FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt
got an earful when he announced his plans for a new national
monument on the Shivwits Plateau, or “Arizona Strip” north of the
Grand Canyon. About 500 people packed a meeting March 8 in the
Cline Library at Northern Arizona University to debate the
proposal.
Calling the plateau “one of the last
best places,” Babbitt explained that he wants to designate 550,000
acres as a national monument to protect 200 species of birds, a
trophy deer herd, desert bighorn sheep and a sensitive bat species.
The plateau, currently managed under the Lake Mead National
Recreation Area and the Bureau of Land Management, was considered
in the 1970s as an addition to Grand Canyon National Park. The U.S.
Senate turned the proposal down because it would have meant banning
hunting and ranching in the area.
At the meeting,
ranchers expressed similar concerns, though Babbitt said that
grazing would continue within the monument. Putting the strip in
the limelight would bring throngs of tourists, added Tony Heaton, a
third-generation rancher from Fredonia: “Call it a monument and the
floodgates will open.” Others called the proposal “Clinton Land
Grab II,” the sequel to the administration’s creation of the Grand
Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah (HCN, 9/30/96).
Geoff Barnard, president of the Grand Canyon
Trust, supports the idea, but said Babbitt’s proposal is too small.
He said the proposed monument should double in size to include
almost 1 million acres, to protect wildlife migration routes and
stave off mining and off-road vehicles.
Support
came from Carmen Bradley, chairwoman of the Kaibab Paiute, who said
her tribe wants to be informed every step of the way. “This is
Paiute country and we’re proud of it,” she
said.
Babbitt hopes to see the monument
designated before the Clinton administration leaves office in 2001.
“I would like to get it done on my watch,” he said. “This is my
home town. This is my state.”
* Stan
Bindell
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Secretary Babbitt meets a tough crowd.
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