busboy66
Contributors
This last September on the recommendation of a friend, I left Moab UT to go see the Canyon de Chelly National Monument NE, Arizona. I cannot fully express my disappointment. I have travelled through most of AZ on past trips, so I'm fully acquainted with being on Navajo and other tribal lands.
The drive to the monument was depressing. The constant presence of garbage on each side of the road was in a word, incredible. Empty beer boxes, cans, broken bottles, garbage in bags, car parts etc etc. If there was ever a 5 foot break in the stream of litter I never saw it.
As I approached the monument off Hwy. 191, places like Many Farms and Chinle, it got worse. In Chinle, garbage piles were still burning on front yards. I hoped it would improve inside the monument. It didn't.
I was extolled on the virtues of the unique relationship between the NPS and the Navajo Nation. Namely how the "Navajo people, who are connected to a landscape of great historical and spiritual significance." There are several Navajo farms inside the Canyon de Chelly.
The garbage continued inside the monument. I saw locals driving on restricted parts of the lookouts. Each lookout had several Navajo trinket tables which visitors would have to navigate through to get to the viewpoint. Some Navajo entrepreneurs actually had blankets at the lookouts selling their wares. They were not passive - it appeared they were approaching each group of visitors.
NPS staff didn't seem to venture far from the visitor center. The garbage I saw was not new, so there didn't appear to be an effort to either stop the litter or clean it up.
I have been to more than a few National Monuments, and the care and respect given them by NPS and visitors alike has always impressed me. What gives?
I'm looking for something here. Did I just go on a bad day/mont/year? Have you been there? What are your thoughts? Was it better, worse? Has it improved/degraded recently?
Thanks
The drive to the monument was depressing. The constant presence of garbage on each side of the road was in a word, incredible. Empty beer boxes, cans, broken bottles, garbage in bags, car parts etc etc. If there was ever a 5 foot break in the stream of litter I never saw it.
As I approached the monument off Hwy. 191, places like Many Farms and Chinle, it got worse. In Chinle, garbage piles were still burning on front yards. I hoped it would improve inside the monument. It didn't.
I was extolled on the virtues of the unique relationship between the NPS and the Navajo Nation. Namely how the "Navajo people, who are connected to a landscape of great historical and spiritual significance." There are several Navajo farms inside the Canyon de Chelly.
The garbage continued inside the monument. I saw locals driving on restricted parts of the lookouts. Each lookout had several Navajo trinket tables which visitors would have to navigate through to get to the viewpoint. Some Navajo entrepreneurs actually had blankets at the lookouts selling their wares. They were not passive - it appeared they were approaching each group of visitors.
NPS staff didn't seem to venture far from the visitor center. The garbage I saw was not new, so there didn't appear to be an effort to either stop the litter or clean it up.
I have been to more than a few National Monuments, and the care and respect given them by NPS and visitors alike has always impressed me. What gives?
I'm looking for something here. Did I just go on a bad day/mont/year? Have you been there? What are your thoughts? Was it better, worse? Has it improved/degraded recently?
Thanks