57 



STATEMENT OF STANLEY SELENGUT, MAHO BAY CAMPS 

 INCORPORATED 



Mr. Selengut. Good afternoon. I own Maho Bay, a 114-unit 

 ecoresort on a leased private inholding within the U.S. Virgin Is- 

 lands National Park. We have provided all the capital for con- 

 structing the resort and ancillary facilities which we are amortizing 

 over the length of our 30-year lease. We have no renewal or 

 possessory rights. We pay our landlord seven times the land rent 

 paid by Cinnamon Bay, a comparable park concession within the 

 same park, and we are still delighted with our profitability. 



This year we have been chosen for the 1995 Conde Nast Global 

 Ecotourism Award. We won the 1994 Popular Science Grand 

 Award for Environmental Technology. We were the only resort 

 under the U.S. flag to receive the British Airways 1994 Tourism for 

 Tomorrow Award. We are a leader in sustainable development. 



Sustainability is an initiative the National Park Service is at- 

 tempting to promote throughout the park system. I would love to 

 bid on park concessions. However, it would be futile under existing 

 law. Sustainability practices require a knowledge of new tech- 

 nologies, energy production, food production, waste disposal, trans- 

 portation, recycling, and all aspects of solar design. 



I encourage a more competitive climate where those of our com- 

 panies who are promoting sustainable design and who are leading 

 hopefully the movement toward a society where we live within our 

 resource means can be encouraged to come into the Park Service 

 and help the Park Service follow along their initiative. But right 

 now it is impossible under the existing system. Thank you. 



Mr. Hansen. Thank you. We appreciate your testimony. Mr. 

 Bigwater. 



STATEMENT OF LEE BIGWATER, CANYON DE CHELLY GUIDES 



ASSOCIATION 



Mr. Bigwater. Mr. Chairman, my name is Lee Bigwater. I am 

 from the Navajo Nation, and I am President of the Canyon de 

 Chelly Guides Association. The Canyon de Chelly Association was 

 found in 1993. Our members provide professional guiding and in- 

 terpretation service to visitors at Canyon de Chelly National Monu- 

 ment. The canyon is one of the most famous units in the National 

 Park System. It is known worldwide for its beauty and significance. 

 The monument received 767,000 visitors in 1994. 



No one knows and understands the canyon like my people, the 

 Navajo. The monument is located within the boundary of the Nav- 

 ajo Nation, and its lands are owned and controlled by the Navajo 

 Nation. It is where my people have lived for centuries, where we 

 have fought and died. We were torn from this country by force relo- 

 cation in 1864, but we have returned. 



Today, my people still live, farm, ranch, and pray in these sacred 

 canyons. My family owns a ranch in Canyon de Chelly. We are the 

 gatekeepers and wisdomkeeper of Canyon de Chelly. One of our 

 guides, Johnson John, is 68 years old. He has been taking people 

 into the Canyon de Chelly for 25 years. "See the color of my skin," 

 he tells our visitors. "It is the same color as the earth and the can- 

 yon walls. It comes from the canyon. The canyon is my mother." 



