Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

Administrative History

In February 1957, Utah senator Arthur V. Watkins asked Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton to study creating a national recreation area at the reservoir formed by Glen Canyon Dam. By June 1958, the National Park Service and the Bureau of Reclamation had agreed on administration and development of the Colorado River areas upstream and downstream of the dam. Secretary Seaton stated the area would be called Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed a budget in January 1959 that included $43,500 for road construction there. That March, the Park Service announced plans for GCNRA involving $16.5 million over 10 to 15 years. In April 1959, James Milford Eden, then superintendent of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, was named the first superintendent of GCNRA. He set up office in a trailer near what became Wahweap Marina in May 1959.

That October, the National Parks Advisory Board toured Glen Canyon Dam with Eden and board chairman Frank Masland Jr. In March 1960, Eden presented a tentative boundary map including the road to Lees Ferry from Highway 89 and lands near Navajo Bridge. On June 1, 1960, GCNRA received a used WWII 24-ton LCM Landing Craft Mechanized from the U.S. Navy, its second boat after the Park Ranger. The campground at Wahweap Marina opened on December 6, 1961, with 57 sites. In July 1962, bids were let for NPS housing in Page, Arizona, and at Wahweap Marina.