A Beautiful Map for an Ugly Proposal

That is a really small small space being left for the Tribal Members.. Exactly how safe would a tram be that runs on cables from the top to the bottom of the canyon. I've visited the Grand Canyon many times and you wont see me on any tram....Next to the fact that your destroying the natural beauty of the Canyon..

Grand Canyon is arguably the world's greatest natural wonder. How could anyone - especially representatives of Native people! - consider for a moment allowing this crass, destructive project to proceed beyond the "bad idea" stage! There is nothing like it now, and never should be, ever. The only "development" below the rim is Phantom Ranch, a small group of cabins nestled along the main hiking corridor of Grand Canyon, and it is NOT visible from the rim or from the river. I am stunned that this project has even been considered by some members of the Navajo Nation! It would not only cause environmental destruction and pollution; it also defrauds their own people. Escalade would absolutely destroy the experience of visiting the Canyon below the rim for everyone, including their proposed "customers"! It would bring lasting shame and dishonor to our generation of Americans should we be duped by sleazy, dishonest developers into allowing the Canyon to be destroyed. And for what? So that unscrupulous developers and "investors" can make a lot of money? To create "jobs", when it is clear that the claims of the developers are fraudulent, and that the very few real jobs available to Navajo people would never be worth destroying a sacred place? To put the Navajo Nation in debt and forbid them to even sell native goods within FIVE miles of this awful development? To provide "accessibility" to the inner Canyon for handicapped people - for whom there are already special river trips designed to allow them to see the real Canyon, in its unspoiled state? So that hordes of foreign tourists, no doubt arriving by helicopter or bus, can troop along a "river walk/shopping mall" that has destroyed the very river environment they are meant to see, scarcely looking up from their iPhones as they go? For THIS we are destroying a sacred place? Might as well go ahead, as David Brower so famously wrote, and "flood the Sistine Chapel so the tourists can get a closer look at the ceiling". The Canyon is an irreplaceable treasure, and a sacred place - not only to the Navajo, but to the Hopi, the Zuni, and to all other people from this country and around the world who have seen the awe-inspiring views from the rims, hiked into the Canyon, or traveled down the Colorado. The Park Service has tried valiantly to assure that all people who venture below the rims may experience the overpowering, unspoiled beauty of this place. They have made it possible for all to enjoy it without destroying it. This project would literally rape the inner Canyon; it's as horrible an idea as the dams that were proposed in the 60's. Whether by the Navajo Nation or by the U.S. Congress, the ENTIRE length of the Canyon, especially below the rims, should be protected from ANY development. While we're at it, let's stop the helicopters and stop all power generation and mining from happening anywhere near our this sacred and fragile place. Janet Sands, Flagstaff

As far as the proposed Grand Canyon Gondola is concerned it really would be a recipe for disaster. If visitors want thats sort of attraction they should go to Disneyland. Please endeavor to keep this magnificent site safe from any commercial development .