Restore Glen Canyon???

“I'm on the mailing list for the Glen Canyon Insitute - the organization that wants to decommission Glen Canyon Dam at Lake Powell. Even though nature will eventually silt up the dam on its own, it's going to be some time before that happens. If anyone is interested in learning more about this group and/or the issue, here's the link:

Glen Canyon Institute

Their publication talks about a place called Rhindges Dam in Malibu Canyon that was built in 1925 and lasted only 13 years before it silted up. Anyone out there know about this or any other old dams in CA??”

“Interesting. Those photos by Pennigton would sure let yuor mind wander while staring at that lake. Are all the areas/places in those photos currently underwater?”

“Baume, those and many others are covered by Lake Powell. I have mixed feelings myself about the issue. I've rented a houseboat on the lake and explored some of the side canyons...it was a great way to vacation...lots of solitude hiking along the slickrock and wandering back into hidden canyons. Even some of the Anasazi ruins are still preserved (higher than the lake level) and make for adventurous hiking. However, the environment in a way seemed so sterile...didn't see any wildlife..seemed devoid of all but humans. I understand one reason for this is the fluctuation in the lake level...plants can't get a foothold because the water level keeps going up and down (the so-called "bath tub ring" is proof of this). If they did drain the lake, it seems like that Page, AZ would wither away because the tourist boom would have gone bust. Much as I would like a return to the original flow of the Colorado River, I don't think politically it's going to be restored...”

“I'm not sure about Glen Canyon, but...

They're removing a dam on a river near where I live. The decreased size of the river will create about 6 miles of new parkland and trail.

For a lot of developed communities, this is a creative way to make a lot of new greenspace. I bet we see more of this kind of thing.”

“Nothing's forever. Maybe someday the Anasazi "ancient ones" will somehow take care of the problem... Or, more likely (after watching a PBS show on it), the Glen Canyon Dam might just give way. They said there are a good number of leaks at the dam. I can't say I'd mind seeing nature reclaim her own (or maybe it would be those old Anasazis actually at work......)

I shudder to think of all those ruins A) Under water (although it may well preserve them); and B) COVERED WITH SILT!! We need to find something to do with silt. Figure that out and you surely will earn a Nobel Prize!! I understand it's silting up really bad where the San Juan River goes in... river runners have to WALK their rafts there.

Say, I just don't wanna be camping at Lee's Ferry when the dam goes... or hiking in or rafting the Grand Canyon..... YIKES!!! I wonder if all that additional water and pressure would wipe out the Hoover Dam, too???

I know Mary Phyl on here LOVES Lake Powell for recreational purposes and it's not that far from her. It is surely a strange thing to see, Lake Powell, mystical, with a strange allure in its red rock desert surroundings. I'd seen it from the air and only just got to really see it (the eastern end) last fall... on a rainy, cloudy day to boot. The blue waters were enticing as the buttes and spires heading up the Dirty Devil were flirting with the gray clouds and ominous white sheets of rain.”

“Lizs, your last line is so well written...do I sense a story or magazine article there?????? Hey, you need to share some of your "official" writing with us. Who'll second that?????”

“A couple of general links pertaining to damming and decommissionig dams.

Dam Proponents

Dam Opponents”

“hahahaha, Utahiker..... most of my recent articles are just "ho-hum" news stories. (still awaiting the printing of the deer story. I had to basically cut it in HALF from what I'd written... and I know they'll edit it down some more before it runs.......)

I have about 10 stories on the Mpls. Star Tribune website. Maybe I'll dig up links to a couple. Don't have any Mizzou stories to share. Shoulda written one when we visited Hannibal a couple falls ago. I'd really like to do a story on Nauvoo, Ill., which we visited that same trip. That is way cool, with such a great history. And even though it's rolling in Mormonism, they don't force it on you at all (then again....... they are VERY NICE.....and niceness sells....lol). I said it'd be the perfect day or overnight trip for the local church ladies to take, but of course they couldn't, because they'd be trying to explain to all why you shouldn't be a Mormon. And --shudder!!-- to even think of visiting a Mormon historical area!!!! LOL!!! Poor old church ladies group!!”

“Ok, utahiker....... here's a couple stories, along with the "If you go" section giving info on where to stay, eat, etc......

1. First up, we have the Amish community at Harmony, Minn. I now go past the buggies each day I travel to my part-time job at Preston. I can't believe their horses don't freak out with semis mere feet away.

Also, this story created a little bit of a scene. They ended up running a Star Tribune file photo of kids at an Amish school. Some woman wrote to their ombudsman, saying, "How can you take a photo, when you say they don't want their photos taken??!!!!!!" I don't remember their rationale...........

