Message
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monthly Newsletter of the Glen Canyon Institute
January 12, 2005
Volume 4 No. 1
Happy New Year Friends of Glen Canyon!
Let me start off by thanking those of you who supported GCI in 2004. With your help, GCI accomplished a great deal last year within the low water window of opportunity that Mother Nature afforded us.
In April, we launched GCI Field Trips and began leading folks into the "lost" canyons to witness the spectacular restoration. The return of Glen Canyon was also featured in the stunning April Issue of Backpacker Magazine. In May, we sponsored a once-in-a-lifetime event where a couple hundred of us gathered 'round the campfire at Ken & Jane Sleight's Pack Creek Ranch to be entertained and inspired by the many friends of Ed Abbey. The Autumn was punctuated with a number of very positive GCI-coordinated articles in Sports Illustrated, USA Today, the New York Times, and many other regional media outlets.
Confluence of Colorado River and San
Juan Rivers - Photo by Katie Lee
In 2004, GCI Board of Trustees developed a new strategic plan designed to take advantage of the emerging landscape of Glen Canyon. Throughout the year, we continued our educational slideshow efforts and spread the word about Glen Canyon's beauty far and wide. We continued our legal campaign with the acquisition a legal research director and the development and preparation for strategic litigation efforts in 2005. We also began laying the groundwork for a number of new programs including the Glen Canyon Archives Program, the Glen Canyon Cleanup Program, the Citizen's Inventory of Glen Canyon, and the Glen Canyon GIS Mapping Project. We have an ambitious and exciting plan of action for 2005, and we need your continued support to make it happen.
In 2004, GCI Board of Trustees developed a new strategic plan designed to take advantage of the emerging landscape of Glen Canyon. Throughout the year, we continued our educational slideshow efforts and spread the word about Glen Canyon's beauty far and wide. We continued our legal campaign with the acquisition a legal research director and the development and preparation for strategic litigation efforts in 2005. We also began laying the groundwork for a number of new programs including the Glen Canyon Archives Program, the Glen Canyon Cleanup Program, the Citizen's Inventory of Glen Canyon, and the Glen Canyon GIS Mapping Project. We have an ambitious and exciting plan of action for 2005, and we need your continued support to make it happen.
In December, we received a barrage of membership renewals and additional contributions and I thank you. I assure you that GCI will stretch all donations as far as possible and efficiently continue to advocate for a restored and protected Glen Canyon. For those of you who haven't gotten around to sending in your membership renewal forms, please do so right away; raising a big chunk of our 2005 budget now enables us to focus on our important programmatic efforts through out the rest of the year. By way of reporting to our membership, I have included the breakdown of GCI's 2004 expense and income details.
While snowpack for the basin above Lake Powell sits at 108%, inflow to Lake Powell for the first quarter of Water Year 2005 has only been 77% with reservoir levels dropping 3 feet in December. The Bureau of Reclamation predicts that the floor of Cathedral in the Desert (El. 3552) will be out in April. We're working on getting the latest photos of the revealed Cathedral in the Desert out soon, so stay tuned!
Just after Christmas, we sent out the 2005 GCI Field Trips brochure to our membership mailing list, which outlines the many options we are providing this year for you to visit Glen Canyon. If you didn't receive one, please email us for a copy, or visit our website:
http://www.glencanyon.org/gcift/index.php. Plan your trip into the new Glen Canyon now, whether with GCIFT or on your own. Either way, don't miss out!
The new year holds great promise for Glen Canyon as water levels are guaranteed to reach an all-time low. Glen Canyon Institute will continue to work hard in 2005 to ensure the continued restoration and protection of legendary Glen Canyon. On behalf of the staff and the Board of Trustees of GCI, have a good one and take the opportunity to visit Glen Canyon in 2005.
For the river,
Christopher Peterson
Executive Director
***********NEWSLINKS*************
Land bared by receded waters sparks Lake Powell debate
Salt Lake Tribune
December 8, By Joe Baird
With the waters of Lake Powell receding because of the drought and its once-submerged canyons re-emerging, has the time come to start looking at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area as more than a reservoir?
A local environmental group says yes.
The Glen Canyon Institute has petitioned the National Park Service to adopt a new management plan for Lake Powell, arguing that the reappearance of the canyon after 40 years mandates a reappraisal of how the agency defines the recreation...
read the article
Do or Dry
Salt Lake City Weekly
January 12, 2005, By Ted Westby
With new studies bolstering Glen Canyon revivalists, the battle over Lake Powell Reservoir heats up. ...
http://www.slweekly.com/editorial/2005/feat_2005-01-13.cfm
#CA5702
