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Show “THEY WANT TO DO WHAT?" A plan to double the size of Canyonlands National Park sounds more and more like a plan to bury the park visitor in rules and regs. 3 By Owen Severance Until my recent trip to the Maze District of Canyonlands National Park, my only reaction to former Park Superintendent Walt Dabney’s proposal to expand the Park by 250% was just the usual “over my dead body." But now that I have seen what the Fun Police at the Park Service have done to prevent the public from enjoying the Park, my opposition to the proposed Park expansion has risen to a new level. The mindless bureaucracy that is the National Park Service seems to be intent only on drastically restricting the public’s enjoyment of Canyonlands National Park. And now they want to greatly increase the area that they control. My Trip To The Maze, or The Bureaucracy Gone Mad. My first trip to the Maze area was in 1967--four years before it became part of Canyonlands National Park. After that first trip, I visited the area several more times in the 70’s and the early 80’s. Back in those carefree days, it was just a matter of packing up the “Here stone towers resemble Kachina dolls and other fanciful figures. Exploring around and between the fractured masses of rock, hikers can glimpse the Colorado River in its inner gorge and view in many perspectives the variety of erosional features in this remote place." The Fun Police have rejected this statement. Now they don’t want you to see the area. Why don’t they at least mark a few trails from the campsites to the nearest viewpoints? As it is now, most campers just ignore the ridiculous signs and explore the area anyway. Colorado/Green River Overlook---NOT One of the highlights of any trip to the Maze is a hike to see the spectacular overhanging overlooks of the Green and Colorado Rivers. The "Green/Colorado River Overlook Trail" is a nine mile hike, but well worth it. At least it used to be. In another bizarre decision, the Fun Police decided to confuse visitors by sending them on a trail that CDi (L) One of many spectacular views not accessible by trail... CAUTION: The Fun Police don’t want you to enjoy this view. (ABOVE) "Area Closed” The Fun Police at work. ry, Bronco and going; camping whereverI wanted to outside the Park; and staying as long as I wanted to. Now, Canyonlands National Park is managing roughly 120,000 acres in the "Orange Cliffs" section of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area adjacent to the Maze District as though it is part of Canyonlands National Park. The same regulations that apply to the Park also apply to that part of GCNRA. So, thanks to the Fun Police, a reservation costing $25.00 must be made months ahead of time to reserve designated campsites and a "washable, reusable toilet system" must be acquired. The specter of relatively unrestricted enjoyment of the area near the Maze District apparently was more than the Fun Police could stand; they designated just 11 campsites in that part of the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. That’s less than one designated campsite for every 10,000 acres. Pathetic. The Park Service should either allow "at large” camping or at least double the number of designated campsites in that part of GCNRA. The rough jeep trail into the Maze district used to discourage visitation; however, the Park Service greatly improved the route so that fewer people are deterred from attempting it. (I still wouldn’t want to take one of those fancy SUVs over it.) My favorite spot, which I once called "chicken rock," required squeezing between a large boulder and the edge of an overhang. The rock had scars and paint of various colors from drivers who tried to stay as far from the edge as possible. The Park Service must have decided that the rock was too intimidating, because it no longer exists. (One trip I drove a full size pickup truck past it without going over the side, so it was more of a psychological challenge than a real problem.) The Park Service now has to use its reservation system to limit visitation because the improvements to the jeep trail significantly reduced the amount of time and effort required to drive to the Maze area. The jeep trail ends at the designated campsites at the "Doll House." We stayed in Campsite Number 2 where we were greeted by an "Area Closed, No Hiking" sign. After beating up your vehicles getting there, the Fun Police don’t want you to stray from your campsite to look at the spectacular views. The few designated trails don’t even begin to allow you to see the area. So be sure to take along a book to read or some games to play while hunkering down in your campsite. The 1978 General Management Plan for Canyonlands National Park included this statement about the Doll House area: has been rerouted away from the overlooks of the Green and Colorado Rivers. reached the area of the overlooks, I realized that we were going around in a headed back toward the campground. So we headed across the slickrock to the the Colorado River where we found the old trail. (The old trail is still shown on Before we circle that rim above the USGS "Spanish Bottom" 7 1/2 Minute map, so take a copy when you make the hike.) Maybe the Fun Police thought it would be a good joke to have visitors hike nine miles without seeing the spectacular views that they had expected. I don’t know how other hikers felt about the deception, but I was pissed. (Pissed enough to write this article.) While we | were enjoying the views, we talked to four river runners who had climbed up from the Green River. Fortunately they were oblivious to the deception created by the Fun Police and were having a great time. (Before the area was included in Canyonlands National Park, there was a "register" in a can or bottle located about as far toward the confluence of the Green and Colorado as you could go. It had names of people that had found their way out there long before the area was added to the Park. I wonder what happend to it.)Anyway, we were able to see what we had come for in spite of the Fun Police. Jasper Canyon---Poisoning Nature There are several canyons that lead away from Chimney Rock, another of our designated campsites. Arguably, the most spectacular of these is Jasper Canyon, a narrow canyon with sheer walls. It was closed by the Fun Police a few years ago because too many hikers were enjoying it. Since the canyon had never been grazed by cattle, the Park Service wanted to keep it "pristine." (Even though there are only a few acres of soil that haven’t been disturbed by the flash floods that scour the canyon.) That meant only Park Service personnel would be allowed to enjoy hiking in it. And, in another bizarre decision, the Park Service decided it had to poison plants that had grown from seeds that had blown into the canyon. Yes, that naturalized foreigner, tamarisk, was growing in the canyon. So the Park Service is cutting it down and using herbicide on the stumps. When the Park Service did this in Horseshoe Canyon, they also poisoned the springs and had to put up signs warning people to not drink the water. Is this rational? How many non-target plants, insects and animals are being killed by the herbicide? Is this an acceptable way to manage a "natural" area? And what about other |