Bruce Babbitt formally asked President Clinton on December 13 to declare three new national monuments and expand a fourth in Arizona and California.

President Clinton remarked, "There is no greater gift we can offer to the new millennium than to protect these treasures for all Americans, for all time." The monument creations and expansions Secretary Babbitt proposed and which Clinton said he will study and make decisions on early next year are:

The new Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument. It would include 1 million acres north of the current Grand Canyon National Park and includes part of Lake Mead National Recreation Area. It would include most areas that drain into the Grand Canyon. "It is, in fact, where the Grand Canyon begins on the north side," Babbitt said of the land south of the Utah border. "The Grand Canyon is still not fully protected" without it, he added.

The new Agua Fria National Monument. It would include 71,000 acres around the Perry and Black mesas north of Phoenix. Babbitt said it would become "the de facto growth boundary for the city of Phoenix," and protect scenic vistas from the mesas.

The new California Coastal National Monument. It includes all islands, rocks and exposed reefs along the 840-mile California coast of the Pacific Ocean, extending out to sea for 12 miles.

Expanding by 7,960 acres the existing 2,060-acre Pinnacles National Monument in California, about 65 miles from San Jose.

November 21, 1999  Prescribed Fires on the North Rim

Grand Canyon National Park has scheduled major prescribed fires on the North Rim, Wahalla and Widfross, for the fall of 1999. Smoke concentrations from these fires may pose occasional inconveniences to businesses, residents, and park visitors until spring storms extinguish the fires, or fuels within project areas burn themselves out. This burn kept me from doing the Atoka Point Route this fall! For questions please contact the Grand Canyon Fire Dispatch Office at (520) 638-7855.

November 09, 1999  Four Corners fugitive had broken ankle, died at own hand!

Cortez murder suspect Alan Pilon, whose badly decomposed remains were found Oct. 31 by deer hunters in SE Utah, had a broken ankle at the time of his death. 
San Juan County Sheriff Mike Lacy, said he would not release any more details from the state medical examiner's report until he has a written copy in hand. He expects the report's release within a week. 
Alan Pilon, 30, of Dove Creek, died from a gunshot wound to his head, the medical examiner had concluded late Thursday after a partial reconstruction of skull fragments. A bullet entered Pilon's lower right temple and exited above his left ear, the examiner said. 
Both Lacy and Dolores County Sheriff Jerry Martin believe it was a self-inflicted wound, although they acknowledged that the forensic evidence wasn't conclusive. Both sheriffs and Cortez officials have said that Pilon's bleached bones indicate that he probably died early in the massive manhunt for the alleged killers of Cortez policeman Dale Claxton. 
Claxton died in a spray of automatic rifle fire May 29, 1998, after pulling up behind three men in a stolen water truck. 
Pilon's alleged accomplices were Jason McVean, whom authorities say was the likely shooter, and Robert Mason, both of Durango. McVean, now 28, remains at large with a $150,000 bounty on his head. Authorities said that Mason, 26, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head on June 4, 1998, near Bluff, Utah. Authorities do not believe Pilon had a broken ankle before the May 29 shooting. 
Pilon's body was found 2 to 3 miles from a second stolen truck that the men apparently ditched before losing police in desolate Cross Canyon, about 25 miles northwest of Cortez. Lacy said he is drawing criticism from Navajo authorities for speculating that Pilon never got far from that truck. Navajo police have reported tracking two men, believed to be Pilon and McVean, for several weeks during the summer of 1998. 
Among the evidence that Lacy said indicates that Pilon didn't venture far into desert canyons was a water filter found among his supplies. It was still in its package, never used, Lacy said. 

November 02, 1999      Four Corners fugitive's body Found?

A decomposed body believed to belong to one of the survivalists wanted in the killing of a police officer in the Four Corners area 17 months ago was found by deer hunters Sunday in San Juan County, Utah. 
San Juan County Sheriff Mike Lacy said the body was in an area that had been searched repeatedly just 2 miles from where the survivalists abandoned a stolen truck. He said the body could be either Alan "Monty'' Pilon or Jason Wayne McVean. 
The body was dressed in military clothing, a bulletproof vest and a Kevlar helmet - the same gear the fugitives were last seen wearing. Seven pipe bombs were found on and around the body. A Glock handgun, a rifle with a bipod, backpacks with a small amount of backcountry supplies and a camouflage-covered tent were also near the body. 
Lacy issued a statement Monday saying: "We are confident that we have recovered the body of one of two fugitives.'' 
Lacy said he thinks the body had been there since the early days of the massive manhunt for Pilon and McVean. 
"The location of the body and the physical evidence led me to believe the fugitive died there within days of the beginning of the manhunt,'' he said. 
Dolores County Sheriff Jerry Martin said it appeared the man had committed suicide. He also said eyeglasses were found near the body. Earlier descriptions said only Pilon wore glasses. Pilon and McVean were part of a camouflage-clad trio that shot and killed a Cortez police officer and wounded two Montezuma County deputies on May 29, 1998. 
Pilon, McVean and Robert Matthew Mason had stolen a water truck in Durango and opened fire on Cortez officer Dale Claxton when he pulled the truck over on the outskirts of Cortez. 
After killing Claxton, the heavily armed men led officers on a wild chase through the backcountry west and north of Cortez. They abandoned the water truck, stole a flatbed truck and wounded two pursuing deputies before disappearing into a remote canyon on foot. 
Mason's body was found a week later in a makeshift bunker along the San Juan River near Bluff. Authorities believe the 26-year-old Durango man shot himself in the head after he had shot and wounded San Juan County sheriff's Deputy Kelly Bradford. 
Pilon and McVean, however, were seemingly swallowed up in the rugged canyon country of southwestern Colorado and southeastern Utah. 
More than 20 law enforcement agencies and 200 officers participated in one of the largest manhunts ever conducted in the United States. They combed the area for weeks looking for the men, who were skilled in backcountry surviv al and were believed to have stashed supplies in the rugged and remote country. 
For months after the shootings, sightings of men in camouflage would spark renewed search efforts. Lacy said he now considers those sightings "bogus.'' 
At one point, searchers even burned vegetation along the San Juan River to force the men out, but authorities never came any closer to finding Pilon, 30, of Dove Creek and McVean, 26, of Durango. 
Russell Johnson, assistant police chief in Cortez, said the body was discovered by Navajo hunters late Sunday afternoon. It was found about 10 miles northwest of Hovenweep Canyon on Tincup Mesa, overlooking Squaw Canyon. Officers secured the scene Sunday night, and several agencies, including the FBI, investigated Monday morning. 
Johnson, who was at the scene Monday morning, said the body was in a notched area on top of Tincup Mesa that was hidden from sight by trees and rocks. He said it would have been easy for searchers to miss a person or a body in that spot. The hunters found the body after first finding a backpack and rifle. 
"It would almost have had to be stepped on to be found,'' Johnson said. 
He said anyone holed up in that spot would have had a vantage point over miles of terrain below - where searchers concentrated their earliest efforts. 
There was no sign that more than one person had been in the locale. 
The body, which Johnson described as "basically a skeleton,'' was taken to Salt Lake City on Monday for an autopsy. Johnson said dental records will probably be necessary to make an identification because of the condition of the body. 
Searchers will continue to comb the area, said San Juan County Deputy Mike Bradford. Bradford, cousin of Kelly Bradford, said locating the body will "bring some relief for law enforcement in the Four Corners. This kind of gives you hope that there is another body out there.'' 

October 12, 1999       Autumn Colors, Winter closures of the North Rim

The changing of the season is occurring on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park.  Fall colors have reached their peak and are in full bloom for the next week.  Viewing of the colors is best from Point Imperial and Cape Royal.

