GRAND CANYON TRUST COLORADO PLATEAU FALL/WINTER A2015 dvocate

Tribes Unite to Protect the Bears Ears PLUS Community Conservation from Casamance to the Four Corners

The Future of Lake Powell 1 MESSAGE from the Chairman of the Board STEVE MARTIN

In 1985, when the Grand Canyon Trust was formed, the situation on the ON THE COVER Colorado Plateau looked almost hopeless, with coal-fired power plant Horse riders from the Bit’ahnii Clan reenact the historic arrival of their ancestors at the Bears emissions enshrouding views, Glen Canyon Dam damaging beaches Ears summer camp. TIM PETERSON and riparian habitats in the Grand Canyon, 16 million tons of uranium timpetersonphotography.com tailings leaching into the Colorado River in Moab, and irresponsible grazing practices destroying fragile forest and desert ecosystems. If we EDITOR’S NOTE were going to protect the vast natural and cultural landscapes and life- The views expressed by the contributors in this ways of the plateau, land management practices and policies had to issue are solely their own and do not necessarily change. So a group of visionaries came together on a river trip through represent the views of the Grand Canyon Trust. the Grand Canyon and pledged to take action, founding the Grand Canyon Trust and melding science, principle and savvy to defend the Permission is hereby granted to reprint sections towering red rock cliffs and plummeting canyons we all cherish. of the Colorado Plateau Advocate for non-com- mercial purposes provided that nothing is altered or edited in any way and that an appropriate This edition of the Advocate celebrates the 30th anniversary of the credit line and copyright notice are included. Grand Canyon Trust, and highlights some of its many achievements. YOU CAN HELP the Grand Canyon Trust by In the next 30 years, an even greater effort is needed to protect this taking action on the issues presented in this place many call our greatest national treasure—and some of us are magazine by going to the “Take Action” section of our website. privileged to call home—and that’s where you can help. Rampant energy development, uranium mining, ill-conceived commercial tourism, climate change and drought, inefficient public lands policies, and paltry grandcanyontrust.org funding for land management all threaten this beloved region.

ADVOCATE STAFF Your engagement and support are vital to defending the priceless land- EDITOR: Ashley Davidson scapes of the plateau. I invite you to enjoy this issue of the Advocate and ASSISTANT EDITOR: Ellen Heyn to help us achieve our vision of a healthy and prosperous region in the DESIGN: Joan Carstensen Design future by supporting the Trust with a financial contribution. Whether CARTOGRAPHY: Stephanie Smith you’ve been with us all along, or you’ve just joined as a new member, PRINTING: Arizona Lithographers your involvement and your gifts are essential to our success. Together, we can protect the diverse resources and communities of this special HEADQUARTERS place for another 30 years, and beyond. 2601 N. Fort Valley Road Flagstaff, AZ 86001 (928) 774-7488 ph (928) 774-7570 fax

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2 contents 4

THE LAND IS WHAT I’M HERE FOR By Alastair Lee Bitsóí An intertribal coalition launches an 10 unprecedented effort to protect the Bears Ears COMMUNITY CONSERVATION By Kyra Busch with Grazia Borrini-Feyerabend and Tony Skrelunas From Casamance to Canada to the Colorado Plateau, empowering local communities to protect their own backyards. 14

MORE IS MORE By Pam Hait How a journalist’s love affair with red rock put her on a mission to protect it. TIM PETERSON 16 20 THE FUTURE OF LAKE POWELL By Richard Ingebretsen MD, PhD Would draining Lake Powell alleviate the West’s water woes? 22 A LONE WOOLF 29 By Kate Watters INVESTING WITH HEART Watercolor artist Suze Woolf By Edward Dee transforms Kane Ranch into a plein air studio How a new investment platform based KURT MARKUS on the Navajo concept of “Hozhó” could overcome the crippling legacy of the Bennett Freeze.

JOIN OUR BOOK CLUB Love to read? Save your seat in the new Trust book club,

with inaugural selections by BRUCE D. TAUBERT Kevin Fedarko and Judith Nies.

THE NIGHT SHIFT: Your Call May Be Recorded 30 An interview with bat biologist Dr. Michael O’Farrell 3 The LAND is What I’m Here For By Alastair Lee Bitsóí

It’s where Lehi, a lawmaker and Malcolm Lehi remembers the stories his father told him member of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Council, harvests chokecherries, about the Bears Ears Buttes and the deep cultural ties of knowledge passed down by his father, who taught Lehi where to find them. It’s mid-July and the berries are about the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe to the mountainous knolls, the size of a quarter. “They’re ripe right now,” Lehi says, canyons, forests, water and wildlife of the Manti-La Sal adding that he told Willie Grayeyes, of Navajo Mountain, Utah, about the wild berries. Both men were attend- National Forest and surrounding public lands. ing an intertribal gathering of cultural leaders and Native families connected to the Bears Ears who want to see the region protected.

4 The Bears Ears Buttes at sunset. TIM PETERSON

After learning the news, Grayeyes borrowed Lehi’s horse and rode west through the wet sagebrush and pine trees, away from the Bears Ears Buttes, to a hogan—a traditional wooden structure made from logs and mud— to see the berries for himself. The hogan, according to Lehi, is where his own family camped during traditional seasonal migrations. Known as “hooghan nimazi” in Navajo, the Utah Diné Bikéyah board chairman Willie hogan is a Navajo cultural site that Grayeyes (above) and Malcom Lehi, Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Council member, address once sheltered 19th century Navajo assembled federal and tribal officials at the headman Chief Manuelito and the Bears Ears summer gathering. TIM PETERSON Bit’ahnii (Within His Cover) Clan. It

5 Eric Descheenie, co-chair of the Bears Ears Intertribal Coalition, addresses the Bears Ears summer gathering, including Kevin Washburn, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the U.S. Department of the Interior, Arthur “Butch” Blazer, Deputy Undersecretary of Agriculture in charge of the Forest Service, and Jonathan Jarvis, Director of the National Park Service. TIM PETERSON lies just a few miles away from Shash Many Navajos hid out to the area’s ruggedness and remote- Jaá (“the Bears Ears”). Manuelito, who ness. Presently, the U.S. Forest Service, was born in 1818 at the Bears Ears, is Bureau of Land Management, and best known for his role in brokering here from Kit Carson’s National Park Service jointly manage the 1868 treaty of Bosque Redondo, the area. This, however, could soon allowing the Navajo to return to their raiders, avoiding the change. homelands in the Four Corners; he The Bears Ears Intertribal Coalition, encouraged young Navajos to climb Long Walk, a testament led by a core group of five tribes and the educational ladder and protect the formally supported by 25 Colorado Navajo people. In her 2007 biography, to the area’s rugged- Plateau tribes brought together by Reclaiming Diné History: The Legacies Native non-profit Utah Diné Bikéyah, of Navajo Chief Manuelito and Juanita, is urging President Obama to protect historian Jennifer Nez Denetdale, her- ness and remoteness. approximately 1.9 million acres of pub- self a descendent of Manuelito, says: lic lands by designating a new Bears “Today, for both whites and Navajos, Ears National Monument co-managed albeit in different ways, Manuelito re- as well as edible wild onions in the by the tribes. Utah Diné Bikéyah has mains a symbol—the spirit of Navajo area. Some of these herbs are still used done extensive groundwork through resistance.” for healing in the Ute Mountain Ute local community organizing, includ- The hogan is one of over 100,000 Bear Dance and in Navajo ceremonies ing collecting data and documenting archeologically and culturally signif- like the Blessing/Beauty Way. interviews for cultural mapping of the icant sites in the Bears Ears area (see Both men will tell you how their an- Bears Ears region. Many of the tribes map on page 8), according to archae- cestors migrated with the seasons up have passed resolutions in support ologists who study the region. Tribes and down the Abajo Mountains—from of the idea within their respective fear that looters seeking to cash in on the canyon country near the banks of legislatures. It’s the only Native Ameri- Native American artifacts will further the San Juan River to Cedar Mesa and can-led push for a national monument desecrate cultural sites in the area, up to the Bears Ears Buttes. in the 109-year history of the Antiq- many of which have already been “I want to take the aboriginal lands uities Act. ransacked. back to our people,” Lehi said, explain- “The land is what I’m here for,” add- The Bears Ears are significant to both ing that Ute Mountain Utes historically ed Lehi, who had disassembled his Lehi and Grayeyes, whose ancestors herded livestock in the high country. weekend camp and was waiting for hunted deer, elk, and wild turkeys here, The Navajo call the region “Náhonidzó” Grayeyes to return from his berry hunt as their relatives do today. Tribal mem- (“the escaping place”); many Navajos to load his horse into its trailer. bers harvest medicinal herbs such as hid out here from Kit Carson’s raiders, Representatives of the Forest Ser- sage, juniper, and mountain tobacco, avoiding the Long Walk, a testament vice, Bureau of Land Management,