Harmony, MN/Amish
http://www.startribune.com/stOnLine/cgi-bin/article?thisSlug=GETA070796&date=07-Jul-1996
"If you go"
http://www.startribune.com/viewers/qview/cgi/qview.cgi?template=a_travelminn&slug=GETC070796

2. You like Grant Wood history? Do I have a story for YOU!!

Stone City, IA/Anamosa, IA (Grant Wood)
http://www.startribune.com/stOnLine/cgi-bin/article?thisSlug=GETA0531&date=31-May-1998
"If you go"
http://www.startribune.com/stOnLine/cgi-bin/article?thisSlug=GETC0531&date=05/31/1998

3. And last, but not least, we have a story on Hollywood film sites throughout Iowa. I will never forget my tour of the house in the closing scenes from "Twister"...... I just kept thinking, "This will be GREAT material for an article, what with my chain smoking guide!" LOL! This story does not have a second part.

Hollywood in Iowa
http://www.startribune.com/stOnLine/cgi-bin/article?thisSlug=GETA082497&date=24-Aug-1997

OK, by this time you know my name. Go to the main travel page and type it in the search engine to get the rest of the stories. (And don't forget to read the "If you go" sections either!)

The story that all started it is NOT on the website, which I believe must have started in 96. In 95, I did a story on Spillville, Iowa -- not very far away at all and 1800-something summer home of Antonin Dvorak. Sometimes you feel your stories do some good. In this one, I mentioned they were raising funds to restore the organ at the church. And some Czech woman in the Twin Cities, totally UNRELATED to people in Spillville, sent them a check for $5,000. I'd have to say that's the biggest journalistic impact **I** (so to speak) have ever had! lol....”

“For a great read - "A Story that Stands Like a Dam" about the building of the Glen Canyon Dam. Lots of interesting politics, geology, history, engineering, etc, etc, etc.”

“Lizs, I read your stories out there on the web..cool. You really know how to write!!!! I liked the story about Hollywood in Iowa the best...looking forward to the one on the deer. Have you written any about the outdoors or is that out of your venue????? More, More,.....”

“Utahiker, some people like that very descriptive stuff (like the editor I write for there)........ and some people just "pooh, pooh" it and says it's too flowery. To each their own... lol. That editor also wants it in first person.... a lot of editors don't

I'll send ya a couple things.”

“don't forget about the Saint Francis Dam north of Los Angeles. It collapsed before it filled. It seems in the haste to build it the engineers ignored the geologists who said the rock they were anchoring to was mostly gypsum (water soluble).”

“From High Country News this weeK:



ARIZONA

After 30 years of planning, the Navajo Nation's Antelope Point Marina may
become a reality, despite serious concerns among tribal members.

The $60 million development, planned for the south shore of Lake Powell, occupies a piece of land that straddles the Navajo Reservation and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. The project had been bogged down by disagreement within the tribe, but a new tribal council administration has made it a top priority.

Now the tribe, along with the National Park Service, is evaluating a developer's proposal for the estimated 225 hotel rooms and 300 boat slips.

"The timing's right and the people are in harmony," says Fred White, with the tribe's
tourism office. White says the marina will offer as many as 350 new jobs to the
Navajo people, and he hopes that it will attract more development to the area.

But the development's progress has critics worried. Some say Antelope Point's impacts on water quality and archaeological sites have yet to be addressed. Glen Canyon Action Network's David Orr has asked the Park Service to conduct an environmental impact study, which would require a more exhaustive analysis than the existing environmental assessment.

Dissent continues to come from within the Navajo tribe. Thomas Morris Jr. of the Dine Medicine Men's Association is concerned that the marina will harm archaeological and ceremonial sites, as well as the water quality of Lake Powell.

"We do not see this as sustainable development for our people," Morris wrote in a letter to tribal President Kelsey Begaye. "Lake Powell itself violates tribal law because it covered over many significant sacred and cultural sites beneath the waters."

Kathy Fleming of the National Park Service says the agency will take another look
at the environmental effects of the project when it chooses a specific plan. Though
an environmental impact statement is never out of the question, she says, the Park Service intends to continue with its environmental assessment.”

“Did you write that Lizs?

Oh, Hi Lizs!”

“I just wrote an article on Glen Canyon Dam for a newsletter my organization produces on Colorado River issues. Since we try to make it non-partisan, I didn't dwell too much on the decommissioning idea. Currently, Glen Canyon Institute is conducting their own Environmental Impact Report/Study on the issue because there is no way in hell the Bureau of Reclamation will ever study it. In fact, Interior's annual appropriations bill has language that prevents the Bureau or anyone in Interior from ever studying the possibility.

Lot's of issues surrounding the dam but it is highly unlikely it will ever be decommissioned. Too many people depend on the power generated and the water supply stored at the dam.”

“Big Foot, ya goof! HI! NO, I did not write that. High Country News is an every-other-week newsletter/paper out of Paonia, Colorado that keeps track of western environmental issues.

To read, go to: www.hcn.org”

“roseymonster, thanks for providing the additional info. The fact that the politicians went out of their way to include language preventing any study makes me think they may be worried and don't want the idea of decommissioning the dam "on the table" for fear the public/environmentalists might support it???

Lizs, thanks for hte link to the High Country News!”