     As colors on the North Rim peak, it is a reminder that the North 
     Rim's visitor season will be coming to a close.  Staff on the North 
     Rim have begun preparations to close out the 1999 visitor season.

     The majority of the National Park Service's (NPS) North Rim visitor 
     facilities and services will close at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 
     16th.  The NPS Backcountry Office on the North Rim will remain open 
     until 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 31st.  Until closure on the October 
     31st, the Backcountry Office hours for information and backcountry 
     permits will be 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon and 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. 

     The North Rim Campground will have a limited number of campsites with 
     limited services (portable toilets) available on a first-come, 
     first-served basis until snow closes the facility.  The Kaibab Lodge, 
     located four miles north of the park boundary will remain open through 
     breakfast on Monday, October 18th.

     Highway 67 from Jacob Lake to the North Rim will also remain open 
     until November 15th.  Winter driving conditions can occur at anytime 
     during October and November, but the Arizona Department of 
     Transportation (ADOT) has agreed to plow and sand the highway through 
     November 15th.  Traveling this highway in late November and December 
     is risky as ADOT may close the road on short notice due to major 
     storms and heavy snowfall.

     Winter access to the North Rim is by hiking, snowshoeing or 
     cross-country skiing.  Hikers and skiers will be permitted to use the 
     park throughout the winter months if they have obtained a permit 
     through the South Rim's backcountry office.  The South Rim Office is 
     open year-round and can be reached by calling 520-638-7875.  There are 
     no services or facilities available on North Rim during the winter 
     months. 

October 12, 1999        Mohave Power Plant to reduce Grand Canyon Pollution

Owners of the coal burning power plant at Laughlin, Nevada, which has polluted the skies of the four corners area for years, have agreed to install pollution control equipment. 

The agreement between the Mohave generating station, the Grand Canyon Trust, and the Sierra Club, includes the installation of smokestack scrubbers, a filter system, and new burners for the plant’s boilers.

Rick Moore, spokesman for the Grand Canyon Trust, said, “this plant regularly emits enormous plumes of soot and smoke. This is going to be one of the largest cleanups of one of the old coal powered plants in the west.”

Improvements are designed to cut sulfur dioxide emissions by at least 85%, costing up to 300 million dollars and be completed by April 01, 2006. This project follows recent improvements at the Navaho generating Station near Page, Arizona.

The 28 year old plant has contributed to the haze over the Grand Canyon and exceeds emissions standards for sulfur dioxide. The plant is fueled by coal slurry pumped through a 273 mile pipeline from Black Rock, Arizona, near Kayenta. Good job Sierra Club and Grand Canyon Trust for filing a lawsuit to force a cleanup! From The Seattle Times, October 06, 1999.

October 07, 1999         gcpba NEWSWIRE - GRAND CANYON QUIET?

Remarkably,  Senator John McCain, long-time champion of natural quiet at the
Grand Canyon,  has authored and gotten passed special provisions that
actually rolls back  existing protections from noisy air tours at the park.

In an amendment  to a large FAA authorization bill, S. 82, McCain attached an
amendment which  would:

** Deem all Grand Canyon tour aircraft as "quiet" if the FAA  doesn't say
    otherwise in 9 months,
** Open up  flight-free areas to "quiet" aircraft routes,
** Remove the proposed caps  on air tour numbers for "quiet" aircraft, and
** Jettison the existing  curfews, letting "quiet" aircraft fly from 7 AM
to 7 PM  --     virtually dawn until dusk.

This is being  done, we're told by McCain's office, to encourage the
transition to quieter  aircraft.  However, it obviously goes way beyond
that to destroy any  progress made so far on restoring natural quiet to the
Grand Canyon. Our two  most effective tools, moving routes and limiting
numbers, are thrown out. Even  the modest promise of quieter aircraft is a
joke if all planes are allowed in  simply through inaction by the FAA (a
high probability, if memory serves).  McCain's amendment has a final
paragraph which repeats the natural quiet goal,  but there's clearly no way
to achieve natural quiet if any of these specific  provisions are
implemented.

SO.....Please call McCain's office ASAP  to ask him to pull this amendment back in
conference committee with the House  (the House FAA bill has no such
provision). Call McCain at 202-224-2235 or call  his committee staff, Ann
Choiniere at  202-224-4852. Please call soon, because Congress is moving
quickly to wrap  up this and other legislation. This blurb courtesy Rob
Smith, Grand Canyon  Chapter Sierra Club

September 30, 1999    Peregrine Falcons!

The Grand Canyon boasts the nation's highest concentration of peregrines, which now are so plentiful that they can be spotted slicing the sky above Camelback Mountain or swooping from the tops of downtown Phoenix skyscrapers. 

The falcon, which can dive at nearly 200 mph, is one of only 10 species whose numbers have increased enough in the past quarter-century to eliminate federal protections for its habitat. In that time, seven others have become extinct. More than 1,500 animals remain on the list, with dozens more added each year. 

The peregrine's removal from the list comes on the heels of Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt's plan to remove the American bald eagle by next summer. 

"I think it's a genuine success. The Endangered Species Act works," Babbitt said Thursday before hopping a plane to Idaho. "It's an important commitment by the American people to know that we can protect creation." 

The former Arizona governor will make today's announcement in Boise, home of the Peregrine Fund, a private, non-profit group that has helped release nearly 6,000 falcons into the wild. When the group was formed in 1970, the same year the bird was listed as in danger of extinction, the falcons had disappeared east of the Mississippi River. Only 39 known pairs remained in the West, most of them in Arizona, said Jeff Cilek, the group's vice president. 

Today, there are an estimated 1,650 known nesting pairs nationwide, and the actual number of birds is likely much higher. 

"I think the recovery of the falcon is an amazing success story," Cilek said. "More species have gone extinct than have been recovered. We're having a party. We're declaring victory." 

Although the peregrine is off the Endangered Species List, it still can't be hunted, trapped or otherwise disturbed because it's protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The falcon's habitat, however, is no longer protected by law. 

Babbitt will join more than 1,000 biologists, falconers, state and federal wildlife specialists and volunteers ranging from college students to retirees who have worked over the past quarter-century to protect the falcon. "It was definitely the ban on DDT," Bruce Taubert said when asked how the peregrine falcon was able to recover so quickly in just two decades. 

DDT and other organochlorine pesticides were banned in Canada in 1970, and banned in the United States in 1972

September 25, 1999     Monsoon Season Stats

This year's monsoon was the third longest in the state since 1948, lasting from June 25 to Sept. 25, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Phoenix said. 

Longest monsoon: 

1st -- 99 days in 1984. 

2nd -- 86 days in 1983. 

3rd -- 83 days in 1999. 

Wettest monsoon: 

1st -- 9.83 inches in 1984. 

2nd -- 9.31 inches in 1911. 

3rd -- 7.45 inches in 1946. 

12th -- 5.19 inches in 1999. Source: National Weather Service 

August 24, 1999 Have you seen that big mine outside Flagstaff??

That area on the east flank of the San Francisco Peaks is rich in pumice because of prehistoric volcanic eruptions. 

Under pressure from recreation enthusiasts and Native Americans trying to get the peaks designated a Traditional Cultural Property, which would afford them protection under the National Historic Preservation Act, the Forest Service has moved to stop mining in the area. 

The Forest Service proposes to withdraw all forms of mining, including pumice, from more than 70,000 acres -- the peaks and the rest of the forest between U.S. 89 and 180, the highways leading to the Grand Canyon. 

Jim Golden, supervisor of Coconino National Forest, said he has received about 2,500 letters, e-mails and petitions about the mine expansion. Only two were favorable. "The mine owners and their law firm," Golden said. 

