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Quiet solitude, free-flowing waters, clear canyon vistas - that is the potential promise of the Grand Canyon. But it's no longer reality, with diversion of Colorado River waters, airplanes buzzing overhead, and power plant emissions sweeping in.
The Natural Resources Defense Council and the National Trust for Historic Preservation have joined forces to assess the state of our parks. The Grand Canyon is the second in a series of case studies from the joint NRDC-National Trust Report, Reclaiming Our Heritage: What We Need to Do to Preserve America's National Parks. NRDC and GORP hope the series fosters a discussion of how to address the parks' needs.
Don't miss the first case in the series, Yellowstone.
Reclaiming Our Heritage:
Grand Canyon Case Study
The Grand Canyon—one of the"crown jewels" of the National Park system—is located on both sides of the Colorado River in Arizona. Over several million years the River has carved a vast chasm through these arid lands and created one of the most powerful and awe-inspiring landscapes in the world. The canyon walls of the park reveal much of the geological history of North America, while its boundaries encompass vast open spaces, extraordinary scenery, pristine air, and virtually the only untouched watersheds in the entire West.
Created as a national monument in 1908 and redesigned as a National Park in 1919, the Grand Canyon is one of America's most popular National Parks. Unfortunately, the park's unique and spectacular resources are gravely threatened by its popularity as well as by a variety of activities that are outside the park borders or Park Service's jurisdiction.
Visitor Impacts
Every year approximately five million people visit the Grand Canyon to experience its beauty and grandeur. Visitation to the South Rim, which receives the most people, is projected to reach seven million by 2010—a 40 percent increase. Already the enormous growth in visitation over the past decade has transformed the visitor experience at this park. And increasingly, a key part of that experience—natural quiet and solitude—cannot be realized because of the increased numbers of airplane overflights.
The huge number of visitors to the Grand Canyon is having direct effects on the park. Overcrowding, traffic jams, and an overtaxed, outmoded transportation system are all degrading the park experience and its natural qualities. The Park Service's General Management Plan (GMP) for the Grand Canyon, completed in 1995, directly addresses these and other visitor problems. The plan calls for construction of a new visitor center, for removal of two of the hotels presently situated on the rim, and, in order to reduce use of private vehicles within the park, for the limiting of access by automobiles and the construction of an extensive public transit system into and throughout the developed areas on the South Rim. The estimated price tag for implementation of the GMP is more than $300 million—or twenty-five times the $12 million that the park received for operating expenses last year.
In theory, the problems posed by aerial tours should be easier to resolve. Last year about 800,000 visitors flew over the canyon on aerial tours and seriously affected its natural quiet. Whereas in 1988 visitors could experience natural quiet in almost half of the Park, according to the National Park Service, by 1994 as a result of these flights the percentage had decreased to less than a third. By 2010, if nothing more is done, it will be possible to experience natural quiet in less than 10 percent of the park. But, although natural quiet is a key resource of the Grand Canyon, the Park Service lacks the authority to control these flights. Instead, that authority belongs to the Federal Aviation Administration, which has not yet been willing to protect the park's peace and quiet.
External Threats
River Management. The Colorado River is the lifeblood of Grand Canyon Park and yet the river faces numerous grave threats. Management of its water is under the control of the Bureau of Reclamation, not the Park Service, and is designed to supply urban areas like southern California, Las Vegas and Phoenix. Past management practices have jeopardized the continued existence of many of the fish species native to the river, and today introduced species outnumber natives. Tamarisk, an exotic species of tree, is taking over from native cottonwoods and willows in many places, further diminishing water quantity and degrading habitat value.
Air Pollution. Air pollution directly affects views of the Grand Canyon's spectacular scenery. A power plant located fifty miles upwind from the canyon, in Laughlin, Nevada, is the largest single source of sulfur dioxide emissions in that state. Under prevailing westerly wind conditions, the plant delivers significant amounts of air pollutants to the park. And that is not the only source of air pollution harmful to the park. Air pollution generated by other sources, some from as far away as Los Angeles and Phoenix, as well as from the cars of visitors to the park, adversely affects air quality and visibility at the Grand Canyon.
Development. Increasing pressure for development outside the park also poses a major threat. Given the huge projected increase in visitors and the Park Service's decision, set out in the GMP, to reduce lodging within the park, outside development is inevitable. The effects on the park and its resources, however, are not inevitable. Rather, they will depend on how the park and the region respond. Coordinated, integrated, and environmentally responsible planning by all affected jurisdictions will greatly benefit the park. In contrast, incremental development of private lands in gateway communities could result in a variety of harmful effects, including the depletion of springs and seeps within the canyon, the fragmentation of wildlife habitat, and widespread aesthetic degradation.
Inadequate Staff
As is the case with other parks, the Park Service at Grand Canyon has had to do too much with less during recent years, and especially with less staff than it needs to carry out key park management functions. The park lacks sufficient staff to monitor and enforce limitations on excessive air tour operations, to carry out necessary rehabilitation of visitor damage in backcountry areas, and to restore historic trails established over seventy-five years ago. It also lacks the resources needed to develop interpretive programs to convey information about the park's natural resources, including, for example, water, one of the park's most precious resources. The park has long used volunteers and outside researchers to support management activities. Volunteers currently assist the Park Service with park restoration projects, interpretation, and backcountry patrols. Budget constraints recently led the agency to conclude that the "time has come to greatly expand the use of outside assistance."
Critical Information Needs
Despite the fact that the Grand Canyon is one of the nation's best-known and oldest parks, the Park Service still lacks basic information about many of its natural resources as well as about the effectiveness of the Service's own management activities. For example, although water is the most critical and limited resource in the park, the Park Service lacks basic hydrological data as well as needed information about the effects of current and future groundwater withdrawals on existing supply. And as indicated above, a lack of funds threatens the Service's ability to obtain information that is essential to achieving the goal of restoring natural quiet to most of the Grand Canyon.
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