Canyon Views Spring Summer 2021, Vol. 28 No.1

CANYON

VIEWS

VOL.28, NO. 1 S P R I N G | S U M M E R 2 0 2 1

A P U B L I C AT I O N O F G R A N D C A N YO N C O N S E R VA N C Y

Canyon Views is published by Grand Canyon Conservancy, the official nonprofit partner of Grand Canyon National Park. Grand Canyon Conservancy works hand in hand with the National Park Service to support projects and educational programs for the public, including the preservation and safeguarding of Grand Canyon culture and history, trail maintenance, historic building conservation, and the protection of wildlife and their natural habitat.

You can make a difference at Grand Canyon!

For more information about Grand Canyon Conservancy, please visit grandcanyon.org.

Board of Directors: Teresa Gavigan, Board Chair; Mitchell Walker, Board Vice-Chair; Lizabeth Ardisana; Ann Becker; Randall Brown; Awenate Cobbina; Jason Coochwytewa; Aaron Craft; Nigel Finney; Deborah Gage; Charlie Galbraith; Teresa Kline; Alejandra Lillo; Shantini Munthree; Mark Schiavoni; Stan Sutherland; Merl Waschler; Tyson Winarski Chief Executive Officer: Theresa McMullan Chief Philanthropy Officer: Danielle Segura Director of Marketing & Communications and Canyon Views Editor: Mindy Riesenberg Graphic Designer: Meghan Bergeron Copyright © 2021 Grand Canyon Conservancy Cover photo courtesy of Michael Quinn, Grand Canyon NPS

D E A R G R A N D C A N YO N C O N S E R VA N C Y M E M B E R S ,

It’s been a year of adapting. In this edition of Canyon Views, we explore a few of the many adjustments that have taken place at Grand Canyon National Park, and those that keep visitors connected to the park, no matter their location.

Almost a year ago, we welcomed Superintendent Ed Keable. It’s been rare to find Ed behind his desk since then, but it’s not because he’s working from home like many of us. His office is the 1.2 million acres of Grand Canyon National Park, and that’s where you’ll find him from day to day. Explorations with Ed gives you a glimpse into some of the ways that Ed spends his days, how he learns about park priorities, and how he engages with staff.

You will also read about the Distance Learning Program and how it’s expanding to bring Grand Canyon to kids across the country; the virtual presentation of the Cultural Demonstrator Series at Desert View; and how the Preventive Search and Rescue (PSAR) team continues their critical work to keep hikers safe.

This May, we’re happy to announce the relaunch of the Artist in Residence program with online and in-person opportunities to interact with accomplished artists as they live and work at the South Rim. In addition, the new Astronomer in Residence program will kick off this summer, bringing professional