6 Bureau of Indian Affairs, National coalition’s best bet when it comes to Park Service and high-ranking Obama countering possible opposition from administration officials attended the Utah congressional leaders, as well July Bears Ears Intertribal Coalition as state leaders, ranchers, off-roaders meeting, which included members of and the uranium and oil and gas in- the Ute Mountain Ute, Northern Ute, dustries. Speaking with a united voice Hopi, Zuni, Navajo, Cochiti Pueblo has already resulted in more tribal and other tribes. The meeting took support, with the effort focused on place in a meadow, just below the protecting the region from further Bears Ears Buttes. natural resource exploitation. Across According to Kevin Washburn, the region, non-profits are standing Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs behind the tribes and their leadership at the U.S. Department of the Interior, in support of protection. the Obama administration is commit- According to Lehi, the Ute Moun- ted to upholding trust, accountability, tain Ute Tribe has banned uranium and treaty obligations to Indian tribes. and oil and gas development on its “We share the desire of tribal leaders reservation and is pushing for a sim- to protect sacred places and leave the ilar ban in the Bears Ears proposal. earth better than we found it,” Wash- The older Grayeyes, who is Utah burn said in a Department of Interior Diné Bikéyah’s board chairman, had blog post days after the meeting. much more to add about the Bears Instead of broad general protec- Ears proposal. tion, tribes want to ensure a national According to Grayeyes, Manuelito’s monument will also include a place at Bit’ahnii people weren’t the only ones the table for them to work with feder- who lived in the Bears Ears. Other al agencies to help manage the land. Navajo clans, including the Hashtłishnii Tribal leaders recognize that a Bears (Mud) Clan and Hooghan łáni (Many Ears co-management proposal pres- Hogans) Clan, trace their roots to the ents an opportunity for them to come region as far back as 1,003 AD. together for the first time in a way that “I’m sure there are other dwellings demonstrates their presence and sov- still existing elsewhere…in these can- ereign power to help manage public yons, that are probably earlier than lands to which they have unique cul- that,” Grayeyes said, noting that inter- tural attachments. views with elders and medicine men Lehi was initially reluctant to join Campfire bread being prepared and venison from Navajo communities in Utah forces with Utah Diné Bikéyah because readied for roasting at the Bears Ears summer referenced longstanding connections he worried the monument proposal gathering. Nadia Armajo sings at an April with the canyon lands and forests in Bears Ears gathering in Bluff, Utah. disproportionately favored Navajo in- ABOVE: TIM PETERSON, BELOW: DONOVAN QUINTERO and around the Bears Ears. terests. But after the first Bears Ears Physical presence and evidence of Intertribal Coalition meeting, Lehi Navajo occupation was enough for the began to understand that the proposal coalition to lobby the Navajo Nation represents an opportunity for the Ute for support of the initiative, especially Mountain Ute to help co-manage a since looting, grave robbing and van- Bears Ears National Monument. After dalism are rampant under current all, the area includes Ute Mountain Ute Forest Service and Bureau of Land ancestral lands. Management control. Making sure the coalition speaks In April 2013, the Navajo Nation with one voice is critical, Lehi said, and Utah Diné Bikéyah proposed the noting that this approach is the creation of a conservation area with

7 UTAH

wilderness designations. This past sites would increase, Grayeyes said. Evangline Grey of Westwater, Utah, spring, the Navajo Nation Council Congressionally, the coalition faces an isolated community in the Aneth passed legislation supporting perma- the threat of amendments that would Chapter of the Navajo Nation, also nent protection for the area. weaken the Antiquities Act of 1906, a attended the July coalition gathering. “I think this is a unique, one-of-a-kind federal law that grants U.S. presidents Grey is of the Bit’ahnii Clan, the same landscape that we need to designate as the authority to create national mon- lineage as Manuelito. Protecting the a monument,” Grayeyes said. “There is uments from public lands to protect Bears Ears is important for her and no other place on earth that compares natural, cultural or scientific features. the 120 or so Navajos that live in this to the composition of this land.” “There needs to be a position from small community. The Bears Ears With no plan to protect it, non-Native the tribes to show Congress not to make region is the ancestral homeland of at Americans would develop the land, any amendments,” Grayeyes said, add- least 29 Westwater families. Grayeyes said, explaining that any eco- ing that the act is key to protecting the “If this Bear Ears continues to be nomic development in the area would Bears Ears region. “In this case, [the another open area for miners and for oil deface its natural beauty. “Once you act is] 100 percent applicable to what and gas...the whole place is going to be disturb a landscape of this magnitude, we’re doing and they want to limit or ruined,” Grey said. “This is why we are you will never, ever preserve [or restore] eliminate this instrument, which is so asking the president to sign this into a it back to its natural state,” he added. important to Native Americans.” monument. That way it can be protected.” Once the Bears Ears is designated a Grayeyes is calling on all Native According to Grey, converting the national monument, the need for law en- Americans to lobby Congress not to area into a national monument would forcement to patrol and monitor sacred amend the act. allow Native people to continue to travel

8 to the Bears Ears and to other cultural tobacco in their honor. This explains sites to offer prayers, collect herbs, har- why deer came near the coalition’s vest wood and hunt wild game. Grey camp during the intertribal gathering, noted that current management of the Yellowman said. area is unduly influenced by non-Na- “Where I live [in Monument Valley] tive ranchers and off-roaders. we don’t have trees, plants or medicines,” Jonah Yellowman, of Halgaitoh Wash, Yellowman said, adding that preserving Utah, wasn’t sure about the coalition and protecting the Bears Ears is import- until he began thinking of how the ant for tribal sustenance and survival. proposal would impact him as a Na- “We’re not going to lose what we have— tive American Church roadman—a our prayers and traditions.” priest who conducts all night peyote This long history and myriad tribal ceremonies, a common practice among stories and connections have united Navajo and Ute tribal members. the 25 tribes of the Bears Ears Inter- Yellowman relies heavily on the Abajo tribal Coalition. Mountains for wood sources to conduct “We’ve never been given this oppor- his Native American Church ceremo- tunity to speak on behalf of our sacred nies, and must first get a permit through sites on public lands,” said Hopi Vice the Bureau of Land Management or Chairman Alfred Lomahquahu. “This Forest Service before collecting firewood landscape has been called home by so or harvesting Douglas firs for tipi poles. many Native American cultures over The evening before members of the several millennia, so it is the right intertribal coalition, federal, state and approach to protect the Bears Ears land- Above: Stella Eyetoo, age 94, the oldest living Ute elder, shared her connection to the Bears tribal leaders and their families as- scape as a coalition of tribal nations.” Ears with the coalition. sembled at the Bears Ears, Yellowman Below: Meeting attendees water their horses in conducted a Native American Church Alastair Lee Bitsóí is a freelance writer a pond in the meadow below the Bears Ears. service on the site and prayed for all from Naschitti, New Mexico. He worked PHOTOS THIS PAGE: DONOVAN QUINTERO life forms. as a reporter for the Navajo Times from He recounted how the animal and 2011 to 2015 and is currently pursuing a plant spirits were thirsty for blessings graduate degree in public health at New and how he offered prayers, songs and York University.

