Free Republic

When the six Boy Scouts from suburban Maplewood, N.J., went camping in the Grand Canyon, they expected an adventure they would long talk about, but they did not expect to be clinging to treetops and praying to survive a flash flood. The six Scouts and three adult leaders were eventually guided to safety by American Indians who live in the area, and plucked out of the wilderness by a Black Hawk helicopter. By the time they flew away, the 10-yard-wide canyon next to a stream where they had been camping had become a 300-yard-wide raging river. The scouts and their...

An earthen dam broke near the Grand Canyon following heavy rains, and officials are evacuating hundreds from the massive gorge. Grand Canyon National Park spokeswoman Maureen Oltrogge says Redlands Dam broke at about 6 a.m. and is causing some flooding in the town of Supai at the bottom of the canyon. She says Supai is not under water. About 400 members of the Havasupai Tribe live there. Oltrogge says some campers and river runners in the canyon also are being evacuated by seven helicopters at the scene. She says evacuees are being taken to a Red Cross shelter in Peach...

With minimal public notice and no formal environmental review, the Forest Service has approved a permit allowing a British mining company to explore for uranium just outside Grand Canyon National Park, less than three miles from a popular lookout over the canyon’s southern rim.Mining Claims Near the Grand Canyon********************************* If the exploration finds rich uranium deposits, it could lead to the first mines near the canyon since the price of uranium ore plummeted nearly two decades ago. A sharp increase in uranium prices over the past three years has led individuals to stake thousands of mining claims in the Southwest,...

Grand Canyon Gorge Is 9 Times Older Than Thought Hope Hamashige for National Geographic NewsApril 9, 2008 New research on the Grand Canyon challenges the long-held belief that the canyon was carved by the mighty Colorado River about six million years ago. Parts of the canyon were formed more than 50 million years earlier than previously thought, according to the new study. The newfound evidence, which will be presented in the May issue of the Geological Society of America Bulletin, shows that part of the canyon known as Upper Granite Gorge formed more than 55 million years ago. The history...

This is a posting of a liberal bias warning. I just returned from a week of vacation in Myrtle Beach and went to the new IMAX 3D theater at Broadway at the Beach one day to see a film on the Grand Canyon. I thought I would be seeing a film show casing the 3D technology and images. What I got was a biased political screed from Robert Redford on the dangers on Anthropogenic Global Warming and the evil dangers of mankind to the planet. There was no balance and the whole program was about what we could do to...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Grand Canyon, carved out over the eons by rushing river water, began to form 17 million years ago, making it nearly three times older than previously thought, scientists said on Thursday. The general consensus among geologists had been that the famed natural landmark in Arizona was about 6 million years old. But now University of New Mexico scientists say it is far older based on their findings using a technique called uranium-lead isotope to date mineral deposits in caves from nine sites in the canyon's walls. The cave formations provided a record of a dropping water...

An unusual experiment is taking place today at the Grand Canyon. Water will be released from the Glen Canyon Dam as officials create a manmade flood to help flush sediment down river into the canyon. The controversial move is an attempt to rebalance the eco-system. Three hundred gallons of water came rushing through the bypass valves per second. The Department of the Interior authorized this high tech experiment because it says that it wants to restore some of the habitat. It essentially wants to scour the Colorado River and restore some of the sediment on the river's banks and also...

PHOENIX - For the third time since 1996, officials plan to unleash a manmade flood in the Grand Canyon next month in an effort to restore an ecosystem that was altered by a dam constructed on the Colorado River decades ago. The Glen Canyon Dam, completed in 1963 upstream from the Grand Canyon, permanently changed the Colorado River, transforming it from a warm, muddy, unpredictable force of nature into a cooler, clearer, tightly controlled water-delivery system. Without spring floods to flush the system and help rebuild beaches and fish habitat, native species suffered even as non-native fish thrived. The shift...

Lava left its mark on Grand Canyon Friday, 15 February 2008 Larry O'Hanlon Discovery News Volcanic lava flows onced dammed the river that ran through the Grand Canyon (Source: iStockphoto) The Grand Canyon was not just carved by water. It has also been the scene of periodic wars between the Colorado River and volcanic eruptions that dammed the river, then burst. New airborne elevation survey data and radioisotope dating of Grand Canyon lava flows sheds new light on the battle between water and molten rocks there over the past 725,000 years. Over that time there have been no fewer than...

