Wednesday, Sept. 18, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
Clinton was expected to use the Grand Canyon as a backdrop - literally - to set aside a vast expanse of federal land in southern Utah as a national monument. About 600 people lined up outside the park's best-known hotel at mid-morning, waiting for a chance to see and hear Clinton's proposals.
Some of Utah's congressional delegation were angry about the proposed 1.9 million acre "Canyon of the Escalante" National Monument. However, the Utah residents who traveled to Arizona to hear Clinton seemed supportive of the idea.
"I don't feel represented by my representatives at all," said Kathy Aldous of Moab, Utah. "I'm just glad Clinton has the authority to do this."
About 75 people in the crowd wore yellow buttons with "5.7 Wild Utah" printed on them, a reference to environmentalists who want 5.7 million acres of Utah land to be designated as protected lands.
Mike Matz, executive director of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, was at the famous tourist attraction to await the president's announcement.
"We're hoping he'll do something monumental today. This is one of the most significant land actions that any president has done," he said.
He also blasted Utah's congressional delegation for their opposition to the plan.
"The Utah delegation ... (has) completely ignored the public's sentiment," he said.
Not everyone waiting to see Clinton was there because of the expected Utah announcement.
"It doesn't matter what your politics are because he's the president of the United States," said Marta Peterson, a park service employee who lives in the Grand Canyon.
The staging area for Clinton's speech is outside the lodge, with the majestic red rims of the canyon literally in the background when Clinton faces the audience.
Parking, already at a premium in the national park, was even harder to come by this morning. Park service employees directed cars to the few authorized parking areas and stopped visitors and reporters who tried to park illegally.
The weather was cloudy and cool with high temperatures expected in the 50s.
While most of the attention was focusing on the Utah proposal, other environmental groups said they wished Clinton would limit development at the Grand Canyon.
A Flagstaff-based group, "No on Canyon Forest village" sent Clinton a letter asking him to halt plans for a huge commercial development on Tusayan, just south of the canyon park's border and about seven miles from the canyon's South Rim - the main visitor site.
The proposed development, a master-planned community, would include up to 5,000 hotel rooms plus restaurants, retail shops, theaters, visitor centers and housing for park employees.
Part of the plan depends on swapping privately owned land for Forest Service land, which in turn depends in part on completion of an environmental impact study under way for some time.
The opposing coalition includes Tusayan businesses and others throughout northern Arizona.
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