If you build it, they will come is a slight twist on the iconic line from the film “Field of Dreams.” It is also the hopeful motto of resort developers worldwide.
That it may turn out to be all too true is a nightmare in the making for anyone alarmed by the Grand Canyon Escalade project, which plans for construction of a hotel and resort development on the east rim of the Grand Canyon above the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado rivers. Though adjacent to Grand Canyon National Park, the proposed site is on Navajo land just beyond the jurisdiction of the Park Service, which vehemently opposes the project.
The confluence, where the turquoise-blue water of the Little Colorado meets the much larger Colorado, is considered sacred by Hope, Zuni, Paiute and Navajo people, as well as by members of other tribes. It is also a favorite stopping point for rafters running the river, and revered by all canyon visitors for its beauty and solitude.
The Escalade proposal is not new, but it is poised to become a reality. Legislation introduced before the Navajo Tribal Council on Aug. 29 calls for $65 million to start construction on the project, which includes a 1.4-mile-long aerial tramway to bring tourists from the rim down to the Colorado River, providing easy access to a section of the canyon presently accessible only by trail or by floating down the Colorado.
More than any other detail, it is the construction of the tramway that is alarming to those who want to see the rugged wilderness nature of the canyon preserved. However, the developers – who say the project will create thousands of jobs and bring revenue to one of the most economically depressed areas of the Navajo Nation – say it is the key to making the resort a success by providing people otherwise barred from visiting the floor of the canyon a “below–the-rim-experience.”
Navajo supporters of Escalade say the project promises to benefit every member of the tribe, and decry attempts by non-tribal members to derail the project. They also point to the Grand Canyon Skywalk, opened by the Hualapai Tribe in 2007 on the south rim of the canyon, as an example of successful development that does not diminish the grandeur of the national park that attracted 5.5 million visitors in 2015.
Though Navajo Nation president Russel Begaye – voicing an opinion shared by many of his constituents – has stated his opposition to the project designed by Confluence Partners of Scottsdale, Ariz., the 23-member Navajo Tribal Council will vote on the initial funding proposal soon, and the project may have enough support to override a presidential veto.
Tribal sovereignty is an issue here, but the conservation group American Rivers, which has worked for years with the grass-roots, local Navajo organization Save the Confluence and the Grand Canyon Trust in opposition to the project, sums things up succinctly: Wrong place, wrong project.
We agree.
Navajo law provides a five-day public comment period on the introduced legislation, which ends on Sept. 2; any comments on the project have to be made now. An American Rivers petition calling on the Tribal Council to reject Grand Canyon Escalade can be found online at https://secure.americanrivers.org/page/s/no-escalade.