9 DONOVAN QUINTERO Community Conservation from Casamance to the Colorado Plateau revitalizing landscapes, livelihoods and cultures By Kyra Busch with Grazia Borrini-Feyerabend and Tony Skrelunas

Ten years ago, fishermen in the Casa- commercial fishermen from the North powerful Mitij and other spirits contin- mance region of Senegal decided it was using motorized boats and armed with ue to live, are closed to fishing activity. time to take action. Fish stocks were deadly, almost invisible monofilament Orange zones are for village use only. To dropping at alarming rates. Youth were nets, or local fishermen paddling in improve food sovereignty, fish caught leaving the villages. Women were com- wooden canoes and fishing exclu- in these areas must be sold and eaten plaining that “the good life” had gone. sively with locally-made cotton nets. locally at a price that everyone can af- For generations, the mangrove National fishing regulations were not ford. Yellow zones remain open to any estuaries of the Casamance River had uniformly implemented, and tradi- fisherman who obeys the boat and net provided them with abundant fish and tional fishermen suffered. Elders who rules. Volunteer community teams take shellfish that, along with traditional tried to enforce the old rules found turns monitoring and enforcing the rice cultivation, were a staple source themselves in jail. rules, established through community of food and income for the residents With the loss of cultural guidelines meetings with municipal and region- of the region. Fishing rules had always came declining fish stocks and food al authorities and publicized through been governed by traditional laws, scarcity. Young people began leaving their own radio programs. In addition cultural practices and taboos. No one, for the capital, Dakar. For the local to fish, women have created rules for for instance, would have been foolish Casamance fishermen, it was clear: if the natural resources they traditionally enough to disturb the bolong Mitij, they were to maintain their lifestyle and collect: shellfish and mangroves poles. an area where a powerful spirit lived provide food for their families, some- The conserved area of the eight villages and no one was allowed to fish, or even thing needed to change drastically. is now called Kawawana, an acronym walk, let alone cut poles from the Over the past seven years, the eight of a Djola phrase meaning “our com- mangroves. Djola villages of Mangagoulack have mon heritage to be preserved by us all.” But in 1960, as Senegal gained inde- resumed management of their fisher- By once again engaging families in pendence from France, management of ies, reinstating Djola traditions. Their governing and managing Kawawana, natural resources which had remained stunning successes have raised eye- the Djola community has achieved the de facto under local control during the brows around the world. The rules are beautiful vision of its name. Fish stocks colonial period, moved to a centralized simple: no motorboats and no mono- have recovered (catches increased by national government. New fishing rules filament nets. River channels and 100% between 2010 and 2012), the granted all citizens of Senegal equal waterways are assigned a color: red, size and diversity of fish have improved, access to fisheries—whether they were orange or yellow. Red zones, where the and other species (birds, dolphins,

10 Hopi Tribe member Ruby Chimera teaches traditional food preparation. DONOVAN QUINTERO alligators) are returning to the rivers. solidarity and revitalize economies, cul- Parents are teaching their children to ture and pride. fish and repair nets traditionally, rais- In 2008, the World Bank Here on the Colorado Plateau, a new- ing money for school supplies and ly launched Navajo initiative is seeking even attracting family members back released a report estimating to create similar gains to those achieved from Dakar. Amazingly, the communi- in Kawawana. On the Navajo Nation, ty was even able to organize to protect that the traditional homelands developers have proposed building a its forest from a new charcoal-making gondola that would ferry up to 10,000 development scheme. and territories of Indigenous tourists a day to the bottom of the Kawawana is one of many global Grand Canyon. The gondola would examples of Indigenous Peoples’ and Peoples contain 80 percent introduce an intensive form of tourism community conserved areas (ICCAs), that threatens cultural sites while offer- territories established and governed of the world’s remaining ing little economic benefit to resident by and for a local community. Since communities. In a region bombarded biodiversity. This is even more 2010, it has gained formal recognition with economic development proposals from the Senegalese government, and remarkable considering that that don’t often align with the values the Kawawana leadership have joined of local communities, the DinéHozhó an international association known Indigenous Peoples manage L3C—a social entrepreneurship ven- as the ICCA Consortium. Through ture which brings together seven stories like Kawawana’s, communities only 22 percent of the world’s Navajo communities, Navajo Parks around the world are demonstrating and Recreation, and several non-profits that revitalizing local governance and land surface and represent across the western region of the Navajo cultural practices can bring about envi- Nation—is proposing an alternative ronmental conservation and sustainable less than five percent of the low-impact eco-tourism model rooted livelihoods. Indigenous Peoples’ and in traditional knowledge and culture. community conserved areas are also global population. Their proposal would develop ventures showing that the inverse is true: a ranging from medicinal herb collec- restored local environment can help rec- tion and basket making to sustainable reate food sovereignty and community farming and bed and breakfasts that

11 cluster, with extreme density and eco- logical richness, in areas known as “hotspots.” Over the ensuing decade, much of the work of conservation be- gan with the premise that preserving biodiversity meant preserving hotspots. DONOVAN QUINTERO However, there is a second piece to that puzzle, which is to say that pre- serving biodiversity cannot focus on hotspots alone. Imagine a bird migra- tion corridor in which only the richest hotpots, say the Everglades or the Am- azon, are protected. This is fabulous when the birds are there, and troubling when they migrate anywhere outside of those protected zones. And even hotspots face pressures both within and outside their borders. Thinking through the Casamance ex- ample, fisheries may face pollution from upstream agricultural runoff, in- dustries or local motorboats. Forests may be threatened by the pressure to exploit timber, minerals or wildlife to make a quick profit. Recognizing these and other limitations, conserva- tionists are moving toward landscape approaches which see parcels of land or water as situated within an eco- logical web of biological, cultural, On the Navajo reservation, non-profit cooperative North Leupp Family Farms is empowering local farmers to political and economic processes. And become regional producers of traditional blue corn, with plans to build its own milling facility. STACEY JENSEN with landscape approaches, the role of governance becomes increasingly im- could meet tourism interests while cre- future of biodiversity. As we ponder the portant, leading to greater recognition ating investment opportunities in tribal next 30 years of conservation, it can be of who is helping to maintain biodiver- communities. Ideally, new sustainable helpful to see how much the field has sity and how they are doing it. eco-tourism services would protect land changed in the past 30 years. In the In 2008, around the time the Djola and sacred sites, while tempting tribal 1980s, the terms “biological diversity” communities began organizing, the youths back from cities like Phoenix and then “biodiversity” were first ad- World Bank released a report estimating (see Edward Dee’s article “Investing opted by scientists, spreading to policy that the traditional homelands and ter- with Heart” on page 22). makers and throughout the conserva- ritories of Indigenous Peoples contain Indigenous Peoples’ and commu- tion world, to express the wealth and 80 percent of the world’s remaining bio- nity conserved areas, whether or not natural wonder of animal and plant diversity. This is even more remarkable the term is used, offer a solution that life. By the early 2000s, the conserva- considering that Indigenous Peoples is increasingly recognized by scien- tion community, led by Conservation manage only 22 percent of the world’s tists, policy makers and others in the International, expanded this concept, land surface and represent less than five conservation community as key to the noting that biodiversity tended to percent of the global population1.

1Sobrevila, C. “The Role of Indigenous Peoples in Biodiversity Conservation: the natural but often forgotten partners.” The World Bank. May 2008.

12 In 2010, the Convention on Biologi- and Navajo, and supported by over 25 cal Diversity, a global treaty ratified by tribes across the Southwest, is urging 196 countries, set out 20 targets for the Obama administration to designate the next decade of strategic action on 1.9 million acres of public lands—in- biodiversity. Two of these targets specif- cluding the ancestral homelands of ically recognize the role of Indigenous many tribes—as a new Bears Ears Peoples and local communities in bio- National Monument. The monument diversity conservation, including via would be co-managed by the tribes, their specific knowledge, wisdom and allowing tribal members to maintain practices. The 2014 World Parks Con- their traditional livelihoods and cul- Raising a tipi at the July 2015 Bears Ears Inter- gress, a once-a-decade event hosted by tribal Coalition meeting. DONOVAN QUINTERO tural practices, including hunting, the world’s oldest and largest environ- gathering, and ceremonial uses. It’s the mental organization, the International first monument proposal to originate Union for the Conservation of Nature, To pursue tribal parks actively today in Indian Country in the 109-year his- declared that the preservation of nature means that we must look to uses tory of the Antiquities Act. requires both protected areas estab- which avoid harming and instead If we are all to be successful in con- lished by state governments as well as benefit the land and water. For exam- serving the earth and its splendor areas conserved by Indigenous Peoples ple, clear cut logging and industrial for future generations, we would and local communities. Importantly, mining would be prohibited, while do well to follow the Tla-o-qui-aht the congress also recognized that these low-impact ecotourism, habitat res- vision—recognizing whole landscapes, conservation efforts should happen toration, and carefully-controlled acknowledging the critical role of both within and outside national run-of-river energy generation would communities as stewards of these land- protected area systems and without be allowed. To be successful, tribal scapes and seeking pathways for local any imposed framework. parks will need to manage existing economic growth that allow a con- Just off the coast of British Colum- land uses and interests, and provide tinued relationship between peoples bia, on Meares Island, another ICCA a comprehensive vision for present and their homelands. Happily, from Consortium member, the Tla-o-qui-aht and future generations.” Casamance to Canada to the Colorado First Nation, has illustrated how formal Plateau, exciting possibilities abound structures, like parks and cultural insti- Similar efforts are underway on the and we no longer have to wonder tutions, can work together by declaring Colorado Plateau. A project to create a whether this can be achieved. their own territory as a collection of world-class Navajo Nation tribal park tribal parks. Following a declaration system that would cater to cultural Kyra is a program officer at the Chris- by tribal elders in 1984, Tla-o-qui-aht and eco-tourism industries and bene- tensen Fund working globally and in the Tribal Parks formalized an agreement fit local communities while preserving U.S. Southwest to support food sovereignty with Parks Canada (the equivalent of traditional ways of life and critical and resilient landscapes. Kyra is a grad- the U.S. National Park Service) and natural resources is beginning with a uate of the Yale School of Forestry and the District of Tofino. The community small cultural mapping pilot project in Environmental Studies and a Switzer En- eloquently explains why their form of the Little Colorado River parks region. vironmental Fellow. governance differs from other parks: Members of the Intertribal Gatherings, a group of elders and cultural leaders Dr. Grazia Borrini-Feyerabend has “A park is usually a protected area from twelve tribes across the plateau worked on conservation and community which excludes most human ac- dedicated to preserving traditional rights for nearly thirty years. Grazia is tivities apart from recreation. A knowledge and ways of life, will soon currently Global Coordinator of the ICCA tribal park integrates human activi- travel to coastal First Nations in British Consortium, President of the Paul K. Fey- ties while caring for the ecosystem at Columbia to learn from efforts like the erabend Foundation, and a member of the the same time—this was done suc- Tla-o-qui-aht Tribal Parks. governing body of French National Parks. cessfully by our ancestors, resulting Separately, a coalition led by the in superior ecologic integrity of the Hopi, Zuni, Ute Mountain Ute, Ute Tony Skrelunas directs the Trust’s Native whole landscape in the territory. Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray, America Program.

