Say no to easy-access heli-skiing

To the editor,

I live in Durango and am an avid backcountry skier in and around Silverton. I enjoy this area because I can drive along highways and county roads to access points that allow me to skin into skiable terrain. Silverton Mountain’s proposal to expand their helicopter skiing on BLM lands along highways and county roads is very troubling. Helicopters with guides and tourists do not belong on the same terrain as people accessing backcountry from their cars. 

My personal safety would be compromised by having large groups of people located uphill from me in avalanche terrain. The helicopter itself could trigger an avalanche. The heli-skiers that are not familiar with backcountry terrain could trigger an avalanche. Or worst-case scenario, the guides could perform avalanche mitigation unbeknownst of my presence. 

Thus far, there have been few conflicts between backcountry travelers and the Silverton Mountain helicopter operation because their permit area is very remote from county roads and highways. If the BLM allows them to expand their permit area into places that are easily accessible, then tragic conflicts could immediately ensue.

I strongly believe that the BLM has a duty to taxpayers to minimize such conflicts with profit-seeking enterprises. Otherwise, who will be liable when a backcountry skier is accidentally killed or injured from a conflict with helicopter skiing? I believe the BLM would be liable for allowing such a blatant misuse of public lands for one company’s interests.

Silverton Mountain’s proposal should swiftly be denied by the BLM. If they want to expand their operations, then it must be into areas that are not easily accessed by the public. The BLM has a duty to the citizens to prevent tragic conflicts. 

I urge the public to email jchristenson@blm.gov to voice their opposition to this proposal.

– Chandler Marechal, Durango

Another Dempsey connection

To the editor,

There is another lasting connection not mentioned in last week’s article about Jack Dempsey and Durango. Jack Dempsey’s sister, Stella, is buried in Greenmount Cemetery.

According to at least one source, she worked as a lady of the night. She died in 1910 and apparently her brother chose the stone that marks her grave.

– Trace Getz, Durango

Saving one of the seven wonders

To the editor,

The Grand Canyon is one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Its display of geologic history is unprecedented, laying bare rocks dating back over 1.7 billion years. Great scientific minds still debate the age and formation of the Grand Canyon, but what remains beyond dispute is the beauty and unblemished wildness of this majestic landscape and river that formed it. A first visit to the rim of Grand Canyon National Park often leaves visitors mesmerized and speechless. Its vastness and beauty are without equal.  

In 1908 Teddy Roosevelt, one of our greatest presidents, declared Grand Canyon a national monument. As he stood on the canyon’s rim, looking out over the transcendental void, he spoke these words: “The Grand Canyon fills me with awe. It is beyond comparison – beyond description; absolutely unparalleled throughout the wide world. Let this great wonder of nature remain as it now is. Do nothing to mar its grandeur, sublimity and loveliness. You cannot improve on it. But what you can do is to keep it for your children, your children’s children, and all who come after you, as the one great sight which every American should see.” His words remain just as relevant today as when he spoke them over 100 years ago.

Today, the Grand Canyon’s watershed is increasingly at risk. Water is the single-most important resource to all life on Earth, and today we are increasingly realizing the substantial negligible impacts of the growing aridity of the Southwest. Recently named the most endangered river in America, the Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park and its watershed are under increasing pressure from climate change, commercial development, uranium mining and primary forest logging. These threats pose the greatest challenge to the long-term viability of Grand Canyon National Park in decades.   

The Kaibab National Forest, which borders Grand Canyon National Park to the north and south, would become protected under the Grand Canyon Watershed National Monument proposal. This forest contains some of the last remaining old-growth forest in the United States. Primary forest is imperative to the survival of numerous species of threatened plants and wildlife. These old-growth forests also serve as massive carbon sinks that sequester carbon dioxide from our atmosphere.  Deforestation would release the stored carbon and adversely contribute to global warming. The logging industry seeks to exploit the natural resources around the canyon for the gain of few, but at the expense of many.

The Kaibab National Forest also contains thousands of mining claims that threaten the health of hundreds

of creeks, springs and aquifers that feed into the Colorado River in GCNP. Recently there has been a resurgence of interest in uranium mining, which is harmful to both the health of humans as well as natural resources. Native Americans living near abandoned uranium mines suffer from much greater rates of cancer and other diseases as a direct result of these mines. Kanab Creek, a large tributary to the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park, is now poisoned with radioactive runoff from active uranium mines, and is too toxic to drink from. 

We are not China. We are not Russia. We are not a developing nation that must rape our landscape for short-term gain. We are the United States of America and we have always placed great value on rugged wilderness and scenic natural beauty for the enjoyment of all of our people. In the tradition of Thoreau, Muir and Litton, we must vigilantly protect and defend mother nature’s grandest cathedral from those eager to desecrate this wonder in the name of money. The Grand Canyon Watershed National Monument proposal would help ensure that the Grand Canyon and its watershed remain protected now and in the future. 

Grand Canyon does not belong to the developers, nor the plutocrats, nor the investors. This great natural wonder belongs to us all. As the world continues to rapidly strip away its few remaining wild places, it is becoming more and more critical that we vigilantly protect what remains. I am respectfully asking you to support the Grand Canyon Watershed National Monument and protect this sublime natural wonder for future generations. If we lose this opportunity, we will lose a national treasure, and we will not get it back.

For more information, visit www.grandcanyonwatershed.org

– Jon M. Catlett, Colorado River guide, Grand Canyon National Park