"We don't have a lot of recourse under the 1872 mining law. It's pathetic, one of the worst laws on the books for land management," said Golden, the forest supervisor. "They just go out and dig a big hole and the public be damned." 

Now, the focus is on expanding that hole. 

Tufflite wants to mine about 30 more acres adjacent to its existing pit. Company workers recently constructed a fence around what would be the mine expansion. 

That led to heated exchanges with environmentalist protesters at the site and an order by the Forest Service for Tufflite to remove the fence. The company has said that it will move the fence closer to the mine. 

Golden said the Forest Service also has ordered Tufflite to take down the private property signs it has posted at the mine entrance. That order has been ignored thus far. The federal government also sued Tufflite two years ago for failure to pay for chunks of pumice under three-quarters of an inch in diameter that it had extracted. 

"It's good that the Forest Service has started asking the tough questions about that mine," said Coconino County Supervisor Paul Babbitt, brother of Interior Secretary and former Arizona Gov. Bruce Babbitt. "With an arcane mining law like we have, we all know what those answers are." 

August 17, 1999   Kaibab Forest Rangers want to cut Old Growth!!!!

Lets write some Letters!! 
Arizona and New Mexico environmentalists are urging a halt to the cutting of large, old ponderosa pines north of the Grand Canyon. 

And they are calling for the firing of John Bedell, supervisor of eastern Arizona's Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, alleging failure to protect wildlife and sleeping with the timber industry. 

These efforts follow one environmentalist group's victory already this summer. 

Santa Fe-based Forest Guardians challenged a plan to cut up to 90 percent of the trees surrounding Flagstaff in order to stop fires, starting with an experimental grove below the San Francisco Peaks. 

The U.S. Forest Service in Albuquerque upheld the group's appeal, ruling Aug. 3 that Coconino National Forest officials failed to consider the project's impact on potential archaeological sites and places considered sacred by Arizona tribes. 

The regional office also ruled that the project -- planned over 10 years to cover up to 100,000 acres -- may produce results requiring more extensive review and hearings. It ordered Coconino officials to further investigate the proposal. 

The Flagstaff victory was followed Friday by an appeal by a consortium of Southwest environmental groups to block a proposed timber sale on the Kaibab National Forest, north of the Grand Canyon. 

The appeal said the estimated 1,800 truckloads of logs that would be cut across 6,000 acres in the proposed Dry Park timber sale would decimate some of Arizona's last good stands of old-growth ponderosa pines. 

"The North Kaibab Ranger District is an ecological treasure as well as the gateway to the Grand Canyon National Park," said Brian Segee, forest defense coordinator for the Center for Biological Diversity, which filed the appeal with the Sierra Club and the Southwest Forest Alliance. 

"People visit the area to see one of the natural wonders of the world, not a bunch of stumps," Segee said. He called the proposal "nothing more than a desperate attempt to keep a dying timber industry alive." 

Officials of the Kaibab National Forest could not be reached for comment.

April 15, 1999     Part of the North Kaibab Trail Closed

A five and one-half mile section of the North Kaibab Trail from the trailhead down to the Roaring Springs Residence will be closed from April 20th to approximately May 15th for routine trail maintenance. Trail maintenance will include blasting, clearing rock falls, reconstructing damaged trails and repairing damage that is caused by the freezing and thawing action in the steep drainages below the North Rim. Closure of this portion of trail will not affect travel to Cottonwood.  Access to Cottonwood Campground and Ribbon Falls will be from Phantom Ranch until the North Rim and the North Kaibab Trail reopen on May 15, 1999.

April 12, 1999 Snakes!

Seeing as Dr. Tom Martin wrote an article on rattlesnakes in the August 1998 issue of The Waiting List, I wanted to pass on some additional information.  Given Spring is here (at least technically) and as of the sunny weather in late March, snakes were begining to be seen along the Colorado.  I want to encourage everyone's participation in learning more about the types and distributions of the snakes (rattlers and others) in the canyon (rim to rim, Glen Canyon to Hoover Dam).  Last year, I began asking folks (everyone: river runners, hikers, parkies, researchers) to PHOTOGRAPH ANY and EVERY SNAKE they encounter in the Grand Canyon region, noting the LOCATION (river mile, and/or canyon) and SIDE of river.  From this request last year alone, I received 40 "new" records of snakes (photos/slides with locations).

To date, there are no physical records (photo, specimens, etc.) of Western Diamonbacks in the Canyon, however many folks will tell you they can be found at Diamond Creek...photographs provide a voucher documentation. Little information exists on Black-tailed and Mojave rattlesnakes, as well as other 11 + species of snakes, such as the Coachwhip and Lyre snake.  Although its distribution is not well understood, the
Speckled rattler seems to be more common below Kanab, the Grand Canyon rattler more
common above, but both can be pink and 'non-pink'.  I have also found 2 publications
(books) that were published in the last year that had pinkish Speckled rattlesnakes incorrectly indentified as Grand Canyon pinks.
Although currently my Canyon access is limited this year, I plan to continue this non-funded project.  I ask if you would assist with the documentation of the snakes and other reptiles (chuckwallas, Gila monsters, etc) in the canyon and pass the information onto others to participate, I would greatly appreciate it.   Of course PLEASE BE CAREFUL when attempting to photograph a rattler.... a general body shot is fine. 
Again, the basic information: 

1) a photograph or slide of the snake 
2) location (river mile, canyon, trail, etc)
3) side of the river

Please send the photos and other information to me at the following address: 

Nikolle Brown,
7779 N. Leonard,
 Clovis, CA  93611.
My e-mail is black-catnik@worldnet.att.net.
phone:  (559)-298-8574

Any questions or comments?  please feel free to ask...
"Old" photographs are welcome, as long as the location is known (side of river
and date would be helpful too).  I gave a talk at the GCRG GTS in March and have a information/safety and data sheet and a brief history of the project that can be provided upon request--and it will also be out in the next BQR issue. 

***BUT first and foremost....keep a camera handy to 'record' the snakes!!  Yet, please heed the Doc's hints on the prevention of testosterone poisoning!!! 

** Thanks for your contribution to our knowledge of the reptiles in the Grand Canyon! 
 

April 06, 1999    North Rim opens May 15th!!

The North Rim of Grand Canyon, which is closed each winter, will open to the public as scheduled on Saturday, May 15 at 8:00 a.m.  TW Recreational Service, Inc., a company of AmFac Parks & Resorts, will start their seasonal operations on May 15 and continue through October 15, 1999.  TW Services includes lodging, food services, camper services, groceries and a service station. The first meal served in the Grand Canyon Lodge dining room will be lunch on the 15th.  All visitor facilities operated by the National Park Service, including the Visitor Center, Backcountry Permit Office, campground and ranger programs will be open on May 15 as well. 

Advanced reservations for overnight lodging on North Rim can be made by contacting AmFac Parks and Resorts, Inc., in Denver at 303-297-2757. Advanced reservations for the North Rim Campground must be made through Biospherics, Inc., and can be made up to five months in advance by calling 1-800-365-CAMP (2267) or via a secure Internet site at  http://reservations.nps.gov from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The North Rim lies at the south end of the Kaibab Plateau at approximately 8,500 feet in elevation, and is an approximate 215-mile drive from the South Rim. 

March 31, 1999   The new visitor center on Mather Point

Grand Canyon, as one of the natural wonders of the world, is the most highly visited national park in the western United States. The new Canyon View Information Plaza facility will profoundly affect how amost five million annual visitors will experience Grand Canyon National Park. It is a major step in implementing the park's General Management Plan to improve the quality of visitor experience, and to better protect the resources of the park. 

