Why Is The NPS Establishing Wilderness At Grand Canyon?
The NPS is not establishing Wilderness at Grand Canyon. Proposed Wilderness has existed at Grand Canyon since 1977(1). To achieve official wilderness designation, the Final Wilderness Recommendation, updated in 1993, would need to be sent to Congress as a bill, and Congress would need to act on that bill. There is no bill pending before Congress. However, from 1977 on, according to wilderness law and policy, Grand Canyon National Park must manage these proposed lands as if they were already official wilderness. In this way the wilderness character of the proposed lands will not be compromised while they await Congressional action. The Park has now written a planning document to guide wilderness management, and the public has been invited to comment. This document is not a call for wilderness, but a plan to manage what is already there. It is not a question of if there will be wilderness at Grand Canyon – there already is. Wilderness is a given until Congress acts. The question is how w
