CMC Sustainability Studies student shares an aerial perspective on western environmental issues
Day 3 began with another early start. I totally forgot that we were not in Aspen anymore. It was nice to see that even with the sun nowhere to be found, there was no frost on the hotel windows. We were in warmer country, hundreds of miles south on the brim of the Grand Canyon in a town called Valle.
There was no time to waste so everybody met in the hotel diner for breakfast. We had the luxury to share another meal with Roger Clark, Hertha Woody, Carletta Tilousi, and Cristina Gonzales-Maddux. I was delighted to hear that they were going to be flying with us that morning while giving us an airborne lecture of the issues surrounding the Grand Canyon. Over breakfast we talked about uranium mining in the Grand Canyon and the effects uranium has on the precious landscape that belongs to the beloved Havasupai village that has lived there for generations. I could see how this was going to be a very sensitive flight because of how passionately they spoke of the issues in the Grand Canyon. I mean we were going right into the heart of the Grand Canyon, right in the heart of the uranium extraction center of the world. It was going to be a flight to remember that’s for sure.
After breakfast, we rendezvoused at the Valle airport. The Sun was just coming up at this point and we packed the Ecoflight planes with all our gear. Although we had only been in Valle for several hours, our visit to this side of the Grand Canyon was soon to be over; After the Grand Canyon over flight, Bryce Canyon airport would be our next stop. At 8:00 sharp, our plane was in the air heading towards the brim of the Grand Canyon. Soon enough, the massive canyon was beneath us and the radio feed became silent. Everybody was awestruck by the beauty of the canyon it put us in a state of empowerment that this beautiful landscape resides in our country. Teddy Roosevelt our past president said “The Grand Canyon is a natural wonder which a great wonder of nature. I hope you will not have any building of any kind, not a summer cottage, a hotel or anything else, to mar the wonderful beauty of the canyon. Leave it as it is.”
The beauty of the grand canyon that Mr. Roosevelt spoke of didn’t last very long. Within minutes of being on the brim of the Grand Canyon, we approached our first uranium site. It was an abandoned uranium mine and boy was it something to see. From the road leading up to it, the destroyed vegetation around it to the beauty of the Grand Canyon behind it. All these integral aspects of the scene were very strange to see all in one place. We were on a tight schedule so we continued on our way. As we moved deeper into the Canyon, the magnificent Colorado river came into view. It was breathtaking seeing the Colorado. Its crazy to think that the Colorado river services 30 million Americans for their water needs. At the same time, several uranium mines are positioned extremely close to the river.
As we continued on through the beautiful landscape, we approached another unpleasant view. This time it was because of the Alton Strip Coal Mine. Just another resource extraction site right on the brim of our countries most beautiful national park. There it was, sticking out like a sore thumb; gobbling up the beautiful landscape around it. It was really bizarre to be flying through beautiful country such as the Grand Canyon to only be dumbfounded by all the human infrastructure destroying the beautiful landscape. I kept pondering the true intelligence of the human. I kept wondering how we could do such an injustice to such a beautiful place. As we continued on, uranium mine after uranium mine passed beneath us as if we were flying in circles. I knew we weren’t flying around aimlessly because eventually Bryce Canyon airport came into view. We landed the planes and jumped in the vans for a needed pilgrimage to Bryce Canyon.
After spending most of the day seeing canyons from above, it was time to be on the ground again. We went to visit Bryce Canyon on the ground so we could get the on ground perspective of the beauty of these canyons. Whether it was from the air or from the ground, these places were magnificent no matter how I saw them. I was blown away by the divine design I was surrounded by. We spent a good two hours inside Bryce before we had to go. It was a necessary two hours and it really made me appreciate these canyons from a more natural holistic viewpoint. After visiting Bryce Canyon from the ground, it was time to have some fun and see it from the air. We rendezvoused at the Bryce Canyon airport and took flight to the skies once again.
Our next stop was Moab Utah however we weren’t going there so soon. We did a few more over flights of several uranium and coal mines in the area. Slowly but surely we were moving toward our destination Utah. On our way there, we passed by one of the biggest eye sores on a natural environment I have ever seen. It was a giant potash mine. The untrained eye would think the potash mine was a giant swimming pool or a really blue lake. This potash mine was nothing close to water for potash is pretty much a vat of potassium based compounds that are not so nice on the environment. These giant vats of potash are used for many different purposes but the most common use of the potash is for fertilizer. While the beautiful yet damaging potash mine diminished in the background, we approached Moab Utah, one of the biggest capitals for outdoor recreation that exists in our country. The airport came into view and we landed. After flying all day it was nice to get back on the ground for the rest of the day.
We checked into our hotel and went for a little drive around Moab. We got to see the the horrible uranium tailings clean up site right by the road. 11 years ago, a uranium mine was decommissioned by the government and it was issued to be cleaned up. For the past 10 years, major efforts and tons of energy has been put into cleaning up this site. It is 100 feet from the road and probably 200 feet from the precious Colorado river. It was that moment when it became clear to me how naive our species has become. Why spend so much time and effort mining a material that requires over a decade of cleaning up once it’s done? The site in Moab and the numerous sites in the Grand Canyon are only a fraction of the abandoned uranium mines across the world. Something needs to be done about this for it’s honestly a disgrace to our species and a disgrace to our planet to let such mines continue to exist.
After strolling around Moab, we got ready for the final evening dinner. 3 days went by so quickly it all seemed like a blur. We met at a nice Sushi restaurant where we had the pleasure to dine with Matthew Gross the media director of SUWA (Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance). Matt gave us a breakdown of all the issues surrounding the Utah wilderness areas. We talked about his conservation efforts and his SUWA’s big push to get the greater Canyonlands opened up. Hearing all the positive things humans are doing for our wild country really gave me inspiration to do something about the wild country in my neck of the woods here in Steamboat. We sat around for a long time talking. Matt really was fun to talk to and he really knew his stuff. Bruce asked Matt if he would be interested in flying with us the next day and he gladly accepted. We broke off dinner and went back to the hotel. It was another extremely long day. I wanted to compile all the photos and video I shot but I was so tired I barely had enough energy to get into bed. Luckily for me, I pulled it off and fell into a deep sleep awaiting my final day for the Ecoflight Flight Across America.