The purpose of this new facility is to provide a transit/orientation center at the South Rim near Mather Point, the first major viewpoint. It will be the primary staging area in the park for a new public transit system and the place where visitors will get their first vistas of the canyon and have opportunities to learn about the Grand Canyon.  The principal structures around the plaza area will include an orientation center, transit pavilion with transit platform canopies, a bookstore, a bike rental facility, two bus shelters serving shuttle lines to other South Rim destinations, two comfort stations, and a system of freestanding outdoor shelters and orientation exhibit kiosks. Both the "passive" transportation network (the light rail and  transit buses) and the "active" transportation network (bicycle and pedestrian trails) leave from this location.

The intent is to create a facility that synthesizes site, buildings, and exhibits in a harmonious fashion with strong  connections between indoor and outdoor spaces and with emphasis on the natural environment. A key objective was to facilitate the movement and distribution of up to 4,300 visitors per hour in a pleasant and  efficient manner. Man-made intrusions on the rim will be minimized. The new facility, located 1,000 feet from the canyon rim, will be connected to the rim by a series of pathways. 

March 29, 1999    The rim is burning!!

Mike Quinn reports, "The burn went good. The wind made it burn fast and hot. Burned off the grass and duff and did little damage to the trees. Wasn't much smoke along Hw 64, really. It all blew north & east into the canyon and dissipated. Picture perfect. Probably will smolder for a week."

Beginning Tuesday, March 30 and lasting between 2 and 4 days, Grand Canyon National Park will begin ignition on the Shoshone Prescribed Burn Unit. Shoshone Prescribed burn is a 1,297 acre burn unit located just North of Highway 64 between Yaki Point and Duck-on-a-Rock overlook.  The fire management staff plans to ignite the unit in one burning period if weather conditions permit.  Depending on smoke conditions, it may be necessary to close areas surrounding the burn area for short periods of time.  These closures may include Yaki Point, Duck-on-a-Rock overlook, and the Kaibab Trail. For more info please see:
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Museum/5907/cburn.html

March 26, 1999     Canyon never drew 5 million a year!! Park Service Games!

By Steve Yozwiak The Arizona Republic

Officials acknowledge visitor counts in error. So, 5 million people didn't visit the Grand Canyon in 1997, or in any other single year. Grand Canyon National Park officials acknowledged their goof this week. It turns out, rangers at the park's eastern entrance that year were counting cars coming and going. 

Park visitation actually has remained relatively stagnant for the past several years, hovering between 4.5 million and 4.9 million since visitation first topped the 4 million mark in 1992. 

 The revelation of the head-counting goof puts a different light on a celebration in December 1997, when an Illinois man, his wife, niece and two nephews from Phoenix were declared the visitors who pushed the total past 5 million. They were showered with gifts and had their pictures taken with National Park Service officials.

An analysis by Grand Canyon officials of visitation records over the past three years concluded that 1997 visits were overcounted. What were reported as 5,131,011 actually were 4,851,931.  Likewise, the 1996 visits were overcounted. The reported 4,877,210 actually were 4,730,682. 

When the park was created 80 years ago this month, there were 44,173 visitors. Visitation topped 1 million for the first time in 1956, 2 million in 1969, and 3 million in 1976.

March 23, 1999      Power plant is polluting Grand Canyon (Its not the only one!!)

A coal-fired power plant at Laughlin NV, 75 miles away from the Grand Canyon is the largest single source of emissions that cause the hazy view at the Canyon.

But the biggest culprit is Southern California smog, the emissions from the region’s cars and industrial plants that combine with dust and other natural material to waft over the entire Colorado River plateau. The  haze reduces how far visitors can see and gives the naturally red rocks a bluish tint.

The study confirms what conservation groups have long contended, that the Mohave Generating Station in Laughlin, Nev., is emitting sulfur dioxide, which combined with other materials contributes
to the haze.

“Visibility at the canyon is made up of a bizillion things, but the largest single source of pollution contributing to visibility impairment at the Grand Canyon is the Mohave power plant,” said Rick Moore, air quality program manager for the Grand Canyon Trust. While cleaning the plant won’t instantly clear the haze, it’s the biggest chunk of the veil that can be taken out in one place, he said. The study found that 3 percent to 21 percent of the summertime sulfates hanging over the Grand Canyon are emitted by the Mohave Generating Station. The amount varies based on weather conditions and where the data is collected.

After accepting public comment on the study, the EPA could force the owners of the generating station to clean up the plant,  which is fueled by coal slurry pumped through a 273-mile pipeline from the Hopi and Navajo reservations. The generating station, which can supply power to 1.5 million households in California, Arizona and Nevada, is operated by Southern California Edison.

Mansour said the owners have agreed to install smoke stack scrubbers and other equipment to reduce emissions by 2008. If the owners decide not to install the equipment at the generating station, they will shut down the plant.

March 13, 1999     Tamarisk Removal

Glen Canyon conducted a successful exotic plant control operation during the period from March 2nd to the 6th.  The park's ten-person tamarisk crew traveled to Coyote Gulch, a remote and scenic side canyon of the Escalanate River, with the objective of removing the exotic trees. Planning and support were provided by the park's resource management division; area rangers, resource management staff and BLM staff from nearby areas helped the crew with removal of the tamarisks.  Chainsaws were used to cut the plants at ground level.  The resulting stumps were then sprayed with a herbicide/ penetrating oil mixture, a technique with proven effectiveness. 

Approximately two miles of the canyon were cleared of tamarisk during this operation.  The entire ten-mile stretch of Coyote Gulch within the park's boundaries is now clear of all concentrated areas of tamarisk.  A follow-up project scheduled for next year will target upstream areas under BLM jurisdiction. 
 

    March 12, 1999    Prescribed Fires Planned for North and South Rims

Grand Canyon National Park has scheduled several prescribed fires for the spring and early summer of 1999.  These projects are tentatively scheduled to begin in early March 1999.  Smoke concentrations may pose occasional inconveniences to residents and park visitors until spring  storms extinguish the fires, or fuels within project areas burn themselves out. The ignition of these projects will be timed so as to minimize cumulative smoke impacts from all projects.  Visibility and health impacts related to smoke emissions from these fires will be closely monitored.

Prescribed fire managers will be using the best available science to minimize visibility and health impacts to park visitors, and improve the health of the forest ecosystem.  These projects are part of an ongoing effort to reduce hazardous fire conditions and restore the natural role of fire in Grand Canyon's ecosystem.

Prescribed fires planned for the South Rim are:

Lonetree: 350 acres of Ponderosa Pine forest one-mile northeast of  Tusayan.  This project will assist in reducing hazardous fire conditions near developments in the town of Tusayan.  The project is tentatively scheduled for early March, weather permitting.  Efforts will be made to reduce smoke emissions, however, some impacts to Tusayan and the South Rim developed area may occur.

Shoshone Point: 1,297 acres of Ponderosa Pine and Pinyon-Juniper  forest along East Rim Drive six miles east of the South Rim developed  area.  Ignition of this prescribed burn is expected to occur as early as mid March, weather permitting.  Fire crews expect to close Shoshone Point, Yaki Point Road, and Dock on a Rock Overlook for short periods of time during this burn.  As much as possible, advance notice will be given to visitors and residents.  This fire will be highly visible to motorists along the highway.  Efforts will be made to reduce smoke emissions, however, some impacts to Tusayan and the South Rim may occur.

Prescribed fires planned for the North Rim are:

Walhalla:  2,500 acres of North Rim Ponderosa Pine forest on the southern tip of the Walhalla Plateau near Obi Point, approximately 3 miles south east of the North Rim developed area.  This fire will be  highly visible from the South Rim.  Ignition is scheduled to begin in early March, weather permitting, and will most likely be completed prior to the opening of the North Rim and the road to Cape Royal in May.