13 MORE

IS By Pam Hait I learned to love the plateau by trav- eling on magazine assignments to the Hopi and Navajo reservations, and va- cationing with our family at national MORE parks and monuments. Seeing made me a passionate believer. Experiencing the red buttes and flowering meadows, soaring sandstone cliffs and plunging canyons, Technicolor sunsets and star- strewn skies, made me want to help save it all. I began writing about envi- ronmental issues and signed up to be a foot soldier for conservation. Soon, I was making calls and sending thank you notes to elected officials who made good environmental decisions, and protesting their bad choices. I signed petitions to support environmental causes and encouraged friends to sign too. As a journalist, I knew that elect- ed officials always tally votes, so calls and letters count. Going unabashedly public with my passion for protecting the environment—and especially the Colorado Plateau—made me a likely suspect for the board of trustees of the Grand Canyon Trust. I joined the board in 1998, filled with awe and apprehension. Historically, this organization has a genius for attracting giants. Two of the founders of the Grand Canyon Trust—Stewart Udall and Bruce GLEN HAIT Babbitt—served as U.S. secretary of the interior. At my first meeting, I found FIRST, YOU SHOULD KNOW I have legs that can hold up a baby grand myself face-to-face with David Getches, piano. This fact became relevant after my husband and I moved to Arizona our chairman. The next week, he was more than forty years ago and I discovered the extraordinary landscape of quoted at length in The Wall Street Jour- nal, identified as the foremost expert the Colorado Plateau, a place that begs to be hiked, a land where long legs on water law in the West. I sat next to are a definite advantage. Charles Wilkinson, a renowned law pro- While I loved Arizona, I knew little about the Colorado Plateau and less fessor, to discover that he wrote Fire on about conservation. My first encounter with the Grand Canyon struck ter- the Plateau: Conflict and Endurance in the American Southwest, one of my favorite ror in my heart. My husband and I were strolling along the South Rim one books. In time, Charles would succeed dark September evening when a gust of wind lifted the baby carrier holding David as chairman. I remember looking our infant daughter, shaking it violently. In the instant when we lunged to around the table in panic that day: what could I bring to this conversation? steady the basket, I understood the savagery of the natural world and the In time, I figured out I’m not a for- feral power of that awesome chasm. mer solicitor general, like one of our

14 The Colorado Plateau is

home to more than 55 trustees. I couldn’t write a hugely Together we put a face and a voice to generous check to launch the Native national parks, monuments the “wild heart of the American West.” America program, like another. I’m Your letters and calls, signed petitions not a successful Washington, D.C. lit- and wilderness areas and and emails, matter because elected igator with a famous name, like our officials respond to critical mass. More former chairman, Ty Cobb. Nor am I is more in politics. You can help us by a prominent Salt Lake City lawyer and 15 Native American tribes. telling and retelling our story to your environmental advocate like Lou Cal- family, friends and colleagues: how lister, who also led our organization. extraordinary geological events pulled But I could—and did—get smart about and the nephew of Stewart Udall, is at this landscape, raising it more than issues that threaten the air, water and an experienced mountaineer who has a vertical mile and leaving us a fragile, land of the Colorado Plateau. I could climbed Colorado’s 100 tallest peaks. arid otherworld scoured with canyons and do write checks to support our It’s good to have a mountaineer on and adorned with arches and bridges, mission and I can help spread the word board because steep challenges lie pillars and spires. You can stand with about our work. ahead. Our beloved landscape is in our Native American neighbors who We don’t win every fight we wage, danger of being loved to death. In know, through their stories, that this but when we do, it’s miraculous. On 1985, the year the Trust was estab- land is sacred. You can volunteer your my last Colorado River trip, we made lished, 2.7 million people visited time on the plateau, and you can open camp in the late afternoon and heard Grand Canyon National Park. In 2014, your checkbook so we can cajole and only the sound of laughter and water the park recorded almost 4.8 million lobby, and, when necessary, sue to de- lapping against the rocks. The Trust visitors. According to a 2015 report by fend the dazzling diversity of life that pushed hard for sane policies to pro- the American Hiking Society, 273 mil- depends on this rare habitat. If you’re hibit canyon overflights and preserve lion people visited America’s national already doing this, thank you. If not, that quiet. Quiet pervades the plateau. parks in 2013. Hiking is exploding now is a great time to start. I felt the hush when I dropped into as a national recreational pastime, The red rocks of the Colorado Pla- a slot canyon on the Escalante and and national parks and monuments teau fired my imagination, but the squeezed myself small to inch past nar- remain the big attraction. The Colorado Grand Canyon Trust inspired my dedi- row walls. And again, when I returned Plateau is home to more than 55 nation- cation. It transformed a girl whose first to the golden muted land of Capitol al parks, monuments and wilderness experience in the “wild” took place at Reef to scramble over the giant sand- areas and 15 Native American tribes. It’s the grassy Fabyan Park in Batavia, stone domes and trek miles through at the epicenter of all the action. Illinois, where her father would hop sandy washes. Yet, it is also under siege. Invasive into the empty bear cage, shake the Parks are the heart of our work. The users, including mining, fracking and bars and roar, into a confirmed con- Grand Canyon Trust was born in the purveyors of inappropriate develop- servationist who has hiked rim-to-rim bottom of the Grand Canyon, and, in ment, are pushing for activities that in the Grand Canyon (okay, with an a cosmic coincidence, 30 years later, will destroy the singular beauty of overnight at Phantom Ranch) several Steve Martin, a former superintendent this place and wipe out its ecosystems times and explored many trails on the of Grand Canyon National Park, is our forever. These forces have faces and plateau. I’ve learned that hiking is an chair. He brings a 35-year career with voices—individuals and corporations apt metaphor for the work the Trust the National Park Service. Yes, we still who lobby our elected leaders and does. We keep putting one foot in front attract giants. Our newest board mem- contribute to re-election campaigns. of the other and we never give up. Best bers are Terry Goddard, a former mayor In contrast, the natural constituency of all, long legs are not required. of Phoenix and former Arizona attorney of the Colorado Plateau is pretty qui- general, and Mark Udall, a former U.S. et: the whoosh of the hawk diving Pam Hait is a freelance writer, author, senator from Colorado who previously for a rodent, the hoot of an owl, the and a partner in Strateg!es, a strategic served in the U.S. House of Representa- slithering of a snake, the scratching communications firm. She is a member tives. I love that Terry, whose father Sam of a ringtail, the rumble of a thunder of the Grand Canyon Trust’s Board of was governor of Arizona, is a historian, cloud, the beat of Native drums. Trustees and lives in Paradise Valley, AZ and Mark, the son of Morris “Mo” Udall That’s why your support is vital. with her husband, Glen.

15 The FUTURE of LAKE POWELL

R ight now, discussions are taking place among Western water managers as to how to better manage Colorado River water. For anyone who follows water policy in the West, this is not a big surprise. The current system of water management is collapsing in front of our eyes. Proposals that once seemed crazy are now on the table.

