The National Park Service and the Sierra Club are opposing the efforts of the Navajo Nation to create a Disneyesque development on the East Rim of the Grand Canyon. 
The Navajo government has signed a non-binding agreement to build an aerial tramway, restaurant, resort hotel and spa, an RV park, and a half-mile river walk along the Colorado River. The Navajo have estimated that the development would bring in $70 million in revenue to the Nation, and create 2,000 jobs ofr tribal members. The National Park Service already is voicing objections to the large-scale development on its eastern flank. Environmental organizations and some Navajos who call the area home also oppose the project. “This is just one more thing that is going to chip away at the solitude of the area, and it’s really not the appropriate type of development for that area,” said Alicyn Gitlin of the Sierra Club. The land has remained undeveloped for decades because of a land dispute between the Navajos and the neighboring Hopi tribe, both of which claimed aboriginal ties to it. A construction ban implemented by former U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs Robert Bennett imposed a ban on home and land improvements in 1966. It was lifted in 2009, though little development has occurred on the 700,000 acres. The proposed attractions could create a jurisdictional dispute, depending on their distance from the Colorado River. Grand Canyon Park officials also want to maintain the wilderness characteristics of the East Rim, which is popular with backcountry hikers and not easily accessible, and make sure endangered species like the humpback chub are protected, said park Superintendent Dave Uberuaga.
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