Natural History Wanderings

The NY Times has and opinion piece on two threats to the Grand Canyon. There proposals to build 2,200 homes and three million square feet of commercial space that will include shops and hotels, a spa and a dude ranch Tusayan, which is less than two miles from the Park’s entrance and a proposed 1.4-mile tramway that would go down 3,200 feet directly into the canyon along with elevated walkway, a restaurant and an amphitheater.( I wrote about this last month Grand Canyon Threatened With Destructive Development | Natural History Wanderings.) Besides totally changing the character of the visitor experience and making the area more of a theme park it the development would need  new wells would deplete the aquifer that drives many of the springs deep inside the canyon. Water is already in short supply in the area. Read article at Two Development Projects Threaten the Grand Canyon – NYTimes.com.