Navajo Planning Major Development Within Grand Canyon

The Navajo Nation recently released details of a planned development on the eastern boundary of Grand Canyon National Park, including a rim-based resort, an aerial tramway that will transport visitors to the floor of the canyon, and a half-mile walkway near the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado Rivers. The tribe projects that the project will generate as much as $70 million annually, and attract 3 million visitors. 

Opponents to the project including conservationists, the river running community, other Native American tribes such as the Hopi who consider the area sacred ground, and a wary National Park Service contend that the development will harm the fragile ecosystem, threaten endangered species like the humpback chub, and mar the wilderness experience that makes Grand Canyon National Park a world class destination. For more information follow this link, and let your voice be heard on this most important issue:

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2012/03/24/navajo_nation_eyes_grand_canyon_for_development/

The Luck of the Irish

European immigrants were a major force in the 19^th century exploration of the Grand Canyon. Civil War photographer Timothy O’Sullivan, a native of Ireland, was the first to photograph the Grand Canyon. Equipped with one ton of clumsy gear, O’Sullivan made over 300 negatives during an 1871 survey of the lower Grand Canyon led by Lieutenant George M. Wheeler. Though many of the negatives were damaged or destroyed en route to Washington, D.C., those that survived were noted for their artistic flair as well as their scientific accuracy. O’Sullivan was one of the first to capture images of the American Southwest, including Native American villages and now famous archaeological sites. His work was unusual for the time in that it often focused on raw, undeveloped landscapes rather than industrialized settings. He died in Staten Island of tuberculosis at the age of 42, not long after becoming the first official photographer for the United States Geological Society.