Tuesday 17th April

Forest coverage is not as low as the media would have us believe when they portray America has a resource guzzling demon, interested only in creating more corporations, as coverage is at around 50% of the entire country compared to England’s less than 6%. While the railways may have caused the destruction of a third of the trees within the Grand Canyon National Park area, without these railways the transportation of other materials like coal in order to advance during industrial years would not have been possible and today the Park is attempting to make reparations. These days they are making efforts to conserve the area with only shuttle buses being permitted in certain areas in order to prevent congestion and pollution from fumes, as well as the discontinuation of the airstrip that used to be on the North Rim. It is also hard not to notice the use of non flushing toilets where not only water is saved but presumably the waste is then used to fertilise the land. On the other hand with 1 million visitors passing through the park each year, and most stopping at the visitor centre located on the actual Rim of the Canyon it is argued that the National Park Act of 1916 to conserve scenery and wildlife is not being adhered to as well as it should be. While I can see the need for amenities within the park, I do not see the necessity for multiple gift shops selling the same things as shops outside of the park especially as many of the wares including those of Native American style had “not made in America” or “imported from China” stickers attached. The park understandably relies on money made from tourists buying souvenirs to say they have been to the Grand Canyon and not those who go to hike and camp, but it becomes questionable as to how helpful these tourists are when they compromise the naturalist elements of the environment. This difficult situation came to my attention more clearly when we witnessed a woman feeding a squirrel and then attempting to feed a raven despite numerous signs highlighting that anyone doing this is breaking the law.

 References:

‘National Park Service: Grand Canyon National Park’. http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/index.htm

‘American Studies at the University of Virginia: National Park Act of 1916 - Joshua S. Johns’. http://xroads.virginia.edu/~cap/nps/nps4.html