Widforss:  600 acres of North Rim mixed conifer forest approximately 1 mile north west of the North Rim developed area.    Ignition of this fire may occur in late April or early May.  The Widforss Trail may be closed for a short period of time to facilitate quick completion of the project and maximize safety to park visitors.

Questions, comments, or concerns regarding smoke impacts may be directed to the Grand Canyon Fire Dispatch Office at (520) 638-7855. Every effort will be made to ensure a timely response by fire professionals to these issues.

 March 12, 1999      National Parks face attendance declines

Amfac Parks and Resorts, the concessioner at many national parks,  attributes the statistical plunge in visitation at many NPS sites to a variety of factors. The factors include a significant decrease in the number of international visitors and a perception among the travelling public that parks are "over-crowded and crumbling. President and CEO Andy Todd said some of the parks that saw fewer vacationers last year have recently completed major improvement projects. Parks listed with dropping visitation include: Grand Canyon was off 11 percent last year  vs. 1997, Death Valley 9 percent, Zion 3 percent, and Petrified Forest 1 percent. 

February 26, 1999       Logging at the Grand Canyon

Is this right way to save the forest from devastating fire?

By Steve Yozwiak, The Arizona Republic

Flying over the forests near the Grand Canyon, especially now when there is snow, it's easy to see the line between Grand Canyon National Park and the Kaibab National Forest. The forest on National Forest lands - after a century of commercial logging of the largest old-growth trees - is thin, the snow on the ground clearly visible.

The forest on National Park lands - after decades without logging and without natural wild fires - is thick, the snow covered by the interlocking branches of the forest canopy. 

Both are unnatural, the result of two radically different philosophies of managing public lands. 

Scientists now say both styles have left millions of small, fire-prone trees throughout the forests, providing the wood fuel that could erupt in catastrophic infernos across this northern tip of the world's largest Ponderosa pine ecosystem. 

Near Flagstaff and Williams, the Forest Service is experimenting with logging these small trees to reduce the threat of fire. 

Grand Canyon officials want to try their own experiments this year by logging small trees north and south of the Grand Canyon. If applied throughout the park, chain saws could cut down hundreds of  thousands of trees. 

It's a proposal as politically hot as the firestorms that swept through Yellowstone National Park in the infamous summer of 1988. It's exactly those kind of hot-burning crown fires - where the flames  rapidly jump from one treetop to the next - that Grand Canyon officials desperately want to avoid. 

The absence of much rain or snow so far this year has park officials  and some scientists worried that huge fires could ignite anytime. 

But environmentalists are worried that cutting so many trees at the  Grand Canyon could set a precedent for the nation's other national  parks. 

February 09, 1999   Supai's out collecting fees on the way to S. Bass!!

Jimmi Lee Krider fell as one on the first victims to the new Havasupai collection system. On his way to the South Bass trailhead out past Pasture Wash to pick up some friends that were hiking he encounter a Supai collection agent who asked for $25 even though his car, a Ford Escort was stuck in the mud. This fee is a pass thru fee for the five minutes you are on the reservation before entering the Park Boundary. Krider was even more upset with the fact that the Park Service closed the Boundary Road to automobiles earlier last year even though few people took that route. I know the one time I was on it for the entire length I saw not one other car. With the addition of this Suapi fee it now costs a real bundle to hike in the area from Hermit to Suapi. For instance, 20 to get in the park, 25 for the permit, 4 each day, 25 to the Havasupai, why that is $74 just to go out for the first day for one person! No wonder Krider is upset!!! Please don't get him started on the tree cutting and road building and fires going on at the South Rim!! Yes the Park Service IS out of control!!

Jan. 27, 1999    Damn, a big cell phone tower on Hopi Point???

Lets get rid of this one!
By Steve Yozwiak The Arizona Republic

Cell phones, pagers, faxes and the Internet could be coming to the Grand Canyon, a place where many folks flee to escape the trappings of the business office and worldwide communications explosion.

Cellular One is proposing the first cellular phone tower at Grand Canyon National Park: a 43-foot-high, 40-foot-wide structure with an adjacent 1,040-square-foot building within a few hundred feet of the South Rim's Hopi Point, one of the park's more popular overlooks.

Cellular One touts the tower as a way to consolidate existing emergency-communications antennas and provide park visitors with a better sense of safety and security.

But environmentalists oppose the structure, not only because they believe it would be an eyesore but also because they fear it would provide backcountry hikers with a false sense of security and lead to even more noisy emergency helicopter flights inside the Canyon
 

Jan. 26, 1999     Warmer Colorado  Water!!!

By Steve Yozwiak The Arizona Republic

To aid the survival of the humpback chub and other native fish of the Grand Canyon, the federal government wants to spend $15 million to raise the temperature of the Colorado River by up to 13 degrees.

Sound far-fetched? Federal dam officials believe it could be an easy fix.

Since Glen Canyon Dam was constructed in 1963, water released from the depths of Lake Powell has stayed about 46 degrees, too cold for the chub, now an extremely rare fish listed as endangered in 1967.

Following more than a decade of environmental studies, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is calling for an addition to the dam that would draw water from the warmer top of the lake, where temperatures can reach up to 59 degrees.

If the project is approved following a public comment period, construction of the new water intake structures could start next year and be completed by 2002. The lake would not have to be lowered during construction, said Barry Wirth, a reclamation spokesman.

Once common throughout much of the Colorado River, the humpback chub now is relegated to a few tributaries like the warm, muddy flows of the Little Colorado River. Its distinctive hump helps it move through river rapids. But when the chubs move from the tributaries to the main stem of the Colorado River, they often die of thermal shock, Wirth said.

Rob Smith, Southwest representative of the Sierra Club, praised efforts to try to help native Arizona fish, 19 of which are listed as endangered or threatened with extinction.

But Smith cautioned that if the waters get too warm, it could invite predatory non-native fish in Lake Mead to move upstream. "The trick is to get the water warm enough for the chub ... but not make it so warm that other fish will come upstream and eat them," Smith said.

Before construction of Glen Canyon Dam, temperatures of the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon ranged from near freezing in winter to about 78 degrees in the summer.

Since construction of the dam, the cold, clear releases have resulted in a world-class rainbow trout fishing area between the dam and Lees Ferry. However, the water from the dam is slightly colder than optimum for the trout, too, Wirth said. Increasing the temperature of the water should also help trout, he said.

Similar temperature modifications have been made to Flaming Gorge Dam in Utah, the Shasta Dam in California and the Hungry Horse Dam in Montana. Warmer releases from Flaming Gorge into the Green River, a large tributary of the Colorado River, resulted in greater numbers of trout and endangered Colorado squawfish in downstream Ladore Canyon.
 

Jan. 22, 1999     Start writing Letters!!   Grand Canyon logging is a first for parks

By Steve Yozwiak The Arizona Republic

For the first time ever in an American national park, Grand Canyon National Park officials plan to log trees to reduce the possibility of catastrophic forest fires.

Environmentalists are worried that the experiment could set a precedent and lead to large scale logging in the nation's 52 national parks, which have been off-limits to timber firms.

"Is the public ready to support logging trucks rolling out of our national parks? That's a significant question," said Sharon Galbreath of Flagstaff, a forest specialist for the Sierra Club. She said public outrage stopped a proposal  to conduct salvage logging after the 1988 fires in Yellowstone National Park.

Grand Canyon park officials released a draft environmental assessment Thursday indicating that more than 8,000 trees would be removed from four 20-acre plots: two on the North Rim along Swamp Ridge, about 15 miles northwest of Grand Canyon Lodge; and two on the South Rim near Grandview Point, about 10 miles east of Grand Canyon Village.

