 |
 |
Desert Sage Editor
1728
Van Home Lane
Redondo Beach, CA 90278 |
| March 22,
1990 |
Dear Editor:
It was with great
sadness that I read the articles supporting the removal of Navajo Mountain from
the Desert Peaks list.
I will never forget the time that I climbed
Navajo on a whirlwind tour of Arizona. En route to the peak, my climbing
partner and I were able to visit the interior of the Navajo Nation, an
opportunity we would never have otherwise had. We parked at the base of the
peak and walked to the top. Walking through the pines and freshly fallen
November snow, gave us an incredible feeling of peace and serenity. The old
roughly hewn log stockades used to hold Indian horses and cows stood silently
along the trails to the summit, attesting to the presence of man. In the
distance, we could see the Mitten Buttes - a place I've only seen on postcards
and from Navajo Mountain.
Following our climb of Navajo, we drove a
short way north to the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell, the monstrous
hydroelectric project on the Colorado River above Grand Canyon National Park.
This was the first time I had seen these places. I have not since been
back.
On Tuesday, March 20th, the Bureau of Reclamation and several
government agencies held in Los Angeles, one of several subcommittee hearings
for the Environmental impact Statement on Glen Canyon Dam. As chairman of the
Angeles Chapter Rivers Conservation Subcommittee, I attended the hearings along
with other club members, Grand Canyon river guides, Friends of the River
members and concerned private citizens. We were there to get the Bureau of
Reclamation to develop an alternative flow release schedule for the dam and to
encourage a thorough environmental study of the dam's present water release
plan, which is turning the Grand Canyon into a large drainage ditch, void of
natural habitat.
Every day, water is released from Glen Canyon Dam in
drastic fluctuations, from 2,000 cfs to 30,000 cfs based on utility power
consumption. These massive releases of water are washing away the beaches of
the canyon, destroying riparian habitat, killing fish and wildlife and have
even killed boaters using the river, all for maximum dollar profit. The Grand
Canyon, which took nature 40 million years to create, is being destroyed by us
in less than twenty.
The Desert Peaks section was responsible for
getting me out into the desert, into places I would never have dreamed of
going. Glen Canyon Dam was one of those places. Seeing the dam has given me a
better understanding of what we are up against in trying to preserve the
natural integrity of the Grand Canyon. If Navajo Mountain had not been on the
list, I would never have known about Glen Canyon.
This Desert Peaks
member votes in favor of keeping Navajo Mountain on our list.
Sincerely,
Wynne Benti Angeles Chapter Rivers Conservation
Subcommittee |
|
|