PHOENIX — A wildlife biologist at Grand Canyon National Park likely died from the plague through his exposure to wild animals that can carry the disease, the National Park Service said Friday. Eric York, 37, was found dead in his home Nov. 2. Following his death, about 30 people who came in contact with him were given antibiotics as a precaution. While authorities were uncertain about how York became infected, officials said that the biologist was at a greater risk to the sometimes-fatal disease through his exposure to wild rodents and mountain lions.

Four-year-old girl dies in Grand Canyon death plunge10-10-2007, 17h34 PHOENIX, United States (AFP) Tourists view the Grand Canyon in Arizona, April 2007. A four-year-old girl plunged to her death after falling from the rim of the Grand Canyon, according to park officials Wednesday. (AFP) A four-year-old girl plunged to her death after falling from the rim of the Grand Canyon, according to park officials Wednesday. The Arizona girl was the second-youngest person to die from an accidental fall from the canyon rim, according to experts. The girl fell 450 feet (150 meters) about early Tuesday from Mather Point on the...

In the United States the old but bitter debate between evolution and creationism is heating up again. Three of the Republican presidential candidates do not believe in evolution and a high-tech creation museum recently opened in Kentucky. Much of the debate has been fuelled by a book claiming the Grand Canyon, one of America's most well-known landmarks, was carved by Noah's flood rather than erosion. Every national park has at least one gift shop - usually more - selling t-shirts, snow domes, mugs, postcards and books. At the Grand Canyon you will find books on the canyon's history, the canyon's...

June 20, 2007 We in America have some of the most magnificent national parks in the world -- Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and many others. Sadly, however, our government has turned over to private monopolies the operation of many of the services and accommodations available to visitors in our national parks. For example, the same monopoly controls not only the lodgings but even tourist buses and taxi services on both the north rim and the south rim of the Grand Canyon. A different monopoly controls lodgings and other services at Yosemite. Monopoly is bad news, whether in the private marketplace...

What/where is a must thing to do/see in AZ, UT, NV, and CA?

See for example this thread first. Some news that is worthy of talk The Grand Canyon’s new glass sidewalk You’re way up in the air and then down, down you stare … if you’re scared of heights, you go *AWWWWWK*!

An Internet Publication for Real AmericansFrom The News WireTribe set to open Grand Canyon Skywalk Posted: Tuesday March 20,2007 - 12:14:55 am By CHRIS KAHN, Associated Press Writer 49 minutes ago HUALAPAI INDIAN RESERVATION, Ariz. - Visitors who have marveled at the Grand Canyon's vistas will now have a dizzying new option: a glass-bottom observation deck allowing them to gaze into the chasm beneath their feet. The Skywalk, which will be unveiled Tuesday, is being touted as an engineering marvel. The glass-and-steel horseshoe extends 70 feet beyond the canyon's edge with no visible supports above or below.For $25 plus...

Arizona's Hualapai Tribe hopes to draw more visitors with a controversial structure that will jut over the crevasse. GRAND CANYON WEST, ARIZ. — Perched over the Grand Canyon close to a mile above the Colorado River, a massive, multimillion-dollar glass walkway will soon open for business as the centerpiece of a struggling Indian tribe's plan to lure tourists to its remote reservation.

The National Park Service insists that it does not teach creationism or endorse the view that the Grand Canyon is the product of Noah's Flood, according to a new agency public statement posted today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Despite this statement, the agency will continue selling a book making those "Young Earth" claims about the origin of the canyon - a book that top agency officials approved over the objections of its own park superintendent. In a statement issued by the National Park Service (NPS) Chief of Public Affairs, David Barna, on January 4th, the agency contends...

Grand Canyon National Park is not permitted to give an official estimate of the geologic age of its principal feature, due to pressure from Bush administration appointees. Despite promising a prompt review of its approval for a book claiming the Grand Canyon was created by Noah's flood rather than by geologic forces, more than three years later no review has ever been done and the book remains on sale at the park, according to documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). "In order to avoid offending religious fundamentalists, our National Park Service is under orders to suspend...

Nesquick, utensils found in woman's pants By SHAWN MCGRATH Cheyanne E. Dwiggins’ sweet tooth got the better of her on Wednesday and her method of shoplifting became creative, according to police. Dwiggins, 18, was arrested Wednesday morning for allegedly trying to swipe several pieces of candy, a few kitchen utensils and a well-hidden 15-ounce box of strawberry Nestle’s Nesquik from Bauer’s Market, 815 Main St. Shortly before 9:30 a.m., store owner Scott Law watched Dwiggins for about 30 minutes and knew she had pocketed several items, according to court papers. Dwiggins walked up to the cash register to pay for...

