The Revitalist

The LA Times reports on a major construction project underway at the Grand Canyon that will create a cantilevered glass walkway over the canyon. The project is part of the Hualapai Tribe's 9,000-acre Grand Canyon West development that will include a visitor's center, restaurants, hotel, golf course, and other recreational activities related to the canyon.

Not surprisingly this project, now under construction, is not popular with Canyon preservationists. A former superintendent of the Grand Canyon National Park says, "It's the equivalent of an upscale carnival ride." and "They say the Grand Canyon is theirs to do with however they please. Under law, it's hard to argue that proposition. But obviously the lure of dollars for the tribal treasury is greater than the obligation to manage the Grand Canyon for its cultural and historic values." Even some members of the Tribe have misgivings, particularly about the lack of basic infrastructure to support the development and its impact on the environment.

 I am generally supportive of the "you've got to spend money to make money" idea, but this strikes me as monumentally shortsighted. People like Vegas because it is big, loud, bright and over the top—that's what you're there for. People go to the Canyon for the peaceful, quiet beauty and to be awed by the power of natural forces. You can't really combine the two successfully; each spoils the other.