One of these proposals—considered storing water in Lake Mead rather than which allows water to trickle through a Don Quixote, “tilting at windmill” in Lake Powell would yield a savings into underground aquifers, never to idea a decade ago—is now a real pos- of 300,000 acre feet of water or more be recovered. sibility. The idea is simple: take Lake per year—equal to the entire state This study has changed the entire Powell water and transfer it to Lake of Nevada’s annual Colorado River discussion of water management on Mead where less water will seep into water allocation. While more water the Colorado River. For the first time, the banks. That is, fill Mead first and evaporates from Lake Mead because of water managers are talking about a use Lake Powell if needed. This will its greater surface area and higher tem- subject that has been taboo: moving effectively “drain Lake Powell.” peratures, there is a lot more seeping the water stored in Lake Powell into Two years ago, the Glen Canyon into the banks at Lake Powell. Lake Lake Mead. But more remarkably, they Institute commissioned and published Mead is mostly hard rock, where- are actually listening to the environ- a peer-reviewed study that showed that as Lake Powell is porous sandstone, mental community. The reason for

16 The FUTURE of LAKE POWELL By Richard Ingebretsen MD, PhD

SHANE MCDERMOTT this is simple: we are offering what the more water than the Colorado River is above the generators, the greater the water managers need—sustainability. provides. This changes everything. distance water will fall, thus creating They are in a lot of trouble. The system Levels at Lake Powell and Lake more power. Soon the level of Lake that they have built is unsustainable Mead are dropping. Glen Canyon, the Powell will be too low for water to and that unsustainability is starting to most priceless of all canyons of the be drawn into the intakes. From our rear its ugly head. Environmentalists, Colorado River, has already begun to studies, we have learned that sending defined by sustainability, can help de- re-emerge from the water and restore Lake Powell water into Lake Mead will sign a water system that will last, and, itself. We are now on the verge of the generate more power than trying to in so doing, restore two of the most day when the level of Lake Powell will continue generating electricity from splendid of all canyons in the world. be so low that the power generating the two existing power plants with low It’s unbelievable that beautiful Glen stations will not be able to generate water levels at both lakes. Canyon has served as a water storage fa- electricity. At that point, the last major People are concerned that if water cility for the Bureau of Reclamation for argument to keep water behind the is drained from Glen Canyon, the the past 50 years. The decision to dam dam will evaporate. canyon will be ruined, that sediment and store water in this uniquely beauti- When it comes to Glen Canyon buildup and the white bathtub rings ful place was made when the West was Dam, the latest and most compelling will have taken their toll. That is not operating in an era of apparent excess scientific work being performed now true—the canyons do restore. And you water, and, quite frankly, people did not is with power. Water produces pow- don’t have to look very far to find ex- know better. But now the West no lon- er by turning generators at the base of amples. Travel to the upper stretches ger has “excess” water. People are using dams. The higher the intake for water of Cataract Canyon where the river

17 This is our chance to make an incredible and historic difference. Let us be loud and strong, and let us be clear—we want Glen Canyon back.

Narrow Canyon, below Cataract Canyon, going into Glen Canyon, a section of river that used to be approximately 40 feet under Lake Powell. ERIC BALKEN, GLEN CANYON INSTITUTE has washed out virtually all of the Governments manage and make and sustainable future for this area is sediment, erased the bathtub ring, decisions in crisis. Well, we are in a natural restoration of the canyons. and restored 14 large rapids—all of one now. Critical decisions are being In Glen Canyon, much of this won- which were once drowned under Lake made. Currently, the river is managed drous place, including nearly 40 miles Powell. Hike up the Escalante River to under an interim agreement signed by of the Colorado River, 20 miles of the any one of a number of canyons where the seven basin states in 2007. This San Juan and 30 miles of the Escalante floods have brought the waterfalls, agreement is set to expire in about 10 River, is free again, ready for this and redbuds and alcoves back to their years, and so water managers are be- future generations to enjoy. The bio- original splendor. Visit Hole in the ginning discussions on a new one. In logical heart of the Colorado Plateau Rock, where the pioneers wrote their the 1950s, when decisions were first is gathering national attention and a names on the walls or Fort Moqui being made to build huge dams, there restored, free-flowing Colorado River is at Hite, where John Wesley Powell’s was not a strong voice to protect the breathing new life into the soaring red inscription will never again be under- environment, but there is one now. We rock canyons of the legendary Glen. water. Take a trip this spring, when are that voice, and we need to be heard. Lake Powell will be very, very low, This is our chance to make an in- Richard Ingebretsen is Associate Dean for and explore firsthand the incredible credible and historic difference. Let the College of Science and Professor of restored canyons of Glen Canyon. us be loud and strong, and let us be Medicine at the University of Utah, and One thing is certain: when the lake is clear—we want Glen Canyon back. founder and president of Glen Canyon gone, the Glen will restore. We want to stop the destruction of Institute, a non-profit organization based So where do we go from here? the Grand Canyon. The most realistic in Salt Lake City, Utah.

18 The C lorado Plateau

Millions of people around the world know about the Grand Canyon, but few realize that it is surrounded by a vast and luminous landscape known as the Colorado Plateau,

Larger than New England, the plateau was repeatedly submerged by risingthe seas wild until hearttectonic of forces the Americanvaulted it upward West . more than a vertical mile. Today it is home to red rock buttes, sagebrush mesas, soaring mountains, lush meadows, aquamarine waterfalls, and canyons carved by the raw power of the Colorado River and its tributaries.

The plateau harbors 55 national parks, monuments, and wilderness areas. Fifteen Native American tribes live here and their languages, stories, cultural traditions, and knowledge are vital to preserving and protecting this extraordinary region.

Map by Stephanie Smith, GIS Manager, Grand Canyon Trust

National Parks (NP)

National Monuments (NM) National Recreation Areas (NRA)

National Forest IN CELEBRATIONTribal Lands OF OUR 30 TH ANNIVERSARY We’ve created a one-of-a-kind map of the Colorado Plateau. With your donation of $250 or more, you’ll receive a limited-edition, 16” by 20” copy, shipped rolled and ready to frame.

It’s our way of saying thank you for protecting this incredible place—and a way for you to keep it close, no matter where you are.

19 A Lone Woolf By Kate Watters

“As a painter, I love distance because it smears out the details I tend to get too mired in.”

20 “You need to have faith in the process,” artist Suze Woolf says emphatically, using her paintbrush to punctuate her point.

Suze, a full-time, self-taught watercolor artist, is a woman of exorbi- tant energy in a compact, athletic frame. True to her own teachings that “watercolor rewards boldness,” she volunteered to drive from her home in Seattle to the middle of nowhere in House Rock Valley, take up residence at the remote 1877 Kane Ranch headquarters building, on the North Rim Ranches, and get busy painting.

In her 21 days at the North Rim Ranches, Suze finished 37 small paintings of the surrounding landscape, bringing the north rim of the Grand Canyon alive with brush and paint. Watercolor, as a medium, affords Suze spontaneity and speed. With her portable paint set, she can begin a painting in moments and finish with- in hours. During her stay, places like Coyotte Buttes, the Vermilion Cliffs, and Triple Alcove served as her plein air studio. According to Suze, who draws inspiration from Los Angeles artist Robert Irwin’s biography, Seeing is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees, “seeing begins when naming ends.”

Her strokes of vermilion blend with turquoise, and she’s the first to admit that she’s not a slave to reality.

“You are the master of the picture. If the tent looks better closer to Saddle Mountain, make it so.”

Instead of trying to exactly render the scene, she infuses her per- sonality into every painting. The looseness of her thick brush strokes breaks open the sky, lighting up the crack that is Marble Canyon and making the grasslands dance.

Shinumo Butte, Day Twenty-One, Watercolor on Paper, 15”x11”

See more of Suze’s paintings of the North Rim Ranches in the online edition of the Advocate. grandcanyontrust.org/advocatemag

21 INVESTING WITH HEART How L3Cs could transform communities on the western Navajo reservation

By Edward Dee DONOVAN QUINTERO

Guests at the Navajo-owned and operated Shash Diné Eco-Retreat sleep in a traditional earth-floor hogan. Owners Baya and Paul Meehan hope to expand the traditional Navajo B&B, south of Page, Arizona, and draw a larger clientele of cultural and eco-tourists. DONOVAN QUINTERO

Understanding social entrepreneurship on the Navajo Nation first requires a Navajo language lesson. And of course, defining a single word in Navajo requires a whole paragraph of English.

In Diné philosophy, the basic concept of “Hozhó” is the Navajo people’s highest aim, not only for themselves, but for the world around them. The pursuit of Hozhó is not relegated to ceremonial songs and prayers. The term is frequently used in everyday speech. According to ethnographer Gary Witherspoon, “A Navajo uses this concept to express his happiness, his health, the beauty of his land, and the harmony of his relations with others.”