December 10, 1998  Supais Raise Fees!!

The Backcountry permit clerk said that the Havasupais are now charging $25 / person to hike in the areas of the park that they consider theirs. Like Great Thumb and even, S. Bass ! !

The tribe has not issued a formal press release yet about it - but should soon. Right now they have a man stationed on that little swatch of their land that the road passes through on the was to pasture wash. 

I don't mind paying the tribe for camping in their land - I just don't think one should have to pay both the Park and the Tribe. Perhaps they can do it like they do with the Wallapai's , who handle the permits for their end of the Canyon.

	November 27, 1998  A New National Monument??!!!! Yahooo!!!!
To keep it wild Bruce Babbitt has plan for 400,000 acres north of Canyon.

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt stands at the summit of Mount Dellenbaugh. The mountain, at 6,990 feet, is the highest point in what he hopes will be a national monument on the Shivwits Plateau north of the Grand Canyon.

The Shivwits, if it happens, would be the first new national monument in Arizona since 1972, when Congress approved the obscure ohokam Pima National Monument south of Phoenix. But it would be big enough to contain all of Arizona's 17 other federal monuments, memorials and historic sites.

Threats from encroaching civilization are leading Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt to consider greater federal protection for a vast swath of Arizona wilderness at the west end of the Grand Canyon. Nearly 400,000 acres of the  North Rim's Shivwits Plateau are under study for a possible national monument.

It is some of the most isolated, mysterious and surprisingly beautiful land in the Southwest, settled by Mormon pioneer ranchers last century and coveted by hunters for trophy mule deer.

The landscape flows from pine-studded volcanoes, across grasslands and waves of pinon-juniper shrub to multicolored gorges, reaches of the Grand Canyon that are not within the million acres of Grand Canyon National Park.

As such, the plateau -- named Shivwits for a band of Paiute Indians -- is subject to a variety of development pressures: uranium and copper mining, housing subdivisions and wildcat roadways carved by off-highway vehicles.

"There really is nowhere I know of -- in the lower 48 states -- where you have this great, intact expanse that is not all chopped up," Babbitt said at the end of a fact-finding tour of the area last week. "It also happens to be the most pristine rim area in the entire Grand Canyon system. It is the most wild. Some people might say then, 'Why bother?' My response is, that is the lesson of history: If you don't think about it before the problems are on you, then you have controversy."

Unlike Utah's Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument -- declared without any advance notice by President Clinton in the heat of the 1996 presidential campaign -- there is no imminent development of coal, oil or other resources here.

The hilltops surrounding Burnt Canyon could be part of the new national monument stretching across the southern end of the Shivwits Plateau.

The area is crossed by fewer than 25,000 vehicles annually, and some places  like Kelly Point, overlooking a 180-degree turn of the Colorado river, is visited by fewer than 200 people each year.

Environmentalists see an opportunity to close the loop on a region of northern Arizona and southern Utah they envision as a massive wildlife stronghold, a place where the modern world's march of species extinctions could be halted, and even reversed.

The former Arizona governor is determined to take action. And with only  two years left in the Clinton administration, Babbitt knows his time is running out. "Obviously, I'd like to bring it to closure on my watch."

November 27, 1998   More Condors Released

Eight California Condors were released early this month atop the Hurricane Cliffs of northwestern Arizona today. The Condors have been getting used to their new surrondings since early October. This is the start of a second population to augment the 14 big birds already at Vermillion Cliffs.
Condors at Vermillion Cliffs

November 26, 1998   Village Gas station to close

The Chevron Station operated by AmFac Parks and Resorts located within the Village on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park will cease operations at the end of the day on December 21, 1998. Beginning December 22, gas will no longer be available within the South Rim Village.

Following the closure on December 21, gas will be available in the park at Desert View seasonally (generally April through October), and in Tusayan, Valle, and Cameron. Gas is also available in Williams 60 miles south of the park, and Flagstaff 75 miles south east of the park. 

Although some of the service stations outside of the park will close temporarily to upgrade their underground fuel storage tanks to meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s technical standards for protection against spills, overfills, and corrosion, work is expected to be staggered and gas should be available at all times. Service stations are required to meet EPA standards by December 22, 1998 to remain open. 

Those stations that are scheduled for upgrades include the Moqui Chevron Station located at the park boundary, the Canyon Shell located in Tusayan and the Junction Chevron located in Cameron. The tentative schedule is as follows: The Moqui Chevron, located near the park boundary on Highway 64 is scheduled to be closed beginning November 1 through approximately November 30.

The Canyon Shell located next to the Grand Canyon Imax on Highway 64 will be closing on December 22. A new station will be located directly across the street. Operators of the Canyon Shell anticipate the opening of their new station for gas sales prior to December 22.

Grand Canyon National Park’s 1995 General Management Plan (GMP) defined a new way to visit the park, focusing on public transportation. The removal of the Village Service Station is identified in the Park’s GMP and is another step towards the transition from an auto-based system to one of public transportation.

November 20, 1998 Search Unsucessful

The Grand Canyon Private Boaters Association has just completed an unsuccessful 5 day search of over 100 miles of river and shoreline in upper Lake Mead, for the body of Robert Tarr III.

The 16 year old,  from Philadelphia, PA, was reported missing around 4:00 on the afternoon of Wednesday Aug 12. Tarr had been on a side hike in Havasu Creek with his family and other members of a commercial river trip when he was reported missing. The upper reaches of the lower Granite Gorge, where the Colorado River flow decreases in upper Lake Mead, had yet to be thoroughly searched. 

"A number of volunteers dropped out at the last minute, but the six of us who participated in the search did a great job" said the GCPBA's editor Richard Martin. "We started at Diamond creek, with two crews searching both sides of the river, and we continued the search all the way to the Grand Wash Cliffs" Martin went on to say. 

The searchers had clear calm weather and found good camps, including one night's camp on small ledges at mile 251 Right. The lake level is within 6 feet of full pool, though a slight current was still present below Columbine Falls. 

Bob Poirier was the trip's coordinator, and other trip participants included GCPBA president Tom Martin, GCPBA editor Richard Martin, and American Whitewater access director Jason Robertson. Other trip participants included Glen Doster, who arranged the food pack, and Elson Miles, both of Flagstaff, AZ. 

Much of the equipment loaned and food donated to the searchers was supplied free of charge by Donnie Dove of Canyon REO, who also provided the shuttle for the search. The Hualapai Nation waived the Diamond Creek access fees, and the GCPBA covered the remaining food costs.

Special thanks to Bob Poirier, Glen Doster, Donnie Dove and the Hualapai Nation for making this search effort possible, and to the family of Robert Tarr III,  whose support and words of encouragement helped us every second of every day. 

November 20, 1998  Body found below Canyon Rim

At approximately 7:50 a.m. this morning, a park visitor reported seeing a body below the south rim of Grand Canyon at Maricopa Point, a scenic viewpoint located approximately four miles west of the South  Rim Village on West Rim Drive.  National Park Service Rangers hiked to the victim down a steep and narrow drainage and were on scene at approximately 9:20 a.m.  On arrival, the rangers found the victim dead at the base of the cliff approximately 480 feet below the rim.  The body was transported to the canyon's south rim by helicopter at 11:15 a.m., then transported to the Coconino County Medical Examiner's Office.
The man has been identified as 51 year old Murray M. Marshall from Jasper, Georgia.  Marshall was recently reported missing by a county sheriff's office in Georgia. This is the fifth falling fatality at Grand Canyon this year; two falls occurred at the South Rim of the Canyon, one fall at the North Rim of the canyon and one at Plateau Point.

