The Latest News and Current Events ...
The Grand Canyon News!

April 30, 2002 Lees Ferry Lead tablet a 'fake' !
from the Associated Press

A document discovered earlier this year that blamed Brigham Young for the 1857 massacre in southern Utah of 120 Arkansas emigrants is a fake, according to two forensics examiners.

The sheet of lead was engraved with words purportedly written by John D. Lee, the only man held accountable for the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Its authenticity has been questioned ever since it was found inside Lee's Fort on the Colorado River in January.

The document, dated 1872, says Lee and other Mormon leaders carried out the murders on orders from Brigham Young, head of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"Clearly, and I mean positively, in my opinion the handwriting is not that of J.D. Lee," forensics expert William Flynn told KSL television in an exclusive interview. Flynn said he examined 30 years' worth of handwriting samples from Lee, and the lead plate just doesn't match. At a weekend conference, Flynn and a colleague had their conclusions reviewed by 80 other forensics experts.

"I believe there was pretty much unanimity among them, agreement that the writing in question was not that of J.D. Lee," Flynn told KSL. The lead sheet was found above a layer of concrete that was poured long after the engraving was purportedly made.

Lee was executed for his role in the massacre of 120 men, women and children from Arkansas who were traveling west through southern Utah in September 1857.

Flynn, owner of a Phoenix forensics lab, and George Throckmorton, a crime lab manager for the Salt Lake City Police Department, examined the object on April 5.

Both experts had been involved in the 1980s case of Mormon document forger Mark Hofmann, who is serving life in prison for the bombing deaths of two people. The slayings were an effort to cover up his extensive document forgeries, most of which involved Mormon history and some of which cast early church leaders in a poor light.

"It (the lead-document forgery) is rather Hofmannesque," Flynn said. "I found out just recently that among the items seized from Mark Hofmann's home were several sheets of lead."

KSL said prison officials asked Hofmann about the Lee document and he said, "I just have no comment on it right now."

April 11, 2002  Canyon flooding attempt failed fish!
Associated Press

An artificial flood created six years ago failed to distribute sediment along Colorado River beaches in the Grand Canyon as intended, researchers say.

After opening Glen Canyon Dam floodgates and letting high water flow for two weeks in the spring of 1996, then-Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt declared the $1.5 million experiment a success. The idea was to churn sand and silt from the bottom of the river channel and distribute it on banks, sandbars and side canyons to help fish in the river.

But scientists say the flood's benefits apparently were short-lived, if not illusory. "We're . . . back to where we were before the '96 flood. Some measures tell us we have less sand than before," said Jack Schmidt, a Utah State University geography professor.

Schmidt and his colleagues recommend another large release of water from Glen Canyon Dam, but this time after the monsoons of late summer and early fall. They believe this would take advantage of sediments deposited in the Colorado River channel from tributaries below the dam.

Behind some of the concern is the humpback chub, an endangered native fish whose survival is dependent on backwaters and eddies created by a constant influx of sand and silt. The latest surveys show 2,000 humpback chubs in the Canyon, down from 8,300 in 1993.

"If something is not done significantly in the next two years to improve the habitat, that fish is gone," said Nikolai Ramsey, a scientist for the Grand Canyon Trust, an environmental group.

April 11, 2002 Wow! Hikers pass Phantom Ranch on 277 mile hike!

John Azar and team  celebrated the completion of the first 26 days of the 85 day hike to Lake Mead from Lee's Ferry. By now they are somewhere between Phantom and Crystal.

April 10, 2002 Two Rescues of Falling Victims

A twenty-nine year old New Zealand man was rescued on April 3rd after falling approximately 100 feet into the Grand Canyon.

Richard Cole fell from a point on the rim about a quarter mile west of Hopi Point along Hermit Rest Road on the West Rim. The accident occurred at approximately 1:45 p.m. and was witnessed by the victim's brother, also from New Zealand, who flagged down a passing park shuttle bus.