An Egyptian tomb in the Grand Canyon similar to the Valley of Kings in Luxor, Egypt? An article published on the front page of the Phoenix Gazette on April 5,1909, claimed that just such an Egyptian rock-cut cave was found! The Gazette article, dated April 5,1909, starts with four headlines, "Explorations in Grand Canyon", "Mysteries of Immense Rich Cavern Being Brought to Light", "JORDAN IS ENTHUSED" and "Remarkable Finds Indicate Ancient People Migrated From Orient." From the Gazette article: "...the explorer who found this great underground citadel of the Grand Canyon during a trip from Green River, Wyoming, down the...

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. - --snip -- The twin rafting trips epitomize the parallel universes often inhabited by Americans with polarized positions. Members of both groups said they had signed up for these charters to be surrounded by like-minded people. Indeed, all the American adults on Mr. Vail's boats voted for President Bush last fall, while all but two on the evolutionists' rafts cast ballots for Senator John Kerry.

THE GRAND CANYON - We've seen images of how the name of God is being driven out of the public square. Remember when the Ten Commandments statue was rolled away at the Alabama Judicial Building? At the Grand Canyon too, there have been attempts to undermine God's word and remove His name. To see the Grand Canyon in person is awe-inspiring. Its beauty and size are humbling. There are majestic images hidden deep within the canyon, but it is also filled with questions. Just how old is it? Secular geologists say it dates back millions of years. Try telling that...

In Ariz., fire 30 miles from Grand Canyon strands tourists. Lightning-sparked wildfires burned across more than 50,000 acres of northern Nevada on Monday, closing Interstate 80 for a second day, forcing evacuations in some rural areas and claiming most of the training grounds at a state fire academy. At least a half-dozen new fires were spotted around the Reno and Carson City area after another round of thunderstorms packing lightning rolled through the area Monday. Nearly 1,000 firefighters were fighting about two dozen blazes from the heavily timbered western front of the Sierra Nevada near Reno to the sage- and...

Grand Canyon University might be a school for ultramarathoners (super marathoners) -- guys and gals who run multiple marathons in one day. I know of one race that goes from rim to rim of the Grand Canyon and back all in one day. But that is not relevant here. Sorry. Grand Canyon School was a traditional University with an annual shortfall of $12 million to $15 million as late as 2004. It broke even last year and is now turning a profit. The difference is, it was bought by a significant other -- Significant Education -- and turned into a...

It's 10-feet wide and extends 70-feet from where it's anchored to the rock. It has a deck made of tempered glass. That's a description of a new $30 million structure being built in the Grand Canyon that's expected to draw thousands... The Hualapai Indian Tribe's "Glass Walkway," a structure that will be suspended over the edge of the canyon some 4,000 feet above the Colorado River. It will be higher than any of the world's tallest free-standing skyscrapers. The walk way is horseshoe shaped, and its glass bottom will allow you to look straight down between to the canyon floor....

Fellow Americans, there comes a time every mans life when we must give up ourselves before we are worthy to recieve. There comes a time in this war on terror when in order to protect liberty, we have to give it up in the mean time for safty. That's right folks. Today, Americans have forsaken the creator for the creation and have decided that they would value our "civil liberties" than protecting western civilization and rich white people from the tender mercies of radical Islamic terrorists. Selfish liberals insist and whine that Bush has no right to spy on Americans...

After reading all of the crap that people have been saying regarding Adult Private Social Clubs, I felt that I had to post an article and give my opinion. I am sick and tired of all the religous groups that are saying that there are drugs, prostitution, minors, non-consenting people, and just immoral people at these clubs! First of all, who do these people think they are to decide what is morally right or wrong for me? I believe that I have a good set of morals. I am a law abiding, tax paying citizen, I work full time and...

For four short years I have been watching the developing and in most cases already existing problems with water management boil. It seemed that during the height of the drought that maybe the Federal Government would step in and demand action or it would take action, that does not look likely now with a good water year under our belts. This was in fact the case last year as Sec Norton promised intervention if the States did not resolve the current conflict, that of usage allocation. Most would agree that the pie was cut into to many slices originally, which...

