Yellowstone Tourists Pick "Nostrils of Satan"

Grand Canyon: A Different View by Tom Vail tells the amazing story of how the canyon was carved out by Noah’s Flood 6,000 years ago. No problem. People can write anything they want. It’s probably fiction anyway, right?

No. The book is billed as nonfiction (as in science) and supports the creationist view that the Bible tells the true story of earth’s origins.

The biggest problem with the book is that it is on the science shelves at Grand Canyon National Park. Out of 23 books reviewed for the park in 2003, it was the only one approved. In August 2003, Park Superintendent Joe Alston attempted to block the sale at park bookstores. He was overruled by Bush-appointed fundies in the National Park Service.

The entire sordid episode was recounted in a Dec. 28 story in the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) newsletter. Here are the concluding paragraphs:

Ironically, in 2005, two years after the Grand Canyon creationist controversy erupted, NPS approved a new directive on "Interpretation and Education (Director’s Order #6) which reinforces the posture that materials on the "history of the Earth must be based on the best scientific evidence available, as found in scholarly sources that have stood the test of scientific peer review and criticism [and] Interpretive and educational programs must refrain from appearing to endorse religious beliefs explaining natural processes."

"As one park geologist said, this is equivalent of Yellowstone National Park selling a book entitled Geysers of Old Faithful: Nostrils of Satan," added Jeff Ruch, PEER executive director. He pointed to the fact that previous NPS leadership ignored strong protests from both its own scientists and leading geological societies against the agency approval of the creationist book. "We sincerely hope that the new Director of the Park Service [Mary Bomar] now has the autonomy to do her job."