Ranger/IEMT's Greg Moore and Peggy Kolar and ranger/paramedic Ken Phillips rappelled to the victim, reaching him within 25 minutes of the initial call.

Cole's fall had been arrested on the very edge of a talus shelf with a 600-foot drop below.

Rescuers determined that Cole had suffered an open ankle fracture with severe deformity, a deep scalp laceration, and numerous abrasions, and found that he was profoundly hypotensive. Cole's injuries were stabilized and he was packaged in a Bauman bag stretcher for a helicopter short-haul extraction to the canyon rim above. He was then transferred to Guardian Air Transport by an NPS ambulance for evacuation to Flagstaff Medical Center.

Park pilot Eddie Thoroughgood, who flew the rescue mission, is a native of New Zealand, and the media in that country have expressed interest in the story of how one New Zealander rescued another in the United States.

Just as rescue personnel were mounting their initial response to the Cole rescue, a call was received about another serious incident. The initial report indicated that a solo hiker had fallen in a remote section of the park and had been without food or water for four days. This report came from the members of a private river trip via a ground-to-air radio contact with aircraft over the canyon.

The injured hiker, William Kells, had fallen in a remote location below the North Rim. He eventually made his way to the Colorado River and hailed people on a passing river trip.

Immediately upon completion of Cole's short haul extraction, the park helicopter was reconfigured and flew to Lava/Chuar Canyon with ranger Kristin Fey and ranger/paramedic KJ Glover aboard. Kells was found to be suffering from a possible shoulder dislocation and dehydration. He was airlifted to the South Rim and transported by ground ambulance to Flagstaff.

Kells is known to park staff, who conducted a large, multi-day search for him in the past.

April 03, 2002 Harvey's wife Roma passes away

According to the Arizona Daily Star Roma Butchart, wife of Harvey Butchart, died on April 3rd. She was 96 and married to Harvey for 72 years. Services will be April 6th in Tucson. A very sad day for us all. Go to the Star's website for a full obituary.

April 03, 2002 Condors Nest in Heart of the Canyon!

Nesting pairs are in the vicinity of Dana Butte and Battleship! Watch for them. There is another pair that may nest in the Creamation area!!! These areas are off limits for a while.

April 02, 2002 Fire season is here again!

According to a message from the park's fire information person "a busy fire season is expected." This winter the park received 28% of normal snow fall. As a result the park along with nearby communities and the Forest Service will be holding public meetings in the communities of Page and Tusayan to discuss fire safety and prevention. The message says that the park expects drought status to
last through May. For those planning on hiking/backpacking during this time please beware of the conditions. Also note that at times in the past the park has totally closed certain backcountry areas to all when the situation became extreme. "Heads up!!!"

April 01, 2002 Restoration of the Beamer Cabin!

The current restoration work includes park archeologist Amy Horn and has been going for the past few weeks. Much of the work includes stabilizing walls in "imminent danger." In 1968 saddles, a plow and other objects were removed from
the cabin and are now in the park's Museum Collection. The cabin has been stabilized at least one previous time, in about 1984. Many river parties visit the cabin and hikers access it off the Beamer Trail.

March 29, 2002 Condor Nests in the Park!

There are now two condor nest sites within the park this year.  The Park Service is looking for volunteers to assist with collecting observations from the birds and the sites between sunrise and sundown every day.

March 19, 2002 Waterline from Roaring Springs!
from the Arizona Daily Sun
Getting fresh water from the North Rim to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon called for an initial feat of engineering that still amazes park officials more than three decades later. But keeping the water flowing despite, on average, up to 10 pipeline breaks a year.

There is disagreement over how much longer the 17-mile pipeline that brings water down into the Canyon to the River, then up to the South Rim, will hold up.

According to one National Park Service study in the late 1980s, the pipe would fail by late 2000, said John Beshears, chief of maintenance at the park. But Beshears has more confidence in its future, if only because there is no other alternative at present. "From an engineering perspective, we can maintain the line as long as we need it," Beshears said. "I don't see any catastrophic failures."

