The 3 million-acre swath of Bureau of Land Management
land between the Grand Canyon and the Utah border, unromantically
known as the Arizona Strip, is getting more visitors than usual
these days.
In late November, Bruce Babbitt
toured the area and suggested that nearly 400,000 acres of the
wide-open desert lands are worthy of stronger federal protection –
possibly national monument status.
“There really
is nowhere I know of – in the lower 48 states – where you have this
great, intact expanse that is not all chopped up,” said Babbitt at
the end of his trip.
The Arizona Strip is largely
uninhabited, but it is home to cattle ranches, old uranium and
copper mine sites, and a growing network of off-highway vehicle
trails.
It’s also close to fast-growing St.
George, Utah, and Mesquite, Nev., and development pressures on the
edges of the area are increasing, says Roger Taylor, the Bureau of
Land Management district manager for the Arizona
Strip.
“It … (is) the most pristine rim area in
the entire Grand Canyon system,” said Babbitt. “Some people might
say then, “Why bother?” … If you don’t think about it before the
problems are on you, then you have controversy.”
The Department of Interior is trying to avoid a
replay of the political backlash following the establishment of the
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah in
late 1996, says agency spokesman Larry
Finfer.
“In order to pursue something like this,
you have to have some consensus and support,” he says. The Arizona
congressional delegation has not taken a public position, but
members are participating in discussions about the
idea.
“There are some ideas in the works, and
that’s about it,” says Finfer, who adds that it may be a month or
two before more details are released. “All that’s been established
is that this area is special and deserves significant protection.”
*Michelle
Nijhuis
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Murmurs about a new monument.
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