November 19, 1998   Grand Canyon Greenway  benefits from grant

On Friday, November 13, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater announced a grant totaling nearly $4 million for projects in the new national Millennium Trails Initiative.  The Millennium Trails Initiative was announced by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton on
October 5, 1998 as part of a national initiative that will recognize, promote and stimulate the creation of trails to "honor the past and imagine the future" as part of American's legacy for the year 2000. Of the $4 million announced on Friday, $896,800 was earmarked for Grand Canyon National Park's new Greenway Trail System. A check was presented to Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent, Robert Arnberger, last Friday at the National Trails Symposium being held in Tucson. "The funding brings the Greenway Trail System closer to reality," stated Arnberger.  "We have embarked on a journey into the 21st century, our vision will result in a brighter future and a grander experience for park visitors."  Arnberger added, "this new way to visit is the culmination of a major planning effort made possible with  the help of many partners, and is based on a major change in the way people travel to and within the park.  It is premised on increased opportunities for recreation and education in the park.  More specifically, this new way to visit involves leaving private vehicles  outside the park and traveling to the south rim by light-rail.  Once  in the park, visitors will have access to an innovative information system that presents a variety of transit and recreational opportunities." One of those opportunities provides an option of exploring the park on foot or bicycle via the new Grand Canyon Greenway.
The Greenway is a trail system that will total approximately 70 miles in length on both the South and North Rims of Grand Canyon National Park.  On the South Rim, 35  miles of rim trail will extend from Hermits Rest to Desert View and  from a transportation hub near Mather Point to the gateway town of  Tusayan.  Additionally the Greenway will provide connections with the  Arizona Trail, a continuous trail system that traverses the state of  Arizona from Utah to the Mexican border. 

According to Superintendent Arnberger, the Greenway project has been a challenging one, but one he is already claiming a success.  Many people from many organizations have combined their efforts to make this project a reality.  In addition to the $896,800 grant received  from the Department of Transportation, a $480,000 grant was received from the Arizona Department of Transportation to fund a core section  of the Greenway Trail between Yavapai Point, located between the  park's visitor Center and Mather Point, and the first overlook on East  Rim Drive.  The National Park Foundation awarded a $40,000 American Airlines "Miles for Trails" grant for work on the trail, and the Grand Canyon National Park Foundation, a not-for-profit organization  established to provide financial support for Grand Canyon National Park's programs and projects, provided much of the support for project planning.  Another primary partner has been the Greenway Coalition, a group of talented volunteers experienced in the field of multi-use trail planning, who have donated approximately $200,000 in in-kind conceptual design and business planning services - according to Arnberger "the heart and spirit behind the project!" "The National Park Service is not capable of doing this job alone," stated Arnberger.  "We are grateful to those individuals and businesses that have chosen to share our vision thereby, enhancing the experience of Grand Canyon visitors.  We recognize that success will  be born from finding people who can help us do the job, many of which can do the job better than we can.  The Millennium Trails Initiative is a gift to Americans.  It reflects the American spirit and what can be accomplished when we work together as a team to protect our national treasures."

November 10, 1998 New five mile trail along the Rim

The park has recieved $900,000. for the construction of a new 5 mile trail. jimmi Lee Krider says the trail will go from Mather Point to Yaki Point on the South Rim. I always thought there was an unmiantained trail there all along. The new trail will be open to both hikers and bicyclists. Also, on the North side they are building a singletrack trail from the Park Boundary to the North Rim. This is part of the Arizona Trail which extends from Utah to the Mexican Border.

October 01, 1998 Highway 160 

Finally they raised the speed limit on Highway 160 from Highway 89 and Tuba City to Four Corners to 65 mph! We all always drove at least that but now it is legal. But continue to watch for horses and sheep on the road, and grandmothers driving a bit slow.

September 15, 1998 Condors!

The Big Birds take flight! Two Condors blew to Grand Junction, Colorado for the day, landing at Colorado National Monument. After one day they are back again!Nine more of the giant vultures will be released at a second site in the Hurricane Cliffs, located in the middle of the Arizona Strip. The release date is set for late this month or early December. It will bring to 24 Arizona's number of California Condors. of the 19 released so far at the Vermillion Cliffs site one was killed by a Golden Eagle, one struck a power line and one simply disappeared.

September  08, 1998 Big thunderstorms at Lee's Ferry!

Local fred harvey bus driver Jimmi Lee Krider could hardly make it to the ferry with his big bus to drop off the float trip passengers. He said the Paria ripple was a class 6 rapid with a 10 foot wave! Water was running in falls off the Vermillion Cliffs! Wow! W e all wish we could of been there for that! Bob Marley says "I was on the river at North Canyon and it was in super-flood.  Walked up most of the way to see what was going on.  Later there were waterfalls everywhere by Silver Grotto campsite when the heaviest rains hit.  Several holes in tents from falling pebbles. Pretty exciting for a day or so.

September  08, 1998 Its Over!!! The Montezuma Creek Fugitives!

Four Corners Manhunt 
The two murderers have gotten away! They simply disappeared and vanished into the Canyon country of south eastern Utah!!  Local source Alan Wagenknecht says they are stashed away somewhere with friends watching football and drinking beer! Like the fugitive in the Carolina's these guys knew the area and had supplies stashed, the National Guard and Police were no match for their desert survival skills. 

September 01, 1998 A woman from New Zealand fell off Mather Point! 

She fell 40 feet and landed on a ledge above a 300 foot drop off. Stabilized by the rangers she was flown to Flagstaff medical Center in critical condition. Also, a young man was reported missing from a river party at the mouth of Havasu Creek. The river party stopped as they always do and the man turned up missing!

July 15, 1998 Lightning caused forest fires

Several fires are buring on both rims of the Canyon now that the monsoon season is underway. Fires were underway at Lindberg Hill, Crystal Creek, and Swamp Lake, below the North Rim Lodge, and on the Walhalla Plateau among other places. Some are being allowed to burn while others are being supressed immediately by fire crews. 

July 15, 1998 Man killed diving off of Mooney Falls

A 41 year old man dived 210 feet from the top of Mooney Falls into the 12 foot deep pool at the base of the falls. He hit the bottom resulting in massive internal injuries. Attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful. Alcohol and drugs were believed involved. This has happened before. 

July 11, 1998 Four Visitors struck by lightning

Lightning struck Lipan Point at 5:15 pm on July 11 injuring three visitors on the rim, none seriously luckily! Lipan Point is the highest point on the South Rim and a excellent place to get struck. A nother popular place is by the flagpole at the El Tovar Hotel. Be careful during Monsoon season!

July 08, 1998 No Colorado River Flood this Year

Lake Powell is too low his year to do another flood like they did two years ago. The fllod ate the end of 1996 dropped the level of Lake Powell by 3.5 feet and was credited with creating numerous backwater pools and new beaches. Biologists had hoped to do an even bigger flood than the 45,000 cfs release of 1996. They were shooting for 60,000 cfs but the lake had already been drawn down in anticipation of El Nino runoff. They are also worried of dry years following El Nino. 

July 08, 1998 Prescibed Burns on the North Rim

Weather permitting The National Park Crews are still doing prescribed burns on the North RIm. They hope to burn a total 2,500 acres in the park, plus even more on the South Rim. This does not include what the their Forest Service cousins are doing. 

June 24, 1998 California Whitewater deaths

A belated but huge Sierra nevada snowmelt has led to the deaths of eleven rafters so far this season. Some rivers have still not reached peak flow, and all reivers are running twice their normal flow for June. Also, with the fresh snowmelt, the water temperatures are in the low 40's, and hypothermia comes quickly at those temperatures. Three died on June 21, when their raft fell five feet over boulders and they were caught in a reverse turbine which kept them under water, pulling their life jackets completely off. this happened on the Cosumnes River outside Sacramento, California. Other deaths have happened on the kern River and the Klamath River. Rangers blame the deaths on rafters not talking the high water levels seriously enough.