Nevertheless, the federal Bureau of Reclamation has started a study at the Park to explore alternatives for supplying water to the 5,000 permanent residents and about 5 million annual visitors to the Village. "We won't be ready to discuss alternatives until the study is complete," said Maureen Oltrogge, a park spokesperson.

The pipeline was started in the late 1960s and completed in 1971. It was made of lightweight aluminum, largely because of the need to fly it in, section by section, by helicopter.

The water originates at Roaring Springs north of North Rim Village. The pipeline descends from the North Rim beneath the North Kaibab Trail to Phantom Ranch, crosses the Colorado River alongside the silver bridge, and travels to just below Plateau Point. From there, the original aluminum pipe has been replaced with steel.

At Pipe Creek it crosses to the south, travels a lateral 1,300 feet, then heads up the Canyon wall to Indian Gardens. A pump station there sends the water straight up to a 13 million-gallon tank farm near Grand Canyon Village. To get there, the water is piped through an underground directional drill hole, a technology borrowed from the oil well industry, Beshears said.

The pipeline carries 750 gallons per minute to Indian Gardens, or 1.08 million gallons per day. "We generally only pump water for 12 hours from Indian Gardens, so half of that flows down Garden Creek to Pipe Creek, then into the Colorado River," Beshears said.

Between the North Rim and Plateau Point, particularly just north of Phantom Ranch, the pipe does present maintenance challenges, Beshears said. For starters, aluminum fluxes with changes in temperature. Add that to the bends the pipeline has to make to conform to the Grand Canyon's steep contours, and it's easy to see why the pipe requires near constant maintenance.

"There's probably not a 100-foot stretch of pipeline that doesn't have a bend in it," Beshears said.

In a normal year, the pipeline averages four to 10 breaks, Beshears said. A repair crew has to come in, cut out a section, and fly in a replacement part. But because the aluminum expands and contracts as temperatures heat and cool, the crews have to record the time, then wait to make the replacement at the same time and under similar weather conditions in the following days.

Pipeline maintenance runs about $100,000 per year, on average. A typical break can cost between $5,000 and $15,000 to fix, depending on the severity. Most breaks involve the replacement of a 3-foot section of pipeline -- a four- or five-day job for a crew of four workers.

In 1995, several sections of the pipe were wiped out by a storm that caused flooding along the length of Bright Angel Creek, and the break took a month to fix. Water was supplied to the Village from the nearby tank farm while it lasted, and water was trucked in.

Beshears said the roughly 7 million gallons in the tank farm that are not slated for fire control would supply the Village for about a week, which could be doubled if emergency conservation measures were put into place.

March 18, 2002  Potholes and the forest dry as a bone!

In Flagstaff, according to National Weather Service statistics, there has been just 2.6 inches of precipitation since Oct. 1, or just 23 percent of normal. Precipitation between Dec. 1 and mid-March is barely an inch, or 13 percent of normal.

March 18, 2002 New Wastewater Plant at Desert View!
From AP
Grand Canyon National Park will begin construction this year on a $1 million wastewater treatment system at the entry point for most of the park's visitors.
The new system on the South Rim will upgrade an old one that until the late 1990s had allowed waste from a series of lagoons to flow, barely treated, into the surrounding landscape, including habitat for elk and deer.

The four lagoons were built in 1967 to handle wastewater from up to 3 million visitors a year to the Desert View overlook and visitor's center. The new system is planned to treat the water to much cleaner standards. Water will still spill into the forest, but it will be a far lower threat to plants and animals than before.
Since the late 1990s, the park has avoided discharge from the lagoons by trucking the waste to its new wastewater treatment plant near Grand Canyon Village. But it costs $100,000 to $125,000 a year.

