There's a story in western Colorado involving Colorado National Monument that bears watching. The gist of the story is that some local community organizations are in support of redesignating the monument as a national park, but only if they can veto Park Service decisions on what uses the monument is appropriate for.
Onlookers believe that this ties in to past efforts to have a professional bike race -- the 2013 USA Pro Challenge -- course through the national monument along the 23-mile-long Rim Rock Drive. In the past, officials all the way up to the director of the National Park Service have said that would be an inappropriate use of the national monument.
Now, earlier this spring the West Slope Colorado Oil and Gas Association passed a resolution in support of renaming the monument a national park. That resolution was similar to one adopted earlier by the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce, as well as one passed by the Grand Junction Economic Partnership. The kicker is that the groups want the legislation to give community stakeholders veto power over any Park Service decisions on uses the agency finds are inappropriate for the monument...such as a professional bike race.
Whether legislation will be introduced into Congress this summer by either U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton or U.S. Sen. Mark Udall to redesignate the monument as a national park remains to be seen.
Park advocacy groups, though, are keeping an eye on this issue and are stressing that the Park Service's hands should not be tied when it comes to what is appropriate for Colorado National Monument.
At the National Parks Conservation Association, officials have said it is good for the Park Service to meet with local stakeholders to discuss the future of Colorado National Monument. But David Nimkin, senior director for NPCA's Southwest regional office, has made it clear that NPCA strongly opposes a professional bike race through the monument.
Simply put, he says, the commercialization of the national monument is out of bounds.
Also watching the issue is the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees, which also opposes a professional bike race in the monument. While that group believes it is doubtful that Sen. Udall would offer legislation that would provide local stakeholders veto power over the Park Service, the Coalition nevertheless has notified him of its position on the matter. If the senator or any other congressional representative offers legislation to rename the monument as a national park for the significant natural resources and history of Colorado National Monument, the coalition will offer its official position on the matter at that time.
Comments
Yup, so there will probably be a whole lot of ticked off tourists along the way.
Gila--Of course, it would be easier, but is it appropriate to close down the access road to a national park service area for a professional sporting event that benefits a for-profit organization? I, for one, don't think so.
Rick
I must agree Rick, it is my opinion that outside commercial events in the National Parks should not occur. There maybe some areas in the NPS system where such activities are appropriate, for example. I do not know if they still hold boat races at Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Also in some of our urban recreational areas such as Golden Gate NRA, I believe some outside commercial events are authorized. I can tell you based on my own 50 years plus of experience working in a large western park, that the park employees already have their hands full, once started, there will be no end to applications to hold these type of events. These 59 National Parks have a huge legal responsibility to care for the natural and cultural resources there in, they are nature centers, first and foremost, they cannot be something for everybody on the recreational and commercial scale of activities, not that those activities are inherently bad, and still meet the legislated criteria established for them.
The Utah race route follows a numbered state highway, and it's quite possible the park does not have jurisdiction over that road, and therefore did not have the ability to say "yea or nay" about the event. A quick look at the map for Colorado NM suggests that the Rim Rock Drive is a park road, not a state highway.
Given the fact that UT 12 is the only access to and from the park, and this leg of the race is projected to take nearly 6 hours, it is inevitable there will be considerable inconvenience to visitors who want to visit Bryce Canyon (and other destinations served by this road, such as Kodachrome Basin State Park) the day of this race. It's also inevitable that some people planning to visit the park on this day will be unaware of the resulting traffic delays until they're caught up in the mess.
How many visitors have already made plans for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Bryce Canyon and other southern Utah parks, without realizing this event is taking place? No way to tell, but given the heavy visitation to the park in August, I'd bet quite a few.
It's unfortunate the siren song of some extra income for a few business owners will ruin the day for a lot of people who simply wanted to enjoy a drive on what the race organizers call "one of America’s most unique and spectacular highways." Yes, ec, I understand bike fans will love it.
Jim, consider another fact. Many -- probably even most -- of those who will be driving Hwy 12 that day will be Europeans here on what is probably a once in a lifetime trip. Many will be driving rented RV rigs, and others will be driving rental cars. Most of them will have reservations for the night at some place along the route and won't have any flexibility built into their plans. What will a six hour delay do to them?
It's unclear whether or not the road will be open to other traffic at the same time. Even if it is, it will likely become a one lane road as drivers try to pass gaggles of bikes. That road contains a lot of steep grades (as much as 14%) with many blind curves and long uphill stretches where slow bicycles will become even slower. It's obvious that if there is going to be a mix of motorized and pedal traffic, safety will become an very big issue. Many of the Europeans (and many Americans, for that matter) are not accustomed to driving mountain roads and their lack of knowledge and skill at handling a big rig on steep, winding highways cause some seriously dangerous situations even under normal conditions.
I've been called to some terribly bloody messes when RVs have crashed. I drove Hwy 12 just a week ago and saw some awfully hairy things. Even gave quick mountain driving tips to two drivers -- one Canadian and one Dutch -- who were both smoking their brakes on downgrades. There were also a few bicyclists and there were times when I witnessed drivers passing them when they shouldn't have tried. Let's hope no one is hurt or killed.
One other thing -- this will certainly require at least some time and taxpayer dollars to pay for extra Highway Patrol officers or Garfield County Sheriff's deputies. Will race organizers reimburse taxpayers for that?
Bike fans may love it, but then, bike fans don't count.
Gee, ec, aren't you being a little harsh on bike fans? Of course they count, just as any others do. The trick is finding a fair balance between all who use our public roads, parks and other facilities. Sometimes that can be very difficult, and no matter how carefully the wishes of everyone are considered, someone will be left with disappointment. But grown ups should be able to handle that.
Let's not dismiss the feelings of anyone, including bike fans.
Appropriate is that nice catchall word that is really meaningless and that is so easy to brandish when running out of factual arguments.
Arguments I've read so far against the bike race:
- not appropriate (translate: I don't like it)
- euro visitors who don't know how to drive a big RV might be disappointed (wow, that was a creative one :))
- too many people will show up (seems that the NPS gun toting rangers could easily limit the crowd that could come in)
- people who spend months planning their once in a lifetime trip apparently can't plan their trip outside of a 6 hour window...
- it's mainly a commercial enterprise which by default is bad (as opposed to the concessionaires who are the good kind of capitalistic pigs) :)
So, at which point will we get a real argument against that race?