Ever wonder why it takes years to get a permit for your own Grand Canyon trip?
Jeff Ingram, fresh from the battle over the Grand Canyon Dams in the 1960s, turned his attention to gaining wilderness protection for the Grand Canyon. The 1964 Wilderness Act had been passed not long before and the Grand Canyon including the Colorado River had become "potential" wilderness. This book describes how the river became the sticking point and all that has been done over the last 30+ years to make the definition happen - and to stop it happening. Using source materials from various libraries, depositories and interviews, Jeff tells the story from his vantage point as a participant on the side of wilderness. The river runners, both self-guided and commercial, the Park Service and other government officials, politicians and environmentalists all played their parts in pushing, pulling, slowing, speeding up, articulating and obfuscating the issues. There's a wealth of detail here and, with the Colorado River Management Plan in progress again, even a quick skim of the book will help you recognize the circle we're all trudging round again. Read it and react!

6" x 9", 496 pages includes maps, index, source notes. 0-9674595-3-2.