Contamination of groundwater supplies wasn't a top concern because the aquifer lies an estimated 3,000 feet below ground, said Jeff Cross, director of the Grand Canyon Science Center and the lead park biologist. Park biologists were more concerned about the false boon the water supply gave for plants and animals that would otherwise be restricted by the dry environment, Cross said.

March 01, 2002 More on John D. Lee and tablet found at Lee's Ferry!
Flagstaff Daily Sun
Weber State University history professor Gene Sessions says he believes a recently uncovered letter, purportedly written in 1872 and blaming Mormon leader Brigham Young for ordering the notorious Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857, is a fraud. "I'm willing to stake my reputation that this smells so much like a hoax."

The supposed author of the letter, John D. Lee, was the only person held accountable for the slaughter in southern Utah of 120 Arkansas men, women and children. Lee was executed 20 years after the massacre when Mormon leaders were under federal pressure to solve the case. Lee was an officer of the Mormon militia and adopted son of Young.

In the letter, etched in a sheet of soft lead and dated 1872, Lee purportedly wrote that he and other Mormons carried out the massacre on orders from Young.

The National Park Service said the letter was found Jan. 22 by a volunteer who was cleaning the floor of Lee's Fort on the Colorado River. The Park Service would not identify the volunteer and declined to speculate on the validity of the document.

The letter "has an enormous number of markings of a hoax," Sessions said.

The language of the letter and the placement of the letter above concrete that likely would have been poured after the letter was written were among things that led Sessions to question its authenticity.

He said the letter referred to Brigham Young as "President Brigham Young," which is inconsistent with the time period. Mormons then referred to the pioneer leader as Brother Brigham or simply Brigham.

Verne Lee, a member of the board of directors of the John D. Lee Family Association and his descendent, said the spelling and grammar errors in the letter are not evident in any of his great-grandfather's diaries.

"By this time John D. Lee was a pretty well-read man, the diaries show a marked difference between the person writing in the diary and the person who wrote on the plaque. The errors are not the kind that John D. Lee would make during this time in his life."

Additionally, John D. Lee indicated in a diary entry for the day after the letter was supposedly written that he was in good spirits, even perky, and had just finished building two houses.

"He never, ever felt he was going to be executed until the end of the second trial when he finally realized that it looked like he was going to lose the case," Lee said. That was in 1877.

Pat Norris, a descendant of Capt. Alexander Fancher, one of the wagon train leaders, is awaiting the outcome of tests on the authenticity of the document.

"I would just hope they would get somebody who is unbiased and just wants the historical facts and truth out of it," she said.

February 27, 2002 Trail Crew is busy this year!

They said that the Hermit Trail work is "Done for now."

They are doing some major repairs of the N & S Kaibab Trails and of course,
the Bright Angel..

Also for this year, they plan to reconstruct the section from Horseshoe
Mesa - down to Paige Springs.

Also do some work on some of the "nasty" sections of the New Hance Trail &
the Escalante Routes - and East Tonto... since those areas are getting a
bunch of use...

February 27, 2002 Summer Shuttle Schedule!

On March 1st the park will go to it's "Summer" shuttle bus system and
private vehicles will not be allowed at the S. Kaibab trailhead. No
private vehicles at the Hermit Trailhead except with approval by the
Backcountry Office. Shuttle bus access to both trailheads will begin
one hour before sunrise until one hour past sunset.

February 27, 2002 NPS seeks Public Comment on Tamarisk!
from Maureen Oltrogge 928-638-7779

Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent Joseph F. Alston today announced
the release of an Environmental Assessment /Assessment of Effect (EA/AEF)
titled Tamarisk Management and Tributary Restoration, a proposal to control
tamarisk in side canyons, tributaries, developed areas, and springs above
the pre-dam water level in Grand Canyon National Park. The National Park
Service (NPS) is soliciting comments from those who may have issues or
concerns regarding the proposal.

