The Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River was completed in 1963 with its possible impact on the environment still unknown.
In the early 1970s, the Museum of Northern Arizona was awarded a grant by the National Park Service to do baseline biological research along the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. What did they find?
Herpetologist-mammologist Dennis Tomko was part of the excursion and will share his knowledge at a special event sponsored by the National Audubon Society at Sedona Public Library Jan. 26 at 6 p.m.
Tomko will speak on what he found in terms of human impact and what was recommended for the management of the Grand Canyon’s deep riparian corridor.
“The motivation for the project centered around the Park’s need to implement a management program to administer the sudden increase in user days the rafting companies had in response to the changed and stabilized conditions created by the completion of Glen Canyon Dam in 1963,” Tomko says.
“There had never been a formal biological survey made along the river, and the NPS needed to know what the resources were that it was managing. We obtained two oar-powered rafts, made many hikes and logged many hours of helicopter time.”
The event is free and open to the public. The library is at 3250 White Bear Road.