Report warns of man-made threats to Grand Canyon National Park

[alp227]

Source: CNN

(CNN) -- The majestic views overlooking the Grand Canyon make it one of America's favorite destinations, but a new report finds several man-made threats are contributing to the deterioration of Grand Canyon National Park.

Scientists and park staff working on the "State of the Parks" Grand Canyon report highlight areas and resources in the park that are threatened, the history of those threats and what can be done to correct them.

What they found is a national park that continues to decline from factors ranging from climate change to mining to aircraft flyovers as well as management of the Colorado River upstream from the canyon.

They're all having a negative impact, said David Nimkin, southwest regional director of the National Parks Conservation Association, which conducted the study.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/08/23/grand.canyon.threats/index.html

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I visited the Grand Canyon in 2005 and 2008. It's sad to know that the park is now falling apart.

[jody]

1. People must not forget the political pressure for dams at Marble Gorge & Bridge Canyon , 1960s, that

would have destroyed Grand Canyon.

[BlueIris]

2. Terrible. Our parks are a collective national treasure. nt

[Drale]

3. again?

John Muir is turning in his grave.

[Mendocino]

4. I was there in April/Early May

and much work was being done. From what I could tell, the older developments (South Rim) on the areas east of lodging/gift-shop/eatery section was being returned to a more natural condition. The parking was being pushed back, roads moved and the rim more to what may have been. Using the shuttle buses was encouraged and they were pleasant and efficient.

I hiked down into the Canyon on both the Bright Angel and Hermits trails. I found it amazing the lack of preparedness that some people showed. People wearing flip-flops, carrying a can of soda and no hats on multi-mile hikes. I had people begging me for water, blistered and banged up feet, skin burned blood-red from the sun, some literally crying. I have a world of respect for park rangers, having to deal with those ignore multiple warnings from signs and brochures. The natural world is an amazing place but cannot be taken lightly.

[Drale]

5. You see this all over

In Smokey Mountain National Park there is a trail called Chimney Tops with at the end rises like 1000 feet in a half mile, and I have seen people try to walk it in flipflops or crocks.

[Mendocino]

8. I was in a raging snowstorm on Mt. Washington in New Hampshire

September 79, and found a group huddled among some boulders wearing t-shirts and shorts.

[PJPhreak]

10. In Aug '87 I was hiking the A.T. thru the White Mts,

As I got to the base camp in Franciona Notch I ran into a gent from Dallas who had decided to hike up Mt. Washington...From the Tuckermans Rivine (South) side. He was carring a 60 lb Jansport Frame pack,was 30-40 lbs overweight,in his md thirtys,had never been above 2000' in his life,and had been doing a sit down job for years...Ooh boy.

I told him I would hike up to the top with him in case he had any problems.He Bonked Hardcore just as we broke treeline,flat dropped,started stage two hypothermia symptoms.I ran up to the restaurant (about two miles) dropped my gear,ran back,found him,got a hot cuppa in him,got him back on his feet,grabbed his pack (WAAAAAY too heavy) and guided him up to the restaurant.

Dallas Dude thought he was gonna die.

Took almost Four hours to get him warmed back up,some hot food and coffee into him,his brains back to working right...and then he thought he was gonna hike to the Great Gulf Hostel (14 miles away thru the Great Gulf (North) side before dark!

We took the Shuttle.

[depakid]

11. "people try to walk it in flipflops or crocks."

If they made it without a whinge or a worry they were probably Aussies.

B-)

[Drale]

13. well

Ive seen people do long hard hikes in bare feet and they do it likes its nothing crazy stuff lol

[Xolodno]

25. *shakes head*

I did Ostrander Lake in Yosemite...start at roughly 7000 feet go up another 1800, 6 miles one way, the climb being the last mile basically. We (wife, brother and sister) started early that morning and were coming back mid-late afternoon. My bro and sis went on ahead of us and encountered a large family. They asked him how far to the lake, he said "you just started, its way up there". Told my brother "Were thinking about going up". My brother asked where his gear was and he showed him a water bottle. He told him there was no way in hell he could do the trip on a water bottle, he needed food, plenty of water and needed to leave way earlier. Even told him that he left that morning as was just now coming back. Guy gave my brother a dirty look and kept going.

I encountered them a bit later...heading back. Didn't even make a full mile...they had young kids and a grandmother.

