Miracles happen! For thousands of years, the Colorado River carved through rock and sand to create Glen Canyon, a paradise of shading willow thickets, blossoming tamarisk, cottonwood, juniper and pinyon pine. Flowers abound! Columbine, lupine, Indian paintbrush, scarlet penstemon, larkspur, sunflowers, and purple asters. Wildlife prevailed! Mockingbirds, finches magpies, cicada, beaver, cougars, deer, coyote, bobcats. Protecting this paradise, colorful slickrock walls, mesa and buttes, surrounding monolithic walls of red, coral, yellow, copper-gold, pink, intermittently interspersed with hanging gardens in high grottoes and mossy springs. And running through this paradise, the mighty river slows to a quiet tranquillity, leading to abundant tributary streams, side canyons and alcoves, forever flowing onward toward the Sea of Cortez and the Gulf of California.

On October 15, 1956, the Ultimate Sin against nature began with the blasting of canyon walls. These acts of violence against nature continued for seven years, culminating on September 22, 1966 with the Benediction delivered by Ladybird Johnson, and the eventual flooding of 750,000 acres of paradise.

What do we have to show for our Sin? Dead water…eventually toxic water. Gasoline and oil slicks. Eroded shorelines strewn with sewage, dead batteries used hygiene products, human waste, and remains of dead foliage. And all to support about 3% of electric power to the Four Corners area and a playground for water-skiers, houseboats, and fishing fanatics. Estimates indicate that, due to silt build up, the dam will be rendered useless within a few decades. Except for those bold enough to ignore increasing probable health risks, Lake Powell's recreational potential expired years ago, although it could be used as a giant bathtub for Godzilla.

The Good News! It took thousands of years to create Glen Canyon, thirty years to destroy it, and if we act now, between two to three decades to restore the paradise.

Atone for the Sin! Help to pull the plug on Glen Canyon Dam and Drain Lake Powell today! Contact the Glen Canyon Institute (Flagstaff Office), 316 E. Birch, P.O. Box 1925, Flagstaff, AZ 86002 or at their website: www.Glencanyon.org.