Climate change, both short term or in the long run, can exact changes on the landscape. Native wildlife can vanish, non-native species can arrive, things we have come to know over a lifetime of visits can be transformed, if not made to disappear altogether.
How we react to these changes can have significant impacts, as well as be telling as to our overall stewardship of the land.
At Glen Canyon National Recreation Area the ongoing drought has revealed fascinating canyon-country landscapes that long have been inundated by Lake Powell. Cathedral in the Desert, said to be one of Edward Abbey's favorite haunts, has reappeared, drawing Abbeyites and the curious.
While there have been long-running efforts to drain the lake entirely, they have been staved off and today Lake Powell is one of the Southwest's premier boating areas. But in recent years the regional drought has lowered Lake Powell. While that has opened up some fascinating canyon landscapes that had been under water, the drought also has created some logistical problems for boaters.
For years, you see, boaters have used the so-called "Castle Rock Cut" to shorten a 12-mile trip when heading to and from the Wahweap Marina to such areas as Rainbow Bridge, Padre Bay, and Warm Creek Bay. However, that shortcut is only possible when Lake Powell is at an elevation of 3,620 feet; currently the lake is right around 3,600 feet. Boaters have not been able to use the cut since the 2003 season, and in recent years they've been asking the Park Service to deepen the cut.
So how can this problem be solved? Well, NRA officials are thinking of digging the cut even deeper than it is, a solution last resorted to in 1992 when it was deepened by about 8 feet. Before that, the cut was dug deeper back in the 1970s. The current proposal -- which doesn't yet have a price tag attached -- is to dig another 15 feet deeper along a half-mile-long section of the cut. This slice also would be about 80 feet wide.
But perhaps a more important question that should be considered is, "Should the cut be deepened?" Is this how we should respond to climate change, or long-term drought, by just digging a little deeper? Have we become so omnipotent in our environmental stewardship that we haven't been confronted by a problem we couldn't engineer a solution to?
For now, the Park Service is getting ready to prepare an environmental assessment that will analyze the potential impacts of digging the cut deeper on the area’s natural and cultural resources and the quality of visitors’ experience.
To help the agency prepare that EA, the public is being invited to submit suggestions on how the situation with the Castle Rock Cut can best be addressed and what issues and alternatives the EA should consider. You can forward your thoughts to the Park Service online at this site or by mailing them at Castle Rock Cut EA, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, P.O. Box 1507, Page, AZ, 86040.
Scoping comments must be received by December 4. Once the draft EA is prepared later this winter there will be another public comment period.
Comments
The subject of Glen Canyon and Lake Powell is one that draws a very emotional response from a variety of people. If Glen Canyon was exposed all the way to the level of the Colorado River, I would love it. Now that Lake Powell has been filled, I love it far more. Those who would battle to drain Lake Powell simply do not understand that a huge part of the canyon is now available to thousands of people who would otherwise have no access to this national treasure.
Before Lake Powell, one had to be physically fit and probably reasonably young to brave the desert heat and sheer sandstone cliffs in order to see much of the canyon on foot. Now, with at least 3/4 of Glen Canyon still above water, it is all easily available to anyone, regardless of physical condition, age or even serious handicaps, all from the comfort of a boat. That to me makes Lake Powell an asset well worth supporting and even improving. I agree with the poster above who stated: "The only reason I can think of why anybody would oppose deepening the "CRC", is someone who has never been to Lake Powell."
Beamis:
Your second Tilden quote and accompanying commentary have me eager to post Simple Proposal #8...
An insidious transformation has occurred in the NPS. Many of its employees are now obsessed with shaping the worldview of park visitors.
Innocently enough, this started with trying to make visitors better "park stewards." You know, don't throw trash, don't pick wildflowers, don't feed the chipmunks. Fair enough.
But over time, the goals have morphed. Nowadays rangers are often expected to turn park visitors into "global stewards"...obedient soldiers who will march back home to fight the war against environmental destruction. I can see it now...Ethyl & Bill Dokes, retired grocery store checkers from Rapid City, roaring home in their RV while torching every billboard they see along the way.
Don't get me wrong. I'm very much against environmental destruction. I oppose population growth. I donate generously to private, non-profit organizations which acquire and preserve land. I also donate to organizations which fight for legitimate environmental causes. And, like verbose Freeman, I choose quality over material superfluity. Oh...did I mention that I oppose population growth?
But when I write my annual check to the federal government, I want my money spent on providing something in return. Regarding national parks, I want my money spent on maintaining trails, protecting wildlife from poachers, and replacing faded signs. I want my money spent on rangers who can tell me about their park...why it was established, how its ecosystems function, and what cultural treasures it holds. I'm also grateful to being informed about legitimate threats to the parks.
But I'm not happy when the government and its employees cross the line into trying to "shape people's hearts and minds" in a global sense. That role should be left to private interests, who receive their money through voluntary donations.
As I recall, shaping hearts and minds was a primary goal for the Iraqi people pre-invasion.