Despite Grand Canyon entrance fees that are set to rise $5 per car next year, some are saying the agency charged with protecting the park for future generations will still be millions of dollars short of what it needs to do the job right. Employee housing is "abysmal," the park office that conducts scientific surveys is being "gutted" and archaeological sites that should get protection are being ignored as a result of perpetual budget shortfalls, say park supporters. Scientists who have left in recent years haven't been replaced, leaving one Park Service wildlife biologist to monitor the threatened and endangered...

Young-earth creationists continue to embarrass Christians with their “science.” They continue to try to explain the Grand Canyon away by the flood in the Bible. When people started asking logical questions such as “How does a global flood create a canyon and layers of rock?” the YECs started formulating scientific-sounding objections to current theories about the Grand Canyon’s formation. However, as you will see below, they only sound scientific. They gloss over or ignore simple objections to and problems with their claims. For more on why YECism is not scientific and not biblical, go here. The excerpts are from "Canyon...

PHOENIX - Great views — and plenty of goosebumps for those afraid of heights. An American Indian tribe with land along the Grand Canyon is planning to build a glass-bottomed walkway that will jut out 70 feet from the canyon's edge. The horseshoe-shaped skywalk, expected to open in January, is part of the Hualapai Tribe's $40 million effort to turn 1,000 acres of reservation land into a tourist destination that will also feature an Indian village and Western-themed town. The tribe's reservation is some 200 miles by road to the west of the section of the Grand Canyon National Park...

WASHINGTON, April 28 /PRNewswire/ -- The Grand Canyon, the Statue of Liberty, and Yellowstone National Park are the clear front-runners in a national survey conducted by the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA) that asked Americans to name the top American treasures they would like to visit. Results showed a true appreciation for the nation's natural and historic sites. The top ten selections, in order, were:

Double Standard: Eco groups silent on federal fish kill The Monitor (McAllen, Texas) March 15,2005 Where is the investigation? Where are the arrests? Where is the outrage? An endangered species, the humpback chub, has been pushed to the brink of extinction, yet we've seen none of the usual responses. Why? Because the slaughter stems from the questionable actions of federal bureaucrats, at the behest of environmental groups. Wiping out protected species evidently only becomes a crime when some industry or private citizen is involved; good intentions give regulators and greens a pass.

Some people are very upset that a bookstore in Arizona is selling a book called Grand Canyon: A Different View. The bookstore is operated by the National Park Service, you see, and the different view presented in the book is that the mighty gorge came about as the result of the flood. You know, The Flood. The one starring Noah. Thus has censorship come full cycle from the days of John Scopes.

Link post: access the images and thread (for discussion and commentary) in the Chat section. Special appeal to Arizona residents to examine the Grand Canyon image to see if they can identify a strange feature noted there! Geology Pictures of the Week, Nov 28 - Dec 4, 2004: Southwest U.S. Geology from Space

I think we could smell the wild ride, beach party thing coming before it happened - the really big question is - wouldn't you evaluate the results after the flood event rather than during it? The rafters truly are bedding down with the eco pukes - there are roughly ten thousand people who ride the waves down the Colorado every year - but there are close to three million that visit Lake Powell every year - it appears that the recent drought has sharpened the attentions of enough of those three million users to want to pull the plug on...

Water release: The idea is to help native fish and to restore canyon beaches Nearly nine years later, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is planning another beach party in the Grand Canyon. Pending the completion of an environmental assessment, the bureau next Sunday will commence what it is calling a "high-flow test experiment" at Glen Canyon Dam in a bid to ship sediment down the Colorado River that it hopes will replace sandbars and backwaters in the Grand Canyon that have been lost over the years because of dam-regulated water fluctuations. The goal: to help native fish species, such as...

An organization representing public employees that opposes the presence of a biblical book on the Grand Canyon in National Park Service bookstores contends the federal government has approved the resource despite claims by the agency the matter is still under review. As WorldNetDaily reported, a controversy began brewing in January over the book, "Grand Canyon: A Different View" by veteran Colorado River guide Tom Vail, which claims the Grand Canyon was formed by the Old Testament flood Noah survived and can be no older than a few thousand years. That contention caused some scientists to call for the book to...

Senator Kerry, as your tour over "Flyover Country" continues, it must be really hard on your stomachs. You and the missus are used to the finest cuisine and now have to look like you are eating like the locals. All the little people are so impressed! I know you must have been embarassed by the revelation that you ate on the bus at stop and threw the local food in the garbage. We all saw that you really didn't eat at Wendy's. I mean, everyone thought you were eating at Wendy's, but then you had some take out at a...