Tamarisk is a non-native plant that has established itself in riparian
habitats throughout the Colorado River basin. Tamarisk reached the Grand
Canyon area between the late 1920s and early 1930s and became a dominant
species in the riparian zone along the Colorado River following completion
of Glen Canyon Dam in 1963. Preliminary surveys have been conducted in 157
side canyons within the Park. These surveys indicate that tamarisk is in
the early stages of invading the tributaries up from the main river
corridor.

Tamarisk is an aggressive competitor, and once established in an area, it
typically spreads and persists. These prolific nonnative shrubs displace
native vegetation and animals, alter soil salinity, and increase fire
frequency. The purpose of the Tamarisk Management and Tributary
Restoration project is to restore more natural conditions and prevent any
further loss or degradation of the existing plant and animal life in side
canyons along the Colorado River, and to determine the appropriate minimum
requirements - a process to determine which actions have the least impact
on wilderness resources and still accomplish project goals and objectives.

The EA/AEF considers two alternatives, a no action alternative and the
proposed action alternative that examines the use of a combination of
methods to manage tamarisk including mechanical, chemical, and cultural
(i.e. seeding) and revegetation. While this project focuses primarily on
inner-canyon tamarisk removal in side canyons, control actions would also
occur in rim developed areas. The project would begin in spring or fall of
2002 and continue for five years.

Copies of the EA/AEF can be obtained by writing to the Superintendent,
Grand Canyon National Park, P.O. Box 129, Grand Canyon, Arizona 86023,
Attn: Sara White, Compliance Officer,
on-line at www.nps.gov/grca/grandcanyon

or by calling Sara White at (928) 638-7956.

Comments will be accepted for 30-days and should be sent to Sara White at
the above address by April 1, 2002. For questions or additional
information on this proposal, please contact Lori Makarick, Project Leader
at (928) 638-7964.

February 27, 2002 Hualapais assail helipad planned near reservation!
from AP wire

The Hualapai Tribe is opposing a plan by a Las Vegas company executive who wants to operate two helipads east of Meadview so he can bring more tourists to a dude ranch he partly owns.

The tribe formerly had a business relationship with Nigel Turner, chief executive of Heli USA Airways, which operates about 10 flights a day over the Grand Canyon's West Rim.

The Hualapais have accused the 6-year-old company of operating a helipad illegally since last spring on land next to the reservation. They revoked Turner's landing rights a year ago at Grand Canyon West because of his business practices.

February 27, 2002 Was John D. Lee telling the turth!
from the Arizona Republic

Lead tablet found at Lee's Ferry!

It's possible that for 130 years, alead tablet has been lying there in red dirt beneath the ruins of Lees Ferry Fort Page that would implicate theMormon Church in the Mountain Meadows Massacre!

The piece of lead scratched with misspelled words was found last month by a National Park Service volunteer who was cleaning up the fort at the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

If it is real, it's an insight into the mind of the only man executed for the 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre, in which more than 120 men, women and children from Arkansas and Missouri were killed by Mormons and Paiutes while traveling through southern Utah.

The lead tablet, signed "J.D. LEE," may have been scratched by John Doyle Lee, who was executed in 1877 for his prominent role in the massacre. On the tablet, Lee pins blame for the massacre on then-church President Brigham Young.

"ON ORDERS FROM PRES YOUNG" is written on the plaque, shortly after the writer takes responsibility for "THE FANCHER," a probable reference to Capt. Alexander Fancher's ill-fated wagon train.

"I don't give much credence to this lead piece," said Dean May, a University of Utah history professor who is Mormon. "I don't think that it's very different from anything John D. Lee was saying in public at that time, with no evidence other than his own word." Church historians have found no evidence that Young plotted the killings.

The historical significance of the tablet may be that Lee actually believed that Young had ordered the killings through local church leader George Smith.

The National Park Service has been checking on whether the tablet is authentic since it was discovered Jan. 22, 2002 and, has set aside the tablet at its archaeological center in Tucson.

