Grand Canyon bookstore reorders controversial book

PHOENIX (BP)–Officials at the Grand Canyon National Park have ordered additional copies of Grand Canyon: A Different View–a hardcover book of photos and essays advocating creation science and being sold in the park’s bookstores.

Elaine Sevy, a spokesperson with the National Park Service (NPS), confirmed additional copies have been ordered, indicating a quantity of perhaps hundreds before stating she did not know the precise number. However, the book’s compiler–Tom Vail of Phoenix–told Baptist Press the park had ordered more than 300 additional copies.

In recent months, the debate over whether the park should offer the book for sale has been detailed in reports in various news media, including The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times. Dozens of papers across the United States also have carried stories from the Associated Press and Religion News Service.

"It’s amazing to me that this little book has created so much commotion," Vail said. "It’s unfortunate that this book, which was aimed at presenting a creationist point of view in laymen’s terms and how the Grand Canyon [supports] that, has become essentially a legal issue."

Vail’s book has been targeted by numerous secular scientists who have asked the NPS to remove the volume from the bookstores’ inventories.

"We urge you to remove the book from shelves where buyers are given the impression that the book is about Earth science and its content endorsed by the National Park Service," a letter from leaders of several science organizations implored the park superintendent. Signers included presidents of the Paleontological Society, American Geophysical Union, National Association of Geoscience Teachers, Association of American State Geologists, Society for Vertebrate Paleontology, American Geological Institute and the Geological Society of America. Of the book’s 23 contributors, Vail said, 17 are scientists–14 of whom have Ph.D. degrees in scientific areas from universities such as Harvard, Princeton and Penn State.

"Because the view [of these contributors] disagrees with evolutionary geologists, there’s a small number of people who have turned this into a legal issue," Vail observed.

Sevy said the NPS policy office will review whether the bookstores should continue to carry Vail’s volume and "ultimately come up with a policy to guide personnel throughout the park system" on similar issues.

"Now that the book has become quite popular, we don’t want to remove it," Sevy explained, confirming that e-mails received on the issue have been about "50-50," with approximately half supportive of the book and half opposed to it.

In addition, Sevy said, no one assumes local governments and school systems endorse the views of each and every book in the libraries they operate. She said the park’s bookstores have carried books "based on Native American [spiritual] beliefs for many years."

The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), based in Scottsdale, Ariz., is representing Vail in an effort to see the book’s continued sale. The Grand Canyon bookstores’ Web site is, www.grandcanyon.org/bookstore.