Page 15 - Spring 2014 magazine

Photo by Mike Coffey

Two of nature’s masterpieces dominate the geologi- 2000. Members work to educate the public about the
cal gallery of Northern Arizona’s Colorado Plateau. 300,000-acre public lands incorporating a wonderland
The Grand Canyon, an atop the Plateau as well as the bounding Paria River
acknowledged Wonder and Colorado River ecosystems. The Mission of
of the World, attracts Friends of The Cliffs is to connect people with the
millions of visitors, ecology, geology and history of these particular pub-
many of whom, en route lic lands, including the adjoining Navajo Nation lands
to the North Rim, pass of Echo Cliffs, while promoting protections for the
beneath a vast and mys- fragile landscape.
terious wall known as the
Vermilion Cliffs. Soar- The Friends group sponsors numerous events and
ing 3,000 feet above the ongoing programs of research and education. Volun-
Colorado River where teers work with field scientists on such projects as bat
the waters begin to sculpt and raptor surveys, plant inventory and other pro-
Photo by Mike Coffey the Canyon, the Cliffs grams for the Monument.
Framed by a crevice atop the define the impenetrable The thimble-sized
Cliffs and bracketed by the Echo southeast boundary of the Brady Pincushion
Cliffs in the background, the Cactus
Colorado River carves its way to Paria Plateau, centerpiece (Pediocactusbradyi),
the Grand Canyon. of the Vermilion Cliffs listed on the U.S.
National Monument. Endangered Species
List, is found only in
John Wesley Powell bestowed the name, writing in the limestone-shale
1870: “We leave behind a long line of cliffs, many soil of a small area
alongside the Colo-
hundred feet high, composed of orange and vermilion rado River.
sandstones. I have named them ‘Vermilion Cliffs.’ I Photo by Mike Coffey

look back and see the morning sun shining in splendor
on their painted faces.” The attractions of the Vermilion Cliffs National Mon-
ument begin just beyond the historic river crossing at
Friends of the Cliffs was chartered in 2011 to support Lee’s Ferry, extending 28 miles along U.S. Highway
the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) oversight 89A to the sloping west face of the Cliffs at House
of the Monument, proclaimed by President Clinton in
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