Does the Grand Canyon really need this? Find out what developers are planning
The Grand Canyon, one of the most spectacular landscapes on Earth, is facing the most serious threats to its existence since it became a US park 95 years ago. The view across the Grand Canyon is in danger of being interrupted by man-made developments.
Park officials have expressed alarm at two planning projects which were described as “serious threats” to the future of the Grand Canyon National Park.
National Park Service officials say the projects would alter the park’s vistas and jeopardize its fragile ecology and water supply.
The first threat comes from a proposed 420-acre hotel, restaurant and retail complex on Navajo Indian land neighboring the park, with a gondola carrying visitors from hotels and restaurants at the canyon floor where the Colorado and Little Colorado Rivers meet.
The National Park Service says that the proposal would disrupt the natural beauty of the canyon.
The other threat comes from the south, where the tiny town of Tusayan recently approved a major housing and commercial development that would put significant pressure on the ecology and water supply of the Grand Canyon South Rim plateau. The town wants to build 2,200 houses and 3 million square feet of commercial space.
Park Superintendent Dave Uberuaga told The Times, ‘When you have that size and scope of potential development that close to the park, it will impact our visitor experience.’
But developer R. Lamar Whitmer, who is working with the Navajo tribe, argues the gondola would give more visitors that rare opportunity to see the canyon floor.
Currently, The Hualapai tribe cashes in on the canyon’s tourism dollars by running the Skyway attraction, a glass walkway at Grand Canyon West that juts out past the cliff walls.
The tribe also offers Grand Canyon helicopter tours that land on tribal property next to the river.
‘The average person can’t ride a mule to the bottom of the canyon. We want them to feel the canyon from the bottom,’ said Whitmer.
Each year, more than five million tourists visit the Grand Canyon, making it one of the most popular destinations in the US. Most of them go only so far as the South Rim to take in the seemingly endless expanse of canyons and rock walls.
Only the most determined and experienced of hikers ever take the long path to the canyon floor. That’s ok. The last time we checked, the Grand Canyon was wilderness.
Teddy Roosevelt once said about the Grand Canyon: “I hope you will not have a building of any kind…. Leave it as it is. You cannot improve on it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it.”
We want to know from our readers. Does the Grand Canyon need to be convenient, entertaining and easy to access? Is it acceptable that not everyone makes it to the bottom of the Canyon?