22 The Diné Innovative Network of Economies in Hozhó (DinéHozhó) is a grassroots organization that brings together seven chapters in the western region of the Navajo reservation in Ar- izona (the reservation is divided into 110 chapters). These western chapters are banding together to create sustain- able jobs in tourism, agriculture, and retail, and keep the profits in Navajo communities. The need for jobs in this part of the reservation is great. The economic landscape in many of the DinéHozhó partner chapters, which include Leupp, Birdsprings, Tolani Lake, Cameron, Coalmine Mesa, Tonalea, and Shonto, is bleak. The majority of these com- munities were covered by the Bennett Freeze,1 which effectively exiled Nava- jos—and Hopis—from their land for over 40 years and prevented those who stayed from making any improvements or repairs to their homes. If a window broke, the Bennett Freeze required it to stay broken, paralyzing local commu- nities in a state of poverty seldom seen in America. Though the Bennett Freeze was lifted by President Obama in 2009, the affected areas are still suffering from deliberate underdevelopment, which makes them particularly vulnerable to unsavory economic schemes. Sever- al of the partner chapters are located DinéHozhó is committed to reversing on the Navajo reservation differently by adjacent to the Bodaway-Gap chapter, the long-standing social and economic embracing the demand for sustainable, on the eastern edge of Marble Can- injustices brought on by the Bennett heritage-based tourism and allowing yon, which for the past several years Freeze. The DinéHozhó concept em- Navajos to make a living by preserving has been the target of the proposed bodies human dignity and respect, cultural traditions and skills, from Grand Canyon Escalade tramway proj- encouraging local people to relate to storytelling to hogan building. ect. That project looks at development each other in ways that are reciprocal Of course, to do this, they first from a strictly neoliberal economic per- and mutually beneficial, trusting, and needed a legal framework for their spective, striving to extract the most that align with traditional values, venture within Navajo Nation law. out of the natural resources available ecological awareness and ethics. In On December 29, 2014, the Navajo with little regard for the consequences. short, DinéHozhó wants to do business Nation Council, the legislative body

1 In 1966, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Robert Bennett imposed a land freeze, stopping all development on the western Navajo reservation following a land dispute between the Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe covering some 1.6 million acres. The land freeze was the direct result of competition for control of the water and coal needed to generate power for burgeoning southern California and Arizona. In this competition, coal and power-generating giants and federal agencies had an advantage over both Navajo and Hopi tribal governments, an advantage that was maintained by dividing the two tribes. This divide-and-rule pattern imposed by the federal government dates back to the 1930s, when the Bureau of Indian Affairs established the Hopi tribal government and recognized an exclusive use area for the Hopi on and around Black Mesa, in the middle of the much larger 1882 Executive Order Navajo reservation.

23 DONOVAN QUINTERO of the tribal government equivalent to who reform or revolutionize the pat- the U.S. Congress, passed a resolution terns of producing social value, shifting authorizing the creation of a low-profit resources into areas of higher yield for limited liability company (L3C) stat- society.” Fundamentally, social entre- ute, a new legal for-profit structure that preneurship involves pattern-breaking enables a social-benefit outcome. L3Cs ideas that seek large-scale sustainable are hybrids that effectively bridge the change. To succeed, the DinéHozhó gap between non-profit and for-prof- venture requires local Navajo chap- it investing by providing a structure ters, the existing Navajo Nation Tribal for investments in enterprises whose DONOVAN QUINTERO Parks and Recreation Department, and main focus is social good rather than a handful of non-profit organizations maximizing profits—in short, social DinéHozhó includes both to work together. entrepreneurship ventures. Prior to the DinéHozhó includes both non-profit non-profit and for-profit resolution, only nine states and two and for-profit components. This hybrid American Indian tribal governments components. This hybrid setup creates job opportunities for (the Oglala Sioux Nation and the Crow weavers, medicinal herb gatherers, Nation) had adopted L3C legislation. setup creates job opportunities hogan builders, dryland farmers, bas- The Navajo Nation is the largest Amer- for weavers, medicinal herb ket makers, singers, and dancers to ican Indian tribal government to allow share their traditional knowledge with L3C incorporation. gatherers, hogan builders, tourists interested in Navajo culture With this framework now in place, and history. The DinéHozhó model DinéHozhó is poised to open the dryland farmers, basket makers, offers an outlet for entrepreneurial floodgates on an opportunity-driven singers, and dancers to share spirits at a time when the Navajo movement of social entrepreneurship Nation, like many tribal governments, that is unique to the Diné lifeway, an their traditional knowledge with is facing harsh federal cutbacks. The approach that no Navajo community tourists interested in Navajo venture will build the capacity of eco- has yet pursued. According to Austrian tourism entrepreneurs by providing American economist Joseph A. Schum- culture and history. assistance in business planning, mar- peter, a leading thinker on the subject: keting, basic finance and management, “Social entrepreneurs are individuals and offering workshops and trainings

24 to give entrepreneurs the tools they poverty rate hovering around 43 per- The power of social innovation and need to succeed, financed by private cent. The median household income community-based self-determination philanthropic capital. on the Navajo Nation is $27,389, are part of an ecological imperative. We A key component for DinéHozhó roughly half that of the state of Arizona must plan for the whole, rather than under the newly adopted Navajo L3C overall ($51,310), an alarming con- focusing on isolated parts. Despite framework is the potential to attract trast in one of the most developed and decades of unjust underdevelopment, significant program-related invest- wealthy nations on earth. But Navajo western Navajos are beginning to ments (PRIs). PRIs are investments people, like many other tribal com- emerge as economic drivers of their private foundations make to further munities, are deeply concerned about own future, with DinéHozhó providing their social missions, such as promot- protecting and preserving their cul- a place for traditional knowledge and ing wealth creation and asset-building ture, land, language, and traditional ways of seeing the larger world in an for low-income communities in the stories. Large economic development economy based on social justice and western Navajo region. projects like Grand Canyon Escalade sustainability. The land base of the DinéHozhó violate the ecological and cultural partner chapters includes a swath of sensibilities not only of the tradition- DinéHozhó works in collaboration with 160,000 acres of rural land along the al Diné, but also of other tribes with the Grand Canyon Trust, with technical Little Colorado River and the east rim sacred ties to the Grand Canyon. Sim- assistance from Arizona State Universi- of the Grand Canyon, a location of great ply put, the Diné “Hozhó” principle ty’s School of Community Resources and potential interest for philanthropic in- cannot be compromised for grandiose Development and the Julie Ann Wrigley vestment. DinéHozhó can serve as a projects like Escalade. The DinéHozhó Global Institute of Sustainability. catalyst and vehicle for securing private L3C investment platform offers a clear funds to assure that development of alternative to this outsized and out- Edward Dee holds degrees in public ad- these lands bolsters the local economy of-touch version of development by ministration and business administration; while also protecting the world-class taking a multidimensional approach a Ph.D. student in the School of Sustain- vistas and other natural resources im- that embraces existing social, cultural, ability at Arizona State University, his portant to people everywhere. and environmental capacities in the research areas include policy and gover- Economic need in the region is western Navajo region within the con- nance, traditional ecological knowledge, dire, with high unemployment and a text of sustainable tourism. and sustainable tourism.

Volunteer Power Tess Ahern, Urban Planner, Colorado Springs, CO Volunteer and member since: 2011 Total hours donated: 260 Tess was on a backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon when she saw a flier about a Grand Canyon Trust tamarisk removal project. As soon as she could carve out the time and resources to volunteer, she did—and she’s been coming back every sum- mer for the last five years! Tess has volunteered on beaver habitat assessments, invasive plant removals, and wildlife habitat monitoring.

Why Tess Volunteers: “The passion of Mary O’Brien and the Trust staff is infectious. I love being around that energy, learning about the plateau from experts in conserva- tion, and exploring parts of the Four Corners states I might not otherwise see.”

Dedicated volunteers like Tess help us protect and restore the Colorado Plateau. Thank you!

25 NOTES from the Field

Sleeping Ute and Arch Canyon inside the Bears Ears Cultural Landscape. TIM PETERSON Dispatches from Grand Canyon Trust staff on the front lines of conservation across the Colorado Plateau.