"We're hoping to see if the metal was from the 1870s, in which case it might be authentic, or from the 1920s, where it wouldn't be," said Char Obergh, a Glen Canyon spokeswoman.

The Mormon Church is reserved in its statements about the find. "We think the National Park Service is taking the right approach in seeking to learn whether the object is authentic," Glen Leonard, said in a written statement. Leonard is director of the church's Museum of Church History and Art.

The Mountain Meadows Massacre began on Sept. 7, 1857, when a California-bound wagon train traveling a northern spur of the Old Spanish Trail was besieged by Mormon settlers, Paiutes and the local militia.

After five days of shooting at one another, the locals convinced the Arkansas and Missouri emigrants that they could have safe passage through Mountain Meadows if they gave up their weapons and left some of their wagons behind.

Once they were out in the open, the emigrants were attacked and at least 120 of them were killed.

For years, the Mormon Church blamed the incident on the Paiutes, since the real villians were Morman Church members.

February 23, 2002 Tusayan Hikers 6 days overdue!

Tusayan hikes Eirc Gueissaz and John Quinn, on a big two week hike from Supai, finally got to The Boucher Trail, six days late. The Park Service has launched a search for the pair at the request of friends, but they needed no help. Apparently, they are not as fast as they were in former times, and the big, long hike just took longer than expected.

February 16, 2002 Condor total now 32 in Arizona!

The Peregrine Fund released seven of 11 California condors Saturday morning on top of Vermilion Cliffs. The remaining condors will be released soon.

It was the 10th release in northern Arizona of the continent’s largest bird since the project began in December 1996. With the release, the population of free-flying condors in Arizona increases to 32.

February 09, 2002 Snowbowl Snowmaking coming soon?

Snowbowl director J.R. Murray, along with others from the ski area and from the city utilities department, conducted a test of a snowmaking machine early Friday morning to see if reclaimed wastewater could be used to make snow in Flagstaff. It could.

Friday also brought the first official announcement of opposition to the plan by the Flagstaff chapter of the Sierra Club, the Southwest Forest Alliance, the Flagstaff Activist Network and Diné Bid'zhiil coalition.

"We're opposing it for sure," said Andy Bessler, community organizer for the Sierra Club in Flagstaff.

"The club is looking forward to engaging the Forest Service in the Environmental Impact Statement process. But before that process happens, we are calling on the Forest Service to complete the nomination of the San Francisco Peaks as an historic site as a traditional and cultural property," he said.

Bessler said the club is worried that snowmaking will lead the way for Snowbowl to add more ski runs, remodel the lodge and pursue "maximum buildout" within the Snowbowl's current permit.

February 01 2002 Mountain Sports closes South Milton Store in Flag!

Mountain Sports, one of the city's largest providers of skis, snowboards and bikes, is closing its doors on South Milton Road next month. Citing three dry winters in the last four years, Mark Lamberson, owner of Mountain Sports, said he just couldn't afford to keep such a large store open. Mountain Sports' new store downtown, in the old McGaugh's Bookstore location, will remain open, he said.

Arizona Snowbowl has been closed since Jan. 9 and, so far, has only been open four days this winter. But Lamberson said the dry winter this year was actually the last straw. With three dry winters in the past four years, keeping such a large store open was too much of a risk, he said.

Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce president David Maurer said Mountain Sports' closing was another example of the need for reliable snow in Flagstaff. "It's unfortunate and it's directly related to snow," Maurer said. "I think this helps to solidify the case for finding a solution to snowmaking."

Maurer said the Chamber hasn't come forward with an official endorsement of snowmaking on the mountain, however it was in support of changing the law last year to allow recycled wastewater to be used for snowmaking.

The Arizona Snowbowl is still drafting a proposal to use the city's reclaimed wastewater for snowmaking, but Snowbowl manager J.R. Murray said no date has been set to go before the city's water commission.

January 25, 2002 Interested in Hiking Permits?