Simple Proposal #8: Think not what your taxpayer can do for you; Think what you can do for your taxpayer.
Well said RainyRoads. I agree with you 100%. I am wheel chair bound. Because I can access Lake Powell by boat, I have seen wonders I would have never seen. I even got to see Rainbow Bridge once, when the Lake was Full. I have seen Dino tracks, petrified wood on the shore line from my boat. These things I cherish and am glad to be alive to enjoy them. The Park Service has done a wonderful job to make this park accessible to all. I have a few friends that hike the Lake and show me pictures of the things beyond the shore lines I have enjoyed seeing very much. It was not for Lake Powell I would have not known these friends who have helped me to enjoy the park even more.
But to make your point, Lake Powell part of the park is very small compared to the places people can go that is untouched. Many people use a boat to start there journey to get to these places.
So if digging out the cut makes this park more accessible and safe for ALL, I am ALL FOR IT.
Hotwheels,
Well said. I forgot to mention that point, boating at Lake Powell opens up GCNRA in so many ways. The bottom line is that getting the CRC open to navigation (assuming that Mother Nature will not cooperate next year) does greatly enhance the Lake Powell experience.
Frank,
I'm sorry but our Government does not work that way. We are all in this together, our system of taxation does not allow individuals to "opt" out of funding for things they don't like. We have a representative system, we have delegated that power collectively to our Congressional representatives. It is up to them to provide for the stewardship of the park system and provide the funding to support our troops in the field until victory is achieved in the War on Terror.
ALL,
Playing Devil's Advocate, although I do support opening up the CRC, I can think of a good reason why some people who boat on Lake Powell would be opposed to this project. I assume the GCNRA budget is constant and any funds allocated to deepen the CRC will mean that some park projects will not be completed or commenced. Therefore, uplakers (boaters out of Bullfrog, Halls Crossing or Hite) may get short changed and some of their pet projects will be put on hold for lack of funding. Since I assume this will be a zero sum game and the NPS won't throw additional dollars into GCNRA to execute the CRC project. I do feel uncomfortable with this situation and it is a shame. However, since close to two-thirds of the GCNRA visitors enter from down-lake, I guess that is the way the cookie crumbles. Sorry folks.
Castle Rock Cut in 2008!
-rich
San Diego, CA
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LakePowellFishCampBoat/
Frank,
In all fairness to the writer, the word "War," as used above and in the expression, "War on terror," is a metaphor similar to "War on Drugs," War on drunk driving," etc. As such, it is commonly used to describe struggles against many things not requiring congressional approval. It was used extensively in the 50's through the 80's by both parties in the "War on Communism" and the ever-popular "Cold war."
As for the Income Tax, the U.S. government has been collecting income taxes since 1862 when Congress enacted the nation's first income tax law to support the Civil War.
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0005921.html
The Constitution does indeed give the right to tax income and has done so since the 16th Amendment of 1913:
Amendment 16 - Status of Income Tax Clarified. Ratified 2/3/1913
"The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration."
But regardless of any of that, What are your feelings about the NPS plan to deepen a small shortcut between Wahweap Bay and the rest of Lake Powell? That is the topic, I believe.
Frank:
I'm new to this site. I discovered it just a few days ago. I did not understand it to be a political forum however. Do you have a position on the proposed Castle Rock Cut at Lake Powell, or do you have some other drum to beat?
Pete K.
"Just to be clear" what Beamis says is not really true. A number of people (Most notably a Mr. Bill Benson) have challenged the validity of the process that took place adding the 16th Amendment to the Constitution. It was however ratified by Congress and as such it remains "The law of the land" until such time as it is removed via the normal legal process. That has not happened and simply because someone or some partisan group says it isn't legal and binding, that doesn't make it true. Definitely NOT so "Pure and simple," rather more like an "Opinion."
Now...can we get back to the topic at hand? That would be the deepening of the Castle Rock Cut on Lake Powell. While some may find discussions on Constitutional law interesting, there are many places on the web to conduct them. This, IMO would not necessarily be one of them. Just my opinion and, being a newbie, I don't want to upset anyone, but I am a frequent user of the Glen Canyon Recreational Area and Lake Powell, so the stated topic is important to me. Thanks!
Frank,
Abortion is not in the constitution but it is a political, judicial and medical reality across the land. I am pro-choice BTW, just using this issue as an example of the error in your logic of a literal read of the U.S. Constitution.
Beamis,
Even if there is some legal or constitutional procedural ambiguity about the constitutional reality regarding income taxes, doesn't make it any less real. Every pay day a host of governmental entities take their share of my income.
All,
Now back on the topic at hand, the latest buzz is that GCNRA will use funds set aside for park upkeep and maintenance, and the CRC project in my opinion falls under this category. Like I've said before, its a win-win proposal for all parties. Everyone should be writing to the NPS during the public input and urging the NPS to save money by waiving this whole absurd EA process.. Let the bull dozers roll!
Castle Rock Cut in 2008!
-rich
San Diego, CA
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LakePowellFishCampBoat/