The rivers have begun running, and I hope you all are getting out there and enjoying the sunshine. The steady stream of national press attention about the beauty of Glen Canyon and the continued decline of the Grand Canyon demonstrates that our message is being heard across the country. The water delivery system is failing and people are beginning to look more closely at the weakest link: Lake Powell reservoir. With Mother Nature continuing to lower water levels, we are working on keeping the Glen from being drowned once again. Check out some of the latest press national attention to Glen and Grand Canyons below.

This year's runoff has only raised water levels at reservoir Powell about five feet and the spring floods are beginning to taper off. Soon, the reservoir levels will start to drop about one foot per week until next May. We at GCI are all very excited about this upcoming year because of the continued emergence of some of Glen's most beautiful places. I can't stress it enough: this is the time to get down and see Glen Canyon! Do whatever you can to see the "lost canyons" as they emerge.

Our June 11-14 trip, with Former Reclamation Commissioner Dan Beard, into Davis and Fifty-mile Gulch still has a few slots; call now (801.363.4450) to reserve one of them. (I have included a few basic tips for those considering an outing to Glen Canyon; they can be found below the latest news items.)

Photographs from our most recent GCI Field Trip into the Lower Escalante area are available on Elias Butler's website at: http://www.eliasbutler.com/light_table2.htm . Speaking of photographs, we have decided to extend the deadline for our ongoing Glen Canyon Photo/Video Contest until September 30th to give those of you who may be going to the area in the next few months a chance to enter some photos or

For those of you living in Colorado, you will be getting a postcard in the mail announcing a GCI slideshow presentation to be held in conjunction with a wonderful art exhibit about the Colorado: Corridors of Water, Seas of Stone: Images from Canyon Journeys. Our very own Dave Wegner is speaking about Glen Canyon and the Colorado River on June 24th in the Denver area at the Lakewood Heritage Center Visitor Center @ 6pm (801 S. Yarrow St., Lakewood, CO). For those of you outside Colorado who are interested in seeing the latest GCI slideshow presentation, contact us to help set one up in your area.

That's the latest at GCI. Thank you for your support and please contact me with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Christopher Peterson
Executive Director

**********NEWSLINKS********

A River Losing its Soul- Los Angeles Times
May 10, 2004 By Bettina Boxall, Times Staff Writer
GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. Four decades after one of the West's last big dams blocked the free flow of water into the wild recesses of the Grand Canyon, the Colorado still manages to roar through here like the granddaddy of Western rivers. But it has become the Hollywood version; strikingly beautiful and in vital ways, fake. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-me-

The Arid West- New York Times
May 10, 2004, Monday EDITORIAL DESK National Edition , Section A , Page 24
Editorial says Rocky Mountain states region is entering its fifth year of drought, and no one knows how long it will last; says explosion of development and population in two wet decades since 1976 is rapidly drawing down underground aquifers; says question is whether West can sustain even growth it has managed so far; says this drought is occurring at time when climate change is being driven by unnatural global warming; says drought may be normal, but there may be nothing historically normal about this one http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30E1FF73E580C738DDDAC0894DC404482

Canyon Expose-Los Angeles Times
May 25, 2004, By Daniel Kraker
Drought is a good thing, if sculpted rocky drama and prime fishing count.
http://www.latimes.com/features/outdoors/la-os-powell25may25,1,4101484.story

Colorado Conversion?-Sacramento Bee
May 30, 2004, Editorial
A key interior official professes his love for the issue-rich river
http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/story/9480541p-10404459c.html

***********Tips for planning your trip into Glen Canyon************************

1) Consider joining GCI on one of our planned field trips planned over the next six months. These trips are education-oriented and are a great opportunity to have someone from GCI there to take you into some beautiful places and talk about the restoration that you will witness. Go to www.glencanyon.org/gcift for more info.

2) If you would rather go it on your own, either backpacking or a boat ride will get you in, however, if you ride a power boat in, beware of quicksand and realize that in order to see the restoration of the side-canyons, you will need to hike a bit to get away from the reservoir. (The canyon sections which have only recently returned are pretty desolate and a few years away from having most of the sediment washed out and significant vegetation return.)

3) You should plan on staying at least a few days; the remoteness requires something of a time commitment to make it worth the effort.

4) Take detailed Topo maps and be prepared! Don't forget your camera or video camera so you can send us copies of your photos or video footage.

These are basic tips, but please feel free to contact me if you have questions about a trip you plan on taking; We're happy to help anyway we can.