There will be a GCHBA discussion group on Grand Canyon hiking permits in Prescott, AZ on this Saturday, 26 Jan. We will meet at 10:30 at the Juniper House Restaurant, 810 White Spar Road, in Prescott, AZ.

January 24, 2002 Canyon visits dip below 4.5 million! Yea!
from the Arizona Daily Sun

Annual visitation to Grand Canyon National Park once again did not reach the 5 million barrier in 2001. Visitation in September and October fell 28 percent and 22 percent. Thanks to a partial recovery in November and December, visitation for the year topped out at 4.4 million. That's down 7.8 percent from the 4.8 million visitors in 2000.

Numbers for December show 191,327 people coming to the Canyon, down 9.5 percent from the 211,471 people who visited last December. November visitation was off 5 percent from the same month in 2000.

January 25, 2002 Express trains to South Rim?

Grand Canyon Railway sees express trains running from Williams to the South Rim as a viable plan for improving the visitor experience at Grand Canyon National Park. David Chambers, GCR president, is pitching the plan in hopes of winning congressional support for it and sketched out its details Friday at the Williams-Grand Canyon Chamber of Commerce board meeting.

Diesel express trains traveling 59 mph would take 90 minutes to reach GCR’s existing depot in Grand Canyon Village — just about the same time it takes to drive there from either Williams or Flagstaff. During the peak season, 1,000-seat trains would set out every hour from 8 a.m.-9:30 p.m. daily, giving GCR the capacity to accommodate 330,000 passengers per month.

The Park Service is not really interested as it does not fit in their Tusayan "Gateway" theme. Perhaps they will change their mind with time?

January 18, 2002 Grand Canyon Trust sues N.M. power plant!
from the Arizona Daily Sun

The Flagstaff based Grand Canyon Trust has filed suit against a New Mexico power plant for what it calls decades of excessive pollution on the Colorado Plateau.

The group, working with the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club, has filed notice with the Farmington, N.M., San Juan Power Plant, its eight owners, and federal and state regulators that it believes the plant contributes too much yellow haze to the airshed of the Colorado Plateau.

"San Juan is one of the dirtiest power plants in the Southwest," said Rick Moore, air and energy program officer for the Grand Canyon Trust.

The San Juan power plant -- the seventh largest coal-fired generating station in the West -- is made up of four coal-fired units that burn roughly 11 million tons of coal annually to produce about 1,650 megawatts of power. Julie Grey, a spokesperson for Public Service Company of New Mexico, which shares ownership of the plant, said the plant has been fully compliant with state and federal regulations.

"It's time for the owners to install the best available pollution controls to clean up San Juan as much as possible," she said. "This plant continues to dump thousands of tons of pollution into the air. People of the San Juan Basin have been breathing dirty air for too long."

According to the EPA Emission scorecard, the plant emitted 28,886 tons of sulfur dioxide, 31,376 tons of nitrogen oxides, and 14.5 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2000.

The environmental groups' letter alleges that San Juan routinely violates the plant's applicable "opacity" limit -- a measure of the visibility of emissions out of plant stacks -- and that the owners of the plant have illegally extended the life of the plant without installing new pollution controls as required by the Clean Air Act.

"What we are seeking is a significant reduction in the emission of air pollutants," said Reed Zars, the Laramie, Wyo.-based attorney representing the environmental groups. "That would result if PNM (the Public Service Company of New Mexico) installed the best available control technology."

Zars has worked with the Trust and other groups in attempts to rein in air pollution at other power plants. As a result of his efforts, the Mojave Power Plant in Laughlin, Nev., is now subject to a court-ordered schedule to install $300 million in air pollution controls.