GRAND CANYON national parks is pending before the exchanging state lands out of new- The new Navajo administration remains 9th Circuit Court. Meanwhile, efforts ly protected areas. If not, we may be firmly opposed to the proposed Esca- to craft a clean energy transition for facing the fight of the decade to lade tramway, though developers are Navajo Generating Station, with Hopi improve or defeat odious legislation still courting investors. We’re keeping and Navajo partners as equity share- in Congress. As one door closes in the an ear to the ground, monitoring de- holders, are ongoing. PLI, another is opening in the form of velopers’ activities and lobbying efforts. a unique tribally-led effort to protect An appeal is underway to halt uranium UTAH WILDLANDS the Bears Ears cultural landscape in mining at the Canyon Mine, six miles After years of meetings and field visits, southeast Utah as a new 1.9 million from the South Rim. In the interim, Utah Representative Rob Bishop is acre national monument (See Alastair Canyon Mine may resume sinking finally slated to release draft legislation Bitsóí’s article “The Land Is What I’m shaft at any time. As for the proposed in Congress for up to eight eastern Here For” on page 4). Tusayan mega-development, the For- Utah counties under the Public Lands est Service is still deciding whether Initiative (PLI). If done correctly, the NATIVE AMERICA to require a full-blown environmental PLI could resolve public lands issues The Native America team is assisting impact statement. A petition appeal- across 18 million acres in Utah by the Bears Ears Intertribal Coalition, ing EPA’s proposed rule for coal power designating 4 million acres of new set up and led by tribes to push for plant emissions that are reducing visi- wilderness, national conservation areas a new tribally co-managed Bears Ears bility at the Grand Canyon and other and watershed protection zones while National Monument. Meanwhile, our

26 “With potential risks of rattlesnakes, fire ants, bees, and worst of all–getting a 5.7-liter-engine Dodge Ram truck stuck in the sand–our isolated field biology job could sound like a nightmare or a dream. But misadventures aside, the act of listening, observing, and responding to the landscape created an intimate relationship and sense of place I’ve only experienced on the plateau.”

Contract field biologist Ysa Diaz, who spent four weeks on the Paria Plateau identifying birds for the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument Songbird Survey.

intertribal gathering at Southern Ute, Area, removing thistles in reference along with the Intertribal Learning areas in the Manti-La Sal and Fishlake Center in Tuba City, have focused on National Forests, and assessing springs climate change adaptation and tradi- on Elk Ridge, the team is in the sec- tional farming and food systems. An ond year of a 2-year project looking intertribal knowledge exchange trip at biological soil crusts (the “skin” of is planned to coastal First Nations in the desert) at 200 sites in Grand Stair- British Columbia to learn about case-Escalante National Monument, as efforts to create tribal land protections well as documenting the havoc exotic there. We’re moving forward with the goats are wreaking in the Mt. Peale

Sleeping Ute and Arch Canyon inside the Bears Ears Cultural Landscape. TIM PETERSON general management planning project Research Natural Area. to build a world-class Navajo Nation tribal park system by conducting a THE FOUR FOREST small pilot project on cultural map- RESTORATION INITIATIVE ping in the Little Colorado region. The 4FRI’s first 1 million acre effort to Native American Business Incubator restore northern Arizona’s ponderosa Network graduated its first class of pine forests—the culmination of Native entrepreneurs this summer and decades of work by dozens of orga- is actively seeking funding sources nizations and individuals, including to empower a new cohort of aspiring the Trust, is finally moving forward. entrepreneurs and support sustainable, 400,000 acres will be thinned and community-based development for burned, protecting the headwaters of tribes. watersheds critical to millions down- stream. Tens of thousands of acres of UTAH FORESTS critical wildlife habitat will be protect- The Utah Forests team is wearing the ed, 72 springs restored, and hundreds soles of their hiking boots thin, reas- of miles of unnecessary roads closed. sessing beaver dams in three creeks to The project will create more than 600 document the unique ability of beaver jobs and inject $100-$200 million per to slow and store water, raise and repair year in taxable revenue into rural econ- Top: A wildlife camera trap snapped this photo of stream channels, and transform our omies. 4FRI will also bring per-acre a mountain lion on the Kaibab Plateau (North Rim forests over time. The team is also doc- treatment costs down from a prohibi- Ranches). J. HOLM AND B. DICKSON umenting how landscapes suffer where tive $1,000 per acre to about $200 per Center: The 25 tribes of the Bears Ears Intertribal beaver are killed. In addition to pitch- acre or less, saving hundreds of mil- Coalition are working to protect 1.9 million acres of southeastern Utah. DONOVAN QUINTERO ing in on native grass studies in the lions of dollars in wildfire suppression Bottom: Kenneth Maryboy gathers herbs above Arch White Mesa Cultural and Conservation and rehabilitation costs. Canyon. TIM PETERSON

27 wildfire, and set up gardens to moni- tor plant responses to climate change over time. We’re also restoring springs and surveying songbirds and bats on the North Rim Ranches. Initial results suggest at least 30 songbird species and 19 bat species live on the Paria Plateau (see “The Night Shift” on page 30).

VOLUNTEER PROGRAM So far this year, 260 volunteers have donated 13,000 hours to support Trust work across the Colorado Plateau. 120 citizen scientists contributed their sweat, muscle, and brainpower to over a dozen fieldwork projects, including climate change adaptation research, habitat restoration, and data collec- tion that will influence public lands management decisions. 180 young conservationists have contributed over 9,000 hours to Trust program work through conservation internships, the Uplift Conservation Conference, and service learning projects on public and tribal lands.

ENERGY PROGRAM The Trust is leading the effort to reform obsolete and flawed mining regulations that allow uranium mines to operate in the Grand Canyon region without updated environmental review or ad- equate monitoring. Our campaign to prevent the White Mesa Uranium Mill from harming public health or contam- inating southeastern Utah’s air, water, and land continues on multiple fronts with our lawsuit in progress and out- Utah Forests program interns Sujata Gau- reach to regulators. A short advocacy tam and Marcy Brown identify native and NORTH RIM RANCHES film will be released in 2016. This sum- exotic grasses in the White Mesa Cultural The 850,000 acre landscape of the mer, we finalized our lawsuit against and Conservation Area. MARRA CLAY North Rim Ranches is an ideal outdoor the Bureau of Land Management’s deci- classroom and research laboratory. sion to allocate 810,000 acres of public Currently, we’ve teamed up with scien- lands in the Colorado River Basin for tists and researchers to model wildlife oil shale and tar sands mining. We’re habitat use through camera trapping, also working to ensure that the BLM seed and study native plant “green- regulates methane—a potent green- strips” to stop invasive cheatgrass in house gas—from industrial oil and gas its tracks and reduce the impact of operations on public lands.

28 Calling all...

bookworms, literature lovers, and casual readers! We’re starting the GRAND CANYON TRUST BOOK CLUB, and we’re pleased to announce our inaugural selections:

THE EMERALD MILE UNREAL CITY Hop on board as author Kevin Fedarko In this story of raw deals, cultural pilots you through the 1983 speed run injustices, and political maneuvering, and fastest ride in history through the journalist Judith Nies uncovers the heart of the Grand Canyon. hidden history of the struggle over 21 billion tons of coal beneath Black Mesa “The Emerald Mile re-creates an incred- that fueled the growth of Las Vegas, ible voyage through the flood-swollen Phoenix, and Los Angeles. From mob Grand Canyon in such heart-pounding connections and the Hoover Dam to detail that you need to pause every Indian boarding schools and tribal few pages to catch your breath…” relocation, the book is filled with cul- – The Dallas Morning News tural collisions and surprises.

This epic adventure tale melds “Unreal City is a thriller equal to any Colorado River history and politics fiction out there…Nies takes us from with personal passion and river lore. A the halls of political power to the Grand Canyon boatman himself, Fed- boardrooms of industry to the arko plunges below the rim, pursuing mesa-top villages and hogans of Black wooden boats through raging white- Mesa to tell this story of the energy water, and tells the story of commercial demands of southwestern cities guiding, the Glen Canyon Dam, and and the impact on traditional Native the canyon itself. Americans.” – Lucy Moore, environmental Please join us on January 13, 2016 mediator and author for a conversation with author Kevin Fedarko to discuss The Emerald Mile, Please join us on April 23, 2016 for a the Colorado River, and current Grand conversation with author Judith Nies, Canyon issues. who will be joining us remotely from her home in Massachusetts! Q&A with author KEVIN FEDARKO Wednesday, January 13, 2016 Q&A with author JUDITH NIES 7:00 pm Saturday, April 23, 2016 Grand Canyon Trust Homestead 2:00 pm 2601 N. Fort Valley Road Grand Canyon Trust Homestead Flagstaff, AZ 86001 2601 N. Fort Valley Road Flagstaff, AZ 86001

Note: Each event is limited to 15 people. Contact Ellen Heyn (928-774-7488 or [email protected]) to reserve your spot. If you don’t live in Flagstaff but would like to join us, we’re offering five remote-access spots. Keep an eye on the Trust blog for discussion questions, forums, and our next book selections!

The plateau is yours for the reading...let’s get started.

