and I did this a few years ago, Absolutely Worth every penny and then some, I encourage Everyone to go there, it is Awesome.
The eco-nuts just want every place that is “natural” just to sit there and be unobserved or experienced. They feel that humans are a pox on this planet. With such obvious self-loathing, why don’t they just off them selves?
I’ve never been to Mt. Rushmore. It does seem like something the public would not support any more. A product of its time.
In everything to do with the environment, though, it seems to me like we can never really get “even”, much less get ahead. Humans leave ugly marks on the earth, just like dogs poop on people’s lawns. It’s our fallen nature. We can do our best to minimize the mess, but we are not capable of redeeming ourselves. We need God for that. And, lucky thing, he has designed a universe where sunlight can disinfect things, and tree roots can bring down ugly structures, given enough time.
Ye gods, what next?
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