Dear HCN,
Michelle Nijhuis was
mistaken when she wrote that the recent transfer of some Death
Valley National Park land to the Timbisha Shoshone “was the first
time the Park Service had ever ceded land to a tribe” (HCN,
8/5/02:Another way to win back the land). In 1975, about one-third
of Grand Canyon National Park’s South Rim was ceded to the
Havasupai tribe. Today, about 80 percent of the 277-mile-long
canyon’s south side is privately owned by the Hualapai, Havasupai
and Navajo peoples.
A few years ago, the Navajo
unsuccessfully tried to appropriate part of the Grand Canyon’s
north side as well (the House Rock Valley). In addition, the tribes
control access to large areas of the park itself. In 1999, the
Havasupai set up a roadblock and began charging park visitors stiff
tolls.
Nijhuis was also misleading in writing
that much of the Great Basin is “now owned by the federal
government.” Most of the Great Basin is public land, not government
land. There’s a big difference. Government lands, which make up
about 2 percent of the West, are fenced off with threatening signs
like: “U.S. Government Property; Trespassers Subject to Arrest.” By
contrast, the public lands, which make up about 50 percent of the
West, are open to everyone and owned by all of us – the Western
Shoshone included.
Dennis BrownridgeMayer,
Arizona
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Great Basin belongs to all of us.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
