Students take flight above Greater Canyonlands

Last week, EcoFlight’s 2011 Flight Across America Student Program stopped in to Moab as part of a three day intensive study of iconic national parks in the American southwest.  SUWA Media Director Mathew Gross and Field Attorney Liz Thomas joined the staff of EcoFlight and four students from CU Boulder and Colorado Mountain College for dinner to discuss the threats posed to the Greater Canyonlands region by oil and gas drilling and potash and uranium mining.  The following morning, Matt joined the students for an aerial tour of the 1.4 million acres of BLM land surrounding Canyonlands National Park.  Students saw first hand the oil and gas wells and a potash mine that are encroaching upon the park, and gained a deeper appreciation for just how arbitrary and political the park’s boundaries are in relation to such a deeply interconnected landscape.

To learn more about what you can do to help protect the Greater Canyonlands region, visit www.suwa.org/greatercanyonlands.

Potash mining encroaches on the Greater Canyonlands region (area in the background), as the students saw in their overflight. The Cane Creek Potash Mine, near Moab, Utah. Copyright EcoFlight.