January 17, 2002 Settlement with the NPS over River Management!
from gcpba Newswire

The Grand Canyon Private Boaters Association (GCPBA) was among four conservation and boating groups that today announced settlement of a lawsuit regarding the National Park Service's February 2000 abandonment of management planning for both the Colorado River and proposed Wilderness within Grand Canyon National Park. The provisions of the settlement call
for reinstatement of these planning processes, which will, in part, address the over 20 year wait that currently faces the over 7,000 private boaters that represent the almost 100,000 do-it-yourself river runners wishing to gain access to the Grand Canyon. Private boaters are the portion of the public with skills adequate to guide themselves and others through the
Canyon using their own, borrowed, or rented rafting equipment, and without assistance from commercial river guides.

Richard Martin, president of the GCPBA, said "This settlement is significant because now everyone - including the Park Service and commercial river outfitters - agrees that an open public planning process is needed and should be restarted. The GCPBA is certain that the simple pursuit of a fair solution within that planning process can only improve the current fate of the private boater."

Besides restarting the public planning process and improving access to the river for non-commercial boaters, the settlement also includes a list of issues the Park Service must address in management of 277 miles of the Colorado River, such as the use of motorized boats and helicopters to transport river passengers in proposed Wilderness. These activities, both of which are considered by many as incompatible with Wilderness management principles, have made river access both easier and faster for many commercial passengers, leading to increased overall demand, along with crowding and excessive noise at various river locations.

Grand Canyon Private Boaters Association is a non-profit all volunteer organization representing over 800 members from across the United States. Its goal is fair and equitable access for all members of the public to our national lands and parks, and to provide a means for private citizens to participate in management planning, protection, and support of these lands, especially at Grand Canyon National Park.

January 17, 2002 Where is the snow?

Flagstaff has gotten only a trace amount of precipitation so far in January, compared to a 30-year average of 0.97 inches. By this time in January of last year, we'd seen 1.74 inches of precipitation.

Snowfall for the month has totaled a half-inch. That compares with a 30-year average of 9.3 inches for the month to date, and a snowfall of 24.7 inches through this part of January last year. Since September, Flagstaff has received 3.49 inches of precipitation. The normal value is 8.71 inches and last year, we'd received 7.24 inches by now.

As for snowfall since September, we've gotten about 33 inches. The normal is just over 40. And by this time last year, more than 50 inches of the white stuff had fallen from the sky.

January 15, 2002 Grand Canyon National Park Foundation awarded grant!

The Grand Canyon National Park Foundation has received a $100,000 grant from the William Randolph Hearst Foundation for the newly established Grand Canyon Wildlife Endowments Fund. The Grand Canyon National Park Foundation's long-term goal is to raise $10 million in endowments to permanently protect wildlife in the park through research and education. The Hearst grant is a major step toward realizing this goal.

The Grand Canyon National Park Foundation first established the Grand Canyon Wildlife Endowments Fund in 2001 with two anonymous gifts. Scientific research and educational activities supported by these endowments will provide lasting protection for animal and plant wildlife in Grand Canyon, including endangered species such as the California condor. The funds are housed at the Arizona Community Foundation in Phoenix.

January 15, 2001 Road to North Rim open May 10!

According to Phil Walker, the NPS North Rim manager, the North Rim Road will open at noon, Friday, May 10. 

January 14, 2002 It's warm at the Canyon!

Been in a warm spell at Grand Canyon - broke the records for the Village. Got up to 65 degrees the other day! Still in the teens at night, though... If the warm weather keeps up there might not be much snow left on the North Rim. The latest NWS snow depth from the North Rim ranger station is only about 1 foot! In addition, it has been so warm and so little snow lately they had close down the Snowbowl ski area.

January 14, 2002    Call for Action to Save the Colorado River!

News Conference and Rally

Friday, January 18, 2002   11:30 AM-12:30 PM

Phoenix, AZ  The environmental and social justice organization LIVING
RIVERS will lead a news conference and rally in downtown Phoenix at noon
Friday, Januar 18, to call attention to the plight of the Colorado River
in Grand Canyon National Park. Speakers from a variety of organizations
will be present and available for interviews. A list of speakers will be
available on the LIVING RIVERS website by mid-week at
http://www.livingrivers.net/.