YellowSub1962
06-04-2001, 08:09 AM
<font color="yellow">from the Arizona Daily Sun</font c>
'Drain Lake Powell' activists claim harassment by Park Service
rangers
By GARY GHIOTO
Sun Staff Reporter
05/29/2001
Environmental activists claim they were harassed Sunday by
National Park
Service personnel during an event held to promote the draining of
Lake
Powell, decommissioning of Glen Canyon Dam and "protection of
Native
American Indian sacred sites."
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area officials said they were
checking
with law enforcement officers about the alleged incident.
Members of the Sierra Club's Glen Canyon Group, Living Rivers and
Glen
Canyon Action Network of Moab, Utah, say they were on the
reservoir near
Page when two part-time National Park Service rangers approached
them
"with blue lights flashing" and tied up to their powerboats.
The boat initially stopped by the rangers was cruising near the
dam
carrying a banner that said "Drain It." The other powerboat
contained a
photographer for an environmental group and a writer from the
Counterpunch newsletter.
According to David Orr of Glen Canyon Action Network, rangers
asked him
and others on the boat for identification.
Orr said the rangers told him that they were investigating a
complaint
that the group was "harassing" boaters on the reservoir. The
National
Park Service was unavailable this morning to confirm Orr's
account before
deadline.
Orr disputed the claim of harassment and said the powerboat
containing
the "Drain It" banner drew attention from curious boaters and a
few
shouted "epithets," but there were no confrontations on the lake
Sunday.
"When we heard epithets we just waved and said: 'Have a nice
day'" Orr
said.
Orr said the rangers did not identify the source of the
complaint.
"It felt like a bust," said Orr.
Later, as Counterpunch writer Jeffrey St. Clair and environmental
photographer Peter Lawson began taking pictures from the other
powerboat,
ranger Julie Lyn Yucker allegedly demanded that he stop. Orr said
he
asked for identification from the rangers.
Then another ranger, identified by the group as Tim Havens,
questioned
members of the press pool and environmentalists and ran "warrant
searches" on each person, said a news release.
"It seemed obvious to us that the Park Service's interruption of
our
event and detention of our boats were not matters of safety or
law
enforcement, but an attempt to squelch our message and intimidate
us,"
said Owen Lammers, executive director of Glen Canyon Action
Network, in
the news release issued Monday.
Also during the alleged incident, the environmentalists claim one
of
their rented boats "became pinned against a metal cable" near the
dam and
sustained $700 in damage.
One writer was especially upset that Park Service officials ran
warrant
searches on them.
"It was evident that Park Service police not only sought to
silence the
anti-dam activists, but wanted to ensure that their intimidating
tactics
were not recorded," said Jeffrey St. Clair, editor of the
political
newsletter Counterpunch.
"These are the kinds of chilling tactics one would expect in
Beijing or
Tehran, not a national park."
No charges were filed or outstanding warrants were found by the
National
Park Service rangers, Orr said.
Besides the media tour, which included Counterpunch's St. Clair
and
reporter Brenda Norrell of Indian Country Today, the
environmentalists
said they spent the Memorial Day weekend "contacting Lake Powell
visitors, informing them of their position on draining the
nation's
second largest reservoir."
The Din=E9 Medicinemen's Association also took part in a trip made
by
environmentalists and journalists to Rainbow Bridge.
The visit to the Navajo sacred site was made to draw attention to
damage
to archeological sites allegedly occurring at the site and the
"monopoly"
on tours to the area by a National Park Service approved
concessionaire.
The group also went to the site of the Antelope Point Marina near
Page.
The activists say the development will "damage ceremonial and
archeological sites, and increase water and air pollution in the
Glen
Canyon area."
Gary Ghioto can be reached at gghioto@azdailysun.com or 556-2251.
'Drain Lake Powell' activists claim harassment by Park Service
rangers
By GARY GHIOTO
Sun Staff Reporter
05/29/2001
Environmental activists claim they were harassed Sunday by
National Park
Service personnel during an event held to promote the draining of
Lake
Powell, decommissioning of Glen Canyon Dam and "protection of
Native
American Indian sacred sites."
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area officials said they were
checking
with law enforcement officers about the alleged incident.
Members of the Sierra Club's Glen Canyon Group, Living Rivers and
Glen
Canyon Action Network of Moab, Utah, say they were on the
reservoir near
Page when two part-time National Park Service rangers approached
them
"with blue lights flashing" and tied up to their powerboats.
The boat initially stopped by the rangers was cruising near the
dam
carrying a banner that said "Drain It." The other powerboat
contained a
photographer for an environmental group and a writer from the
Counterpunch newsletter.
According to David Orr of Glen Canyon Action Network, rangers
asked him
and others on the boat for identification.
Orr said the rangers told him that they were investigating a
complaint
that the group was "harassing" boaters on the reservoir. The
National
Park Service was unavailable this morning to confirm Orr's
account before
deadline.
Orr disputed the claim of harassment and said the powerboat
containing
the "Drain It" banner drew attention from curious boaters and a
few
shouted "epithets," but there were no confrontations on the lake
Sunday.
"When we heard epithets we just waved and said: 'Have a nice
day'" Orr
said.
Orr said the rangers did not identify the source of the
complaint.
"It felt like a bust," said Orr.
Later, as Counterpunch writer Jeffrey St. Clair and environmental
photographer Peter Lawson began taking pictures from the other
powerboat,
ranger Julie Lyn Yucker allegedly demanded that he stop. Orr said
he
asked for identification from the rangers.
Then another ranger, identified by the group as Tim Havens,
questioned
members of the press pool and environmentalists and ran "warrant
searches" on each person, said a news release.
"It seemed obvious to us that the Park Service's interruption of
our
event and detention of our boats were not matters of safety or
law
enforcement, but an attempt to squelch our message and intimidate
us,"
said Owen Lammers, executive director of Glen Canyon Action
Network, in
the news release issued Monday.
Also during the alleged incident, the environmentalists claim one
of
their rented boats "became pinned against a metal cable" near the
dam and
sustained $700 in damage.
One writer was especially upset that Park Service officials ran
warrant
searches on them.
"It was evident that Park Service police not only sought to
silence the
anti-dam activists, but wanted to ensure that their intimidating
tactics
were not recorded," said Jeffrey St. Clair, editor of the
political
newsletter Counterpunch.
"These are the kinds of chilling tactics one would expect in
Beijing or
Tehran, not a national park."
No charges were filed or outstanding warrants were found by the
National
Park Service rangers, Orr said.
Besides the media tour, which included Counterpunch's St. Clair
and
reporter Brenda Norrell of Indian Country Today, the
environmentalists
said they spent the Memorial Day weekend "contacting Lake Powell
visitors, informing them of their position on draining the
nation's
second largest reservoir."
The Din=E9 Medicinemen's Association also took part in a trip made
by
environmentalists and journalists to Rainbow Bridge.
The visit to the Navajo sacred site was made to draw attention to
damage
to archeological sites allegedly occurring at the site and the
"monopoly"
on tours to the area by a National Park Service approved
concessionaire.
The group also went to the site of the Antelope Point Marina near
Page.
The activists say the development will "damage ceremonial and
archeological sites, and increase water and air pollution in the
Glen
Canyon area."
Gary Ghioto can be reached at gghioto@azdailysun.com or 556-2251.