The Canyon is huge; about 250 miles long. There's room for some tourist friendly stuff there, especially if it gets people interested in geology and conservation. I feel like anytime there's a proposal to do anything of value there's always some, largely, neckbeardish outrage.
This all just sounds like overly political correct, and often corrupt, tribal politics. A cable-car ride would be a wonderful experience. If I was a kid I'd lose my mind on something like this.
>To Dave Nimkin of the National Parks Conservation Assn., the developments represent "profound and enormous threats to the park. It's a grim forecast."
Oh come on, lets not be hysterical. If these guys really cared that much, how about stopping all these asshole hikers and campers who drop garbage all over the place? It seems like the line in the sand drawn here is pretty arbitrary. Heck, there's a massive development right on the Canyon, called the Canyon Village. This area is not this pristine, untouched thing, its very much been developed in significant ways.
The gondola is certainly nifty, but the resort could be built a couple miles away from the rim without impacting the tourist friendly improvement. Build a couple miles away, have a dedicated road to the gondola facility at the rim. There are compromises to be had, but like you said it sounds like there isn't a lot of give and take, just outrage and corruption.
All I see on that page is some buildings at the rim of the canyon, similar to (if probably somewhat larger than) what's there now. Is that really what you're complaining about? It's tiny compared to the canyon.
Having lived both in Phoenix and Tucson, I can say for sure state politicians will be in no hurry to protect the Grand Canyon. Sen. McCain wanted to dig up the canyon for resources. The argument will be "job creation," and anyone that opposes this project is against jobs. Not that I agree with it, but AZ is a big red state that also taxes solar panels even though sunlight is cheap.
For better or worse, it's not an Arizona problem, but a problem on the sovereign Navajo nation land. There were major conflicts in the northeast over this kind of stuff before the gambling money got into the political process. Sadly the reservations intended for native Americans have become a easy way for foreign interests to skirt state regulations and freely obtain the necessary property (even if currently occupied) to do so.
Do you live in Arizona? Are you affected by this in any sense? Why shouldn't the people who live there have the say in it. It's jobs for them, it's their home. The Grand Canyon is thousands of feet deep and hundreds of miles long, it formed millions of years ago. It doesn't need to be "saved" from a tourist attraction that will be a blip on a tiny side of the canyon and an even smaller blip in the history of it. The Grand Canyon is not in any danger.
It's so frustrating to see people who come to places they're not from and protest in fights that they have no stake in, shouting their opinions, generally making everything worse and when the fight is over go on to the next place.
Well, there're plenty of people who frequent this National Park and live in the area who are against the building of this project. It just cheapens the whole place for a handful of jobs (think of the jobs!1). To you it may just be a "blip on a tiny side of the canyon," but to many of us who treasure the place as one of the few great places without giant monuments to human existence, it is an atrocity.
Where I live doesn't matter, as long as I live in the US, because it's a national park. The locals don't get a special stake to it so that they can trash it up as they see fit. Which is a strong argument for national parks in the first place.
This all just sounds like overly political correct, and often corrupt, tribal politics. A cable-car ride would be a wonderful experience. If I was a kid I'd lose my mind on something like this.
>To Dave Nimkin of the National Parks Conservation Assn., the developments represent "profound and enormous threats to the park. It's a grim forecast."
Oh come on, lets not be hysterical. If these guys really cared that much, how about stopping all these asshole hikers and campers who drop garbage all over the place? It seems like the line in the sand drawn here is pretty arbitrary. Heck, there's a massive development right on the Canyon, called the Canyon Village. This area is not this pristine, untouched thing, its very much been developed in significant ways.