Tuweep
The Grand Canyon Secret
Few things are more disappointing to pilots than an enormous
white “X” marking the threshold of their favorite
recreational airstrip. Such is now the case at Tuweep (L50) airstrip
on the north rim of the Grand Canyon.
Update: The RAF has been participating in the potential
lease and reopening process of the Tuweep airstrip (near Grand
Canyon) from the State of Arizona and stand ready to create a
Tuweep Fund to receive tax deductible donations directed toward
its future maintenance. See additional
update from 17FEB06 at the bottom of this page.
Midway between the coniferous forests of the North Rim and the
broiling canyon bottom, Tuweep lies at an elevation of 4600 feet
on the western, red-sandstone shelf known as the Esplanade. This
is high desert country with mild winters and light snows. Paiute
for “barren valley,” the Toroweap valley offers a
variety of plants including juniper, pinyon pine and, of course,
sagebrush. Cacti and agave are more prevalent as you approach
the canyon rim and during the wet years, wildflowers paint the
ground and surrounding hillsides.
Wildlife is also abundant and the area offers some of the finest
habitat in the nation for heavy antlered mule deer. Coyotes keep
the jackrabbit population in check and the occasional rattlesnake
adds excitement to day hikes.
The Toroweap Overlook of the Grand Canyon allows an experience
vastly different than the south rim. Unfettered by guardrails,
signs and crowded trails, there is nothing between you and a dramatic
3000 foot drop to the Colorado River below. The serpentine trail
of green water is slowed by massive lava flows before it cascades
over Lava Falls, the most famous rapids in the canyon. On a still
day, the roar of the falls can be heard at the canyon rim.
Visiting Tuweep requires self-sufficiency and an adventuresome
spirit. It’s just the type of remote destination recreational
pilots look for.
Just a few years ago, nearly twenty airstrips dotted the landscape
north of the Grand Canyon. They have been methodically plucked
one by one from the charts and just a few remain today. The state
of Arizona cites liability concerns and lack of pilot interest
for these random closures. Tuweep is the most essential remaining
public strip offering access to the unspoiled areas of this vast
National Park.
Without History….We’re History
On January 11, 2000, a gaggle of helicopters including Marine
One and four Hueys descended on the Toroweap valley. President
Clinton stepped forth and announced the formation of the new Grand
Canyon-Parashant National Monument. In a symbolic gesture, wearing
a brown suede jacket and cowboy boots, Mr. Clinton sat at the
dusty airstrip and signed four Presidential Proclamations on the
kitchen table of Tuweep Ranger Clair Roberts. The section of state
school-trust land containing Tuweep airstrip is also encompassed
within the new National Monument.
The purpose of the executive order was to prevent mining and future
development and to preserve the rich history of the area. Mr.
Clinton was acting under the Antiquities Act passed by congress
in 1906 to protect “objects of historic and scientific interest.”
That history should certainly include the life of John Riffey.
For 38 years, Riffey served as the NPS Ranger at Tuweep. He and
his beloved Super Cub “Pogo,” aptly named for the
short hops it took, served the visitors of the Arizona Strip and
the Park as only a pilot and his airplane could. Aviation was
important to Riffey. Not only for the enjoyment he felt while
flying, but also for the access it offered to remote areas of
the Park.
Ironically, just yards away from the table where the president
signed the executive order, lies the grave of John Riffey. His
date of birth and date of death do not appear on the gravestone.
When he lived wasn’t important to him; how he lived was.
The stone bears the image of his trusted “Pogo” and
his epitaph: “The man who could spend a lifetime on the
rim and not waste a minute.” Nothing else was necessary.
There Is Still Hope
Tuweep sees an average of three private aircraft landings per
week during the busy season and has been used extensively by the
Bureau of Land Management as a staging area during firefighting
operations.
Mike Ebersole, former Tuweep Ranger, commercial pilot and airport
manager for the Tuweep strip, contacted State Land Department
Manager Chuck Hudson. When asked if it was too late to reverse
the closure, Mr. Hudson stated that “they (the state) would
not be averse to resurrecting the project and trying to keep the
airstrip open.”
Although he was transferred to Sitka, Alaska in 2002, former Tuweep
ranger Clair Roberts’ love for the Toroweap valley has never
waned. Like Riffey, he also flew his own airplane out of Tuweep.
Roberts believes the short-term solution to keep the strip open
is by generating a grass-roots effort to mount a writing campaign
on the state of Arizona and the FAA. He remains committed to spearheading
this effort because he believes it is worth saving and that proper
notice was not given to the public. Ultimately, a land swap may
be the best long-term solution for keeping L50 open. Interest
in the strip among pilots has always remained high and there has
been no history of noise complaints. Encroachment into the Grand
Canyon SFRA has been rare and largely unintentional.
Letters protesting the closure of Tuweep (L50) should be directed
to the FAA and the Governor of Arizona, Janet Napolitano with
carbon copies to ADOT Aeronautics Division (Ray Boucher) and Arizona
State Land Department (Charles Hudson).
Clair Roberts
liznclair@att.net
The Honorable Janet Napolitano
Governor of Arizona
1700 West Washington
Phoenix, Arizona 85007
http://www.governor.state.az.us/global/contact.htm
Charles Hudson, Manager
Environmental Resources & Trespass Section
Arizona State Land Department
1616 West Adams Street
Phoenix, AZ 85007
chudson@land.az.gov
Ray Boucher
ADOT Aeronautics Division Program Analyst
255 Osborn Rd, Suite 101
Phoenix, AZ 85012
rboucher@azdot.gov
Update
from our friends in the Utah Back Country Pilots' Assoc. : 17FEB06
This last month has been an exciting one in the quest to obtain
the lease of the Tuweep airstrip. For a while it looked like we
would not be able to get anyone to underwrite the required general
liability policy of $5 mil. One of the people associated with
the Recreational Aviation Foundation found us a supplier so now
we have that. the next step was to get the State Land to work
with us in minimizing our cost exposure and give us the property
that we need to get to the edge of the section eliminating the
need for a right of way and the costs associated with that and
this has been accomplished as well now. Our next step is having
a Cultural Resource survey done by a SHPO permitted contractor.
I have selected one for this and that work shall start early February.
I'm hoping to get the lease finalized by the end of Feb.
On another note...........
Several APA members and back country activists have been attending
this week's public meetings in Kingman, Phoenix and Flagstaff
regarding the BLM Draft Plan for the Arizona Strip. We have counted
21 strips up there and in the proposed plan only 8 are to be recognized
and would remain. Tuweep of course is one that wasn't recognized
but after letting them know the status of our lease negotiations
that will change. However there is a written comment period now
underway and all comments are due by March 17. Your Recreational
Airport Committee will be drafting a comment from the APA and
will also provide a letter of comment in a template for each of
you to use in your own comments to the BLM.
There will be a large push for this in February and the only
way we will preserve some of these back country jewels is to come
at them with a large number of comments.
Please contact me via email if you would like to be listed as
one interested in saving these strips and are willing to send
in your comments.
Thank you in advance
Mark Hawkins
Recreational Airport Committee
Azstol@aol.com
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