How Teddy Roosevelt Dropped the ball

     So, I have been lucky enough to have spent the past two days galavanting in Sedona.  The weather has been superb, not cold, but not too hot.  No wind, just beautiful mild days.  One day spent climbing with Mark G., always an adventure and always a way to embark on my Total Mental Devestation, and the second day was spent running with the dog.  Amazing, but on both days I found myself privately berating Teddy Roosevelt!  Now some of you may be wondering Teddy who? and others likely are thinking well Dean has definitely been reading too much Ron Paul, but let me explain myself.
    As you may remember TR was our 26th president, he took office after McKinley was assassinated and was the youngest president at age 42.  He was an advocate of progressivism, fostered the square deal, walked softly and carried a big stick, he won the Nobel Prize, rode with the Rough Riders, started the Bull Moose Party, was shot in the chest and still gave a speech, was known to carry a revolver, contracted and later died from malaria... but none of these are what I found myself thinking of as I wound my way through the red rocks.  No, my thoughts drifted to his never ending advocacy for the environment and the wild spaces of America.  TR placed 230 million acres under federal protection, set aside more land for national parks and preserves than all of his predecesors combined.  He was a close friend of Gifford Pinchot and John Muir, and the list goes on and on.  He declared the Grand Canyon a national monument, one of the initial steps of it being declared a National park... but he missed Sedona!  This is where my disappointment with ole Teddy arises.  He traveled to the Grand Canyon and gave a great speech in 1903 right around the time that Sedona was beginning to be developed (Sedona recieved its first Postal Station in 1902, thanks to the Schnebly family).  How, oh how did TR one of our greatest environmental presidents miss the opportunity to save Sedona, turning it into a National Park?
     Mark and I had a great discussion/daydream about what it might look like if Sedona was a National Park, and I've been daydreaming a bit on my own.  Picture this.  You are driving south from Flagstaff on 89 and as you arrive at the switchbacks you are hailed by a Parkie complete with the flat hat.  They hand you the requisite park service map as you flash your golden eagle pass (yes you bought one because you're a local and its the right thing to do).  You wind your way down the switchbacks and are overwhelmed with the views of Oak Creek canyon.  The boundaries of the park basically run from the switchbacks, to the top of Schnebly Hill, to where the Village of Oak Creek now is, to oh right about Paige Springs fish hatchery, out and around the peripheries of Secret, Boynton and Long canyons, around Dry Creek and Sycamore, who knows how far up West Fork, right up to the rim again.  Where the "downtown" Sedona area now is lies the Sedona equivelent of Curry Village, lodging, shopping, permit offices etc... and then poof theres not much at all.  Feeder roads take one to multiple trailheads, perhaps the pink jeeps are still allowed, but operate more in a shuttle capacity. There are shuttles that will take you to all the trailheads, or if you get a permit you can drive your personal vehicle (much like Zion).  Ed Abbeys vision of loaner bicycles for park visitor transportation is realized.  And air traffic is greatly restricted, much like Grand Canyon.  And best of all no multi million homes sully your view as you climb, bike, run, ride your horse, hike, camp, swim, or perhaps even paraglide(since the rim is not in the park you can launch from above and land in the park- a loophole I just invented).  Ahhhh can you see it, can you feel it?  I can and as I continue to hike and climb and bike and run this dream will be in the corner of my mind...