May 15, 1998   Yeah! The North Rim is Open

Highway 67 to the North Rim is open again for the year, until at least October 15, 1998. Watch for continued road construction on 67 for the entire summer. This started in the late 80's? Last year it looked like they were getting close to finishing, they were almost to Kaibab Lodge. The Park Service warns that the roads to the points might not be all open yet because they are still clearing snow from the above normal snowpack. Don't forget the elevation of the North Rim is 8500 feet! 

January 25, 1998   Are the Mules going away?

Days number for the mules? Amfac's consession for the mule trains expires at the end of 1998 and signs from the Park service indicate changes afoot! The 165 mules and wranglers are being removed from the historic 90 year old barn in the Village to make way fro improvements. The mules are also not allowed to walk from Yaki Point back to the barn as they did in former times. The wranglers have to bring trailers over to give them a ride back to the barn. Hikers have complained about the mules for years because of the maunure and urine they have to step around. Some also didn't like having to give them right away on the trail. The Park Service complains about having to spend money for the trail maintenance. But doesn't historical value count for something? the mules have been around for years and provide an interesting side to the canyon. Allen Keske, the concession specialist for the Park Service says a decision has not been reached.

December 02, 1997 

The park received a report of a fire in a residential trailer in the South Rim trailer village at 3:30 a.m. on December 2nd.  No one was inside the trailer at the time.  All surrounding trailers were evacuated.  Firefighters had the blaze under control within 20 minutes.  No details are available on the cause of the fire. 

December 02, 1997
Grand Canyon NP (AZ) - Aircraft Forced Landing 

The owner of Lake Mead Air in Boulder City, Nevada, advised the park on November 29th that one of the company's aircraft had made an emergency landing on the Sanup Plateau near Bat Cave at the extreme west end of the  park.  The pilot of the Cessna 206, which had five passengers on board, had  been forced to land when the aircraft developed in-flight mechanical  problems. No one was injured.  A tour helicopter operating in the area  evacuated the six occupants to a nearby airstrip at Grand Canyon West.  Park personnel responded by helicopter and met with a company mechanic and pilot.  They were able to repair a broken throttle linkage, and the 206 was successfully flown off the plateau. 

November 29, 1997
TRANSPORTATION, INTERIOR TO ANNOUNCE NEW PARTNERSHIP TO
HANDLE TRANSPORTATION NEEDS IN PARKS FOR 21st CENTURY

 
Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt and Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater joined together at the National Gallery of Art to underscore the commitment of both federal agencies to work together to conserve the magnificent natural resources of America’s National Parks.  The Secretaries chose the National Gallery to launch the new initiative against a backdrop of Thomas Moran’s famous landscapes of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado and other national park areas in the West now on exhibit there. 

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the two Secretaries charts a new course to address transportation needs in and around National Parks and enhances the cooperative relationship between the Departments of Transportation and Interior on park issues. The MoU is the next step in the implementation of President Clinton’s vision for the future in his  Parks for Tomorrow  initiative outlined on Earth Day, 1996. 

 Secretary Babbitt also announced a decision by the National Park Service to use a combination of light rail trains and alternative fuel buses at Grand Canyon National Park to ensure the park’s accessibility to an ever-growing number of visitors, and eliminate the traffic congestion that has negatively affected the natural environment and the quality of visitor experience. 

Secretary Slater and I have a vision for the future,  Secretary Babbitt said,  and it cannot be realized without close cooperation between our two agencies.  Through sharing of expertise and technical assistance, we will be giving our grandchildren a chance to spend time in these magnificent natural landscapes with as good or better a quality of experience than we have today. 

An increasing number of our national parks are fast becoming as crowded with cars as some of our most congested highways,  Secretary Slater said.   By working together in this new joint effort, we will develop transportation alternatives that preserve the beauty and enjoyment of these treasures for generations to come. 

The Memorandum of Understanding recognizes that thoughtful transportation planning is essential to the mission of the National Park Service.  The purpose of the MoU is to enhance the mutually beneficial relationship between the Department of Transportation and the Department of the Interior to improve transportation in and approaching National Parks by:  Establishing an interagency, multi-disciplinary team to develop parks transportation policy procedures and coordination. 

 Developing and implementing transportation improvement initiatives through demonstration projects.  The initial demonstration projects are at Zion, Yosemite and Grand Canyon National Parks.  In the future, other parks could benefit from these initiatives, including Golden Gate National Recreation Area and Acadia National Park. 

 Developing a personnel exchange program to encourage the sharing of expertise across agency lines. 

 Identifying National Parks as demonstration projects for new  Intelligent Transportation Systems  technology. 

 In addition, the MoU commits both agencies to the enhancement of recreation and conservation programs that play a significant role in the quality of life in America’s communities nationwide. 

 Three national parks were chosen as demonstration projects for an innovative approach to reducing traffic congestion while improving  accessibility for visitors year-round.  For example: 
Zion National Park:
 Zion National Park will provide shuttle bus service from nearby hotels and campgrounds to the visitor center, and then a shuttle bus with many drop-off points along the narrow canyon’s only paved road. 
Yosemite National Park: 
Yosemite recently released its draft plan that proposes integrating an in-valley shuttle system with a regional transportation system established by the gateway communities.  The east end of Yosemite Valley will be significantly restored to its natural condition, removing unnecessary  roadways and buildings and reducing traffic congestion.  The park will benefit in the implementation of its plan from special Congressional disaster relief as a result of last winter’s catastrophic flooding. 
Grand Canyon National Park:
Grand Canyon’s transportation plan, announced at today’s event, redesigns the South Rim to permit a combination of light-rail train and alternative fuel buses to ride from Tusayan into the park’s Mather Point Transit Center and to other trail-heads, viewing areas and facilities.  According to the announcement, light rail would serve both the transportation hub at Mather Point and the former railway depot at Maswik from the Tusayan Gateway parking area.  Alternative-fueled buses will provide transportation to other points of interest in the areas that have been most congested from automobile traffic. 

These plans point toward the 21st Century, and the direction we must follow if visitors continue to love and to spend time in their national heritage, our premier system of National Parks,  Babbitt said.   I am very gratified to be able to join with Secretary Slater today to forge a strong partnership to assist with the future transportation needs of the National Park Service.  A new generation of Americans will reap the benefits of the actions we take today, and will be able to view and appreciate these majestic landscapes with more serenity and clearer air as a result. 

November 05, 1997 

Another artificial flood may sweep down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon if the United States Bureau of reclamation can get approval from federal wildlife officials. If approval is received, the United States Bureau of reclamation plans to increase releases of about 32,000  cubic feet per second from Glen Canyon Dam November 3rd-5th while it is at maximum generating capacity. 

The objective of be the management flow, which is expected to be smaller than last year's, is to stir up sediment to rebuild beaches and sandbars that have eroded since the first flood in the spring of 1996. Scientists say the first flood on the Colorado River restored several major Rapids, debris clocked side canyon and old beaches and returned  nutrients rich sediment to native fish and plants.  The idea of the First Flood, scientists said, was to undue  environmental damage from Glen Canyon dam, which cuts off the rivers  natural flow and its cycle of flooding the Grand Canon with sediment rich water. 

Some of the beaches built in last year's flood have eroded away due to the high flows down the river this year have created the need for this action. The heavy spring rain put an unusual amount of sediment into the caller Colorado River channel below the dam.  This sentiment came from the Paria river.  Federal officials hope to stir up this sediment  to beef up beaches and Sandbars - hopefully in Marble canyon also, that got scowered  pretty bad during that first flood.