[Awclist] Fwd: Groups Appeal GC Ruling on Park's 100th Birthday

[Thomas Robey]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: RRFW Riverwire <riverwire at rrfw.org>
> Date: January 11, 2008 6:15:11 AM MST
> To: trobey at cybermesa.com
> Subject: Groups Appeal GC Ruling on Park's 100th Birthday
> Reply-To: riverwire at rrfw.org
>
> RRFW Riverwire
>
> Groups Appeal GC Ruling on Park's 100th Birthday
>
> January 11, 2008
>
> Four conservation groups filed an appeal today to the Ninth Circuit  
> Court of Appeals as part of their on-going effort to protect and  
> restore the Grand Canyon's natural sounds and wilderness values from  
> motorized and commercial uses.
>
> The groups, which include River Runners for Wilderness, Rock the  
> Earth, Living Rivers and Wilderness Watch, claim the National Park  
> Service's new management plan for the Colorado River corridor which  
> authorizes motorboat use and helicopter passenger exchanges in the  
> heart of the Grand Canyon is inconsistent with National Park Service  
> obligations to preserve the area's wilderness character.
>
> The groups challenged the National Park Service's management plan in  
> Federal District Court in 2006, claiming that the Park's own  
> policies require managing the canyon as wilderness. They also  
> claimed that the National Park Service illegally granted the  
> majority of river access to commercial concessionaires thereby  
> forcing members of the general public to wait years for a chance to  
> obtain a permit to float the Colorado River.
>
> In November 2007, U.S. District Court Judge David G. Campbell upheld  
> the National Park Service's new river management plan. Intervening  
> in defense of the Park's plan were the Grand Canyon Private Boaters  
> Association and the Grand Canyon River Outfitters Trade Association.
>
> The groups' appeal comes on the 100th anniversary of President  
> Theodore Roosevelt's declaring the Grand Canyon a National Monument  
> on January 11, 1908.
>
> A century ago, President Roosevelt proclaimed, "We have gotten past  
> the stage, my fellow-citizens, when we are to be pardoned if we  
> treat any part of our country as something to be skinned for two or  
> three years for the use of the present generation, whether it is the  
> forest, the water, the scenery. Whatever it is, handle it so that  
> your children's children will get the benefit of it."
>
> George Nickas, Executive Director of Wilderness Watch, builds on  
> that commitment to protection. "No doubt Teddy Roosevelt would be  
> appalled if he were here today and saw how the park service has  
> commercialized the Grand Canyon and allowed the song of the canyon  
> wren to be drowned by the racket of outboard motors."
>
> Tom Martin, Co-Director of River Runners for Wilderness agrees.  
> "President Roosevelt was forced to strongly defend his Grand Canyon  
> proclamation against repeated opposition all the way to the Supreme  
> Court. One hundred years later, we are in a similar fight and  
> likewise determined to win the best possible protection for Grand  
> Canyon's Colorado River" added Martin.
>
> "What's at stake is incredibly important to all Americans. Not only  
> is public access to our public spaces, without the need to pay  
> concessionaires thousands of dollars, at issue," noted Marc Ross,  
> Executive Director of Rock the Earth, "but also the idea that there  
> needs to be places where one can go in this country to seek peace  
> and solitude without hearing the roar of engines."
>
> The groups are represented by Julia Olson of Wild Earth Advocates  
> and Matthew Bishop of the Western Environmental Law Center.
>
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