29 The Night Shift Your Call May Be Recorded

No one knows exactly how many bat species live on the rugged and remote Paria Plateau, in the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument. In 2013, a team of scientists set up microphones across the Paria to record bat echolocation calls, which are unique to each bat species. The many months of maintaining these stations have been an adventure, but data collection is just the first step. Now, renowned bat biologist Dr. Michael O’Farrell is lending his expertise to the review of the Paria Plateau bat data to discover just how many species left messages on these scientific answering machines.

How long have you been tracking bat loud and can be detected at distances How many calls are there in a typical species in the Southwest? greater than 100 meters. It’s critical to night? I began working with bats on Septem- understand these parameters in order There’s no such thing as a typical night. ber 5, 1964, when I was 20 years old. I to analyze acoustic data. Bat activity varies from site to site and initiated the first focused study of free- from night to night at any location. An living bats away from roosts in Nevada How many hours of recordings are interesting night might be discovering using the newest technology then avail- we talking about? a recording of a new species at a study able: mist nets, nylon or polyester mesh For the Vermilion Cliffs study, we site. A really interesting night might be nets suspended between two poles like chose four long-term sites for data col- a new species for the whole state, or a a volleyball net, used to capture bats lection, all night, every night. To get new behavior for a particular species. without harming them. I was a student greater detail for such a large area on a We are easily entertained. involved in desert pupfish research and limited budget, we also deployed five only started bat work as a class project. mobile units at two-week intervals. How many have you listened to so far? Not knowing the literature, I continued By shifting the locations of the mobile I don’t actually listen to recordings. It’s to net bats through the fall and winter units, we were able to sample the range counterintuitive, but acoustic identifi- and only after the fact pieced together of habitat types across the 198,500 cation of bats is performed visually. It that bats weren’t supposed to be active acre Paria Plateau. Although recording requires sitting at the computer, scan- in north temperate regions in the win- is continuous from sunset to sunrise, ning each and every data file visually ter! I was hooked. the periods of silence are not recorded. and entering a species identification The algorithm we use is based on code for each species. As of July 2015, How do the microphones work? sound detected and attributed only to I’d examined 54,225 files from the four The Anabat system uses a broadband bats. After one or more calls are de- stationary sites and 457,568 files from electret microphone. This specific sys- tected, a period of silence greater than 25 mobile sites—about 130 hours of tem will only display the harmonic five seconds triggers those calls being work. I’m about halfway through two with the greatest energy—recording saved to a digital file. Continuous calls years of data. only the loudest calls. Different species result in increasingly larger files until produce calls at different energy levels, the 15-second mark, at which point What’s your set-up for analyzing the therefore quiet species may need to get that block of data is saved to a file. We recordings? really close to the microphones (with- end up with thousands of small files I’m locked at my computer, staring in- in three meters) while others are quite no longer than 15 seconds each. tently at the screen in total concentration.

30 The Pallid bat (Antrozous pallidus), one of 19 species discovered so far on the Paria Plateau. Pallid bats emit a skunk-like odor that may be used as a defense mechanism. BRUCE D. TAUBERT, ARIZONA GAME & FISH DEPARTMENT

STAFF Bill Hedden, Executive Director

HEADQUARTERS OFFICE Darcy Allen, Senior Director of Administration One cannot do this for long periods of are three tree-roosting migratory spe- Ethan Aumack, Conservation Director time. Usually, I can do about 1600 files cies: the silver-haired bat, red bat, and Michael Chizhov, Volunteer Program Associate Roger Clark, Grand Canyon Program Director per hour and I have done as many as hoary bat. There are also three related Ashley Davidson, Communications Manager 11,500 files in a single day. One sea- species that may be considered rare Ed Grumbine, Land Programs Director son, I processed over 750,000 files and or of special concern: Townsend’s big- Natasha K. Hale, Native America Program Manager Ellen Heyn, Communications & Outreach Associate it took several months before I could sit eared bat, the spotted bat and Allen’s Cerissa Hoglander, Land Programs Associate down and maintain concentration for big-eared bat. Christina Kasica, Development Manager more than a half hour at a time! Rick Moore, Recreation Outreach Director Is this concentration of species Andrew Mount, Volunteer Program Associate Adrianne Sanchez, Finance Associate How can you tell bat species apart? unusual? Evelyn Sawyers, Senior Director of Finance Simply put, I use the time and frequen- Species diversity is high within the Tony Skrelunas, Native America Program Director cy of the call to identify the bat species, monument, primarily due to habi- Stephanie Smith, GIS Manager Christine Sweeter, Membership & Administrative Associate then look at the frequency range and tat diversity, specific habitat mosaic, Tory Syracuse, Membership & Grants Director shape of calls to tell species apart. In re- and proximity to the Colorado River Anne Mariah Tapp, Energy Program Director ality, it is much more complex—I have drainage. Emily Thompson, Volunteer Program Director to look at the range in variation and Tom Sisk, PhD, Senior Science Advisor, North Rim Ranches how calls change depending on sur- Why are bats an important conserva- COLORADO OFFICES roundings and specific behavior. Each tion focus? Neil Levine, Staff Attorney species has a distinct vocal pattern, Bats are the only mammals that fly. Aaron Paul, Staff Attorney Tim Peterson, Utah Wildlands Program Director but it’s common for individual species They fill a wide variety of feeding within a given genus to have similar niches, similar to that of birds, and UTAH OFFICES shapes but different frequency ranges. reflect, essentially, the night shift. Eleanor Bliss, Executive Associate Dave deRoulhac, Utah Forests Program Associate Bats species that are closely related of- They are long-lived with low repro- Dave Erley, Utah Forests Program Associate ten sound more alike. Larger species ductive potential and tend to roost Mary O’Brien, Utah Forests Program Director within a genus might use vocalizations in large numbers, which makes them at lower frequency ranges than small vulnerable to vandalism and other dis- BOARD OF DIRECTORS species—imagine a tall person with turbances, and slow to recover. In the Steve Martin, Chairman, Flagstaff, AZ a deep voice and small person with a desert Southwest, they are important Rebecca Tsosie, Vice-Chair, Phoenix, AZ high-pitched voice. When this occurs, cyclers of energy and nutrition. Among Pam Eaton, Secretary-Treasurer, Denver, CO

each species would differ from the next the insectivores, they play a big role in James E. Babbitt, Flagstaff, AZ in size by about 8-10 kHz. pest control, particularly in forests. Carter F. Bales, New York, NY David Bonderman, Fort Worth, TX Don Budinger, Phoenix, AZ What have you discovered so far? Final results of the study, a partner- Louis H. Callister, Salt Lake City, UT We’ve recorded 19 species of bats over ship between the Grand Canyon Trust, Ty Cobb, Washington, DC the first year of the study. Among these Friends of The Cliffs and the Bureau of John Echohawk, Boulder, CO are the smallest and largest species in Land Management, are expected in Jim Enote, Zuni, NM Mathew G. Garver, Atlanta, GA the United States: the parastrelle (Para- early 2016. The study is made possible Terry Goddard, Phoenix, AZ strellus hesperus) and the mastiff bat by a grant from the National Landscape William O. Grabe, Greenwich, CT (Eumops perotis), respectively. There Conservation System. Pam Hait, Phoenix, AZ Sarah Krakoff, Boulder, CO John Leshy, San Francisco, CA Bud Marx, Santa Barbara, CA John Milliken, Salt Lake City, UT Jennifer Speers, Salt Lake City, UT Mark Udall, Boulder, CO Patrick Von Bargen, Washington, DC Charles F. Wilkinson, Boulder, CO Hansjoerg Wyss, Jackson, WY

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Members Make Our Work Possible!

Meet Amy Prince

FROM: Flagstaff, Arizona MEMBER SINCE: 2012

FAVORITE PLACE ON THE COLORADO PLATEAU: There are so many! I love the moment I see the Vermilion Cliffs in the distance when driving Highway 89 from Flagstaff.

WHY I GIVE: I donate because I see the results of the Trust’s work: getting more citizen scientists involved, raising awareness of critical issues affecting our fragile desert home, fostering alliances between stakeholders, partnering with agencies to incorporate science into land management.

GETTING OUT ON THE LAND: Give the Gift of Trust Membership Today In 2010, I started volunteering with the Trust, documenting plants at springs in the Vermilion Cliffs area. I then decided to do a Trust project Looking for a meaningful gift for the outdoor enthusiast in your life? A Trust gift membership will connect your as my master’s thesis in botany. The Trust is helping create long-term, friend or loved one with issues they care about! sustainable connections between people and the Colorado Plateau landscape, and I want to be a part of that! Give online at grandcanyontrust.org or use the card contained in this issue. Thank you, Amy! 32