Recovery crew races against the lake
57 boats are found: But there are plenty more to salvage as Lake Powell rises up to 2 feet daily
 James Cross is in a hurry as he wends his salvage barge in and out of Lake Powell's canyons, trying to find and raise sunken boats the lake's receding waters exposed before the lake claims them yet again.
Cross, who in the course of his lake cleanup also rescued a dog that fell off a houseboat, said he has found 57 boats and at least one aircraft, some in hundreds of feet of water and others on once-underwater sandstone cliffs. He said there may be as many as 100 sunken craft littering the lake.
The salvage operation is a daunting task for Cross, pilot of the heavy lift barge Charity Eden and founder of American Fork-based Cross International Search and Recovery. But the work has been made easier with an $87,000 boost from EnergySolutions, the nation's only commercial radioactive waste disposal facility.
The money comes from a $3 million foundation created by the company's owners when they bought the business this past winter. Cross' project is the first to receive a grant from the foundation, which originally was a $1 million program dedicated to preserving and enhancing Utah's environment, said Fraser Bullock, the foundation's executive director.
"Lake Powell is such a beautiful place in our state, and to have such a significant impact in recovering 100 sunken vehicles now on the shores seemed like a monumental opportunity," Bullock said.
The National Park Service is aiding Cross' efforts, as are Lake Powell Resorts & Marinas manager ARAMARK and Friends of Lake Powell, which also donated funds.
Cross, 56, said he started his salvage company about 30 years ago. His divers have worked on dams and helped recover F-16s that crashed in the Great Salt Lake. He said he also has provided consulting services during recovery of the space shuttle Challenger and for water venues during the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The Lake Powell operation, he said, is the first project for which he's requested donations.
Cross said estimates that this spring's runoff from a wet winter would cause the lake
to rise 6 inches a day were way off.
"It's been coming up 18 inches to 2 feet" a day, he said. "It is a logistical challenge. We have recoveries that are going to require helicopters and recoveries that are going to require divers."
His crew notes the boats' identity numbers and cross-checks Park Service records to get their stories.
"I'm astounded at the number of these vessels that were deliberately sunk," Cross said.
One houseboat they found was scuttled probably 20 years ago when someone drilled holes in the hull. A sunken cigarette boat owned by a Las Vegas couple was swamped when a tour boat cut too close. In some cases, "people were just going too fast and hit a mountaintop," Cross said. Another boat appears to have sunk when a 4-ton rock landed on it.
"What happened to those people?" Cross mused.
Last week, the Charity Eden was cruising in a wide spot of the lake bracketed by cliff faces when those on board spotted an exhausted golden Labrador retriever swimming madly a half mile from either shore.
The crew hauled in the dog, which once on board, "just lay down and rested," Cross said. "We fed it, but it didn't need water, obviously. It just leaned against you to say, 'Thank you, thank you.'"
The Lab turned out to be Rosie, an Aspen, Colo., family's faithful retainer who had gone over the side of a houseboat a day earlier. The family had reported the dog's disappearance to the Park Service.
"We had a very happy reunion at Bullfrog Marina," Cross said.
By Patty Henetz, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
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