Creationism and the National Park Service - A Follow-Up

PEER - the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, issued a press release on December 28, 2006 claiming that Grand Canyon National Park is not permitted to give an official estimate of the geologic age of its principal feature [the Canyon], due to pressure from Bush administration appointees. The release was featured in this column, prompting a great deal of reader discussion on the topic.

PEER, like many organizations and individuals, has expressed concern at the increasing influence of Fundamentalist Christianity over public affairs since the beginning of the Bush Presidency in 2001. Though Christian Fundamentalism's influence has certainly expanded in the six years since President Bush was sworn into office, PEER's claims remain unverifiable and vehemently denied by the Park Service. In a letter dated January 3, 2007, David Barna, the Park Service's Chief of Public Affairs, stated the following in response to queries made by this column in reference to PEER's assertions:

Therefore, our interpretive talks, way-side exhibits, visitor center films, etc use the following explanation for the age of the geologic features at Grand Canyon. If asked the age of the Grand Canyon, our rangers use the following answer.

The principal consensus among geologists is that the Colorado River basin has developed in the past 40 million years and that the Grand Canyon itself is probably less than five to six million years old. The result of all this erosion is one of the most complete geologic columns on the planet