Where was John Kerry today? After leaving his train at Flagstaff, AZ, Dork Gigolo and his sidekick, ShoveIt! Woman flew in a helicopter with his family to the Grand Canyon to give a speech and take some pictures.  Here are some of the gems: 1) 2) 3)

CNN reported, “A new book offering a non-evolutionist view of how the Grand Canyon was formed, featuring essays from 23 scientists (most with PhD's, many having conducted serious geological scientific research at the Canyon), is the object of an intense book-banning effort by leading evolutionists. They have demanded that Grand Canyon National Park remove the book, Grand Canyon: A Different View, from bookstores within the Park. The book, which claims the famous area can be no older than a few thousand years (contrary to the claims of traditional secular science, which contends the canyon is millions of years old), was...

January 15, 2003 The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing the Bush Administration over an eight-foot memorial cross in the Mojave Desert, but that's just the beginning according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), a public interest group involved in the suit. PEER claims that the presence of religious materials in national parks is a signal that the Bush Administration's "faith-based initiatives" are headed for the great outdoors. The Interior Department denies that religious encroachment is in any way connected to Bush's agenda. "In my opinion, this is just another political ploy to discredit the Administration," said National...

A Million Years Apart Scientists and creationists square off over the age of the Grand Canyon By Adelle M. Banks Religion News Service Washington, Jan. 12—(RNS) Traditional scientists and Christian creationists have lined up on either side of a dispute over sales of a new book at Grand Canyon National Park that claims the canyon dates to the biblical flood of Genesis rather than millions of years ago. The presidents of such organizations as the American Geological Institute and the American Institute of Biological Sciences have written or signed letters to the park's superintendent expressing concerns that the book's presence...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 — To halt the removal of a cross placed in the Mojave National Preserve almost 70 years ago to commemorate World War I veterans, a Republican lawmaker from California has proposed swapping the land it sits on with a private group. The National Park Service recently ordered the return of plaques bearing biblical verses that had hung in Grand Canyon National Park for more than 30 years before they were taken down last summer. The Park Service also approved selling a book at the Grand Canyon that suggests the canyon was created in six days several thousand...

Regarding the supposed “Book-Banning by Liberals” at the Gandy Canyon store: while I don’t condone the banning of any books, some are making incorrect statements/inferences about the evolution-creation debate. The statement that one conservative group made, “contrary to the claims of traditional secular science, which contends the canyon is millions of years old” is misleading. Most people in the intelligent design movement agrees that the universe is old. Old age does NOT equal naturalistic evolution. Old age does NOT help evolution. As I describe in my own book (“Is the Truth out There?”) young-earthism is neither biblical nor scientific. Young-earthism...

E-mails on creation flap 'swamp' Park ServiceThousands flow into agency amid controversy about Grand Canyon book Posted: January 14, 20041:00 a.m. Eastern By Ron Strom© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com Thousands of Americans on both sides of a heated debate over a book offered in a Grand Canyon gift shop have e-mailed their opinions to the National Park Service in the last several days. "I'm swamped," David Barna, chief of public affairs for the agency, told WorldNetDaily. Barna estimated the number of e-mails and phone calls to be "probably 2,000 easily." Causing the flow of e-mail is the controversy over a book for sale at...

Noah claim annoys scientists Duncan Campbell in Los Angeles Friday January 9, 2004 The Guardian (UK) Noah and his ark have entered the choppy waters of a debate about the age and geological history of the Grand Canyon. For years, geologists have held that the 217-mile-long canyon in Arizona was fashioned by the Colorado river between 5m and 6m years ago, and contains some of the oldest exposed rocks on Earth. But now a book sold in the offical Grand Canyon park bookstore suggests that it was created by the flood that is reported in the book of Genesis. Grand...

<p>How old is the Grand Canyon? Most scientists agree with the version that rangers at Grand Canyon National Park tell visitors: that the 217-mile-long chasm in northern Arizona was carved by the Colorado River 5 million to 6 million years ago.</p>

TUCSON, Ariz. - Grand Canyon National Park is refusing to add more names to its 20-year waiting list for Colorado River rafting permits, angering some private rafters. The decision won't affect people seeking commercial rafting tours, and the Park Service says it makes sense to stop taking applications because the permit process is under review, with a new plan expected by the end of next year. In an effort to preserve the canyon, the park allocates 169,950 user-days, giving 68 percent to professional outfitters. Nearly all the other permits go to private boaters. There are now more than 8,000 people...