Lot of people just don't think. They have some abject reasoning that a mile is a walk around the block because they are so used to driving all the time and blow through a mile in about a minute. And even if they do walk a mile in the burbs....one problem, that is flat and paved....not rocky, technical with elevation gain.

[NEDem]

6. I was there this past June

besides being way to crowded, I'd hardly say it's "falling apart". There is a lot of new construction and renovations going on.

For what it's worth, The north rim is way better than the south.

[Mendocino]

7. We had been in Zion and Bryce,

I wanted to go the N. Rim but the road was closed at Jacob Lake. Snow there but just a few miles east toward Marble Canyon it was over ninety.

[Wilber_Stool]

9. The Grand Canyon IS a deterioration of sorts.

This reminds me of the only right wing joke I ever thought was funny: If there had been environmentalists around five million years ago, there probably wouldn't even be a Grand Canyon.

[Kali]

12. massive erosion in a dry climate

is always a tourist attraction! :P

[kpete]

14. Grand Canyon's future at 'grave risk,' report says

Source: Arizona Republic

Grand Canyon's future at 'grave risk,' report says

58 comments by Shaun McKinnon - Aug. 24, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Haze blurs the skies over the Grand Canyon, tour planes break the backcountry silence, uranium mines are making a comeback near the Canyon's rim and the Colorado River has lost its muddy mojo.

Add to those threats a perpetually underfunded budget and the picture that emerges is a national park where efforts to protect resources are increasingly compromised, a conservation group said Monday.

In an 80-page "State of the Parks" report, the National Parks Conservation Association analyzed the most serious threats to the Grand Canyon. Some come from outside the park, such as air pollution that blankets the region and future mining operations that could contaminate water flowing downstream into the Canyon. Some threats come from within, such as the popular but noisy air tours that draw complaints from visitors backpacking into the Canyon's more remote corners.

Most of the issues raised would require significant amounts of money to fix, changes in state and federal policies, concessions by private businesses, or all of those, but the association said if the problems are left unchecked, the very nature of the park could change forever. Future visitors could find the most majestic views obscured, and habitats for native species could vanish.




Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/08/24/20100824grand-canyon-future-at-risk.html#ixzz0xYSg7ogY

[closeupready]

15. They destroyed Glen Canyon. They'd have destroyed the Grand Canyon by now,

if they had been permitted.

[RufusTFirefly]

16. Don't worry! I'm sure some friendly free-marketeer will buy it up.

Perhaps if we agree to call it "Verizon's Grand Canyon" or "Starbucks' Grande Canyon" things will be OK.

We are destroying America's priceless public space in so many ways.

[Evasporque]

17. Grand Canyon Threatend by Al Queda Sink Holes!!!

My faith in the war on terror has eroded.

[Evasporque]

18. HAHAHA Tourism Down AZ??

Oh no...The Grand Canyon is going to be destroyed!! Need to go visit...note to self, take birth certificate JIC my tan is deeper than normal.

[jaksavage]

19. Remove Glen Canyon dam

would be a good start.
Stop burning coal for energy. Or make them clean up the exhaust!
Set exclusion zones for tourist flights.

[elocs]

20. If oil were found in the Grand Canyon we would hear, "Drill, baby, drill!!!"

In fact, as sacred as Ground Zero is claimed to be, the same would happen there if oil were found or any other way to turn a big buck. $ is the GOD.

[Kelvin Mace]

21. Here's my solution to the air traffic problem

Outlaw all air traffic over the canyon except blimps. Quiet, fuel efficient, and create jobs in the blimp making/piloting industry.

[Lautremont]

22. Blimps are actually an excellent solution to quite a few of today's problems.

But the downside would be a Blade Runner scenario where they're covered with advertising. Ugly.

[Kelvin Mace]

24. Sadly, the Hindebburg

ruined it for the airship industry. Hydrogen is an EXCELLENT buoyant (also far more common and cheaper than helium) and many engineers now blame the paint on the skin of the Hindenburg for the massive flames. Properly designed, Zeppelins would be VERY efficient cargo haulers and "cruise liners". They also would make damned decent regular passenger service.

Unfortunately, they will never be built, and not because of the stigma of the Hindenburg, but because of the terrorism fetish Americans have.

[Downwinder]

23. After we finish turning the Gulf of Mexico into a sludge pit we can concentrate

on turning the Grand Canyon into a land fill. Will it work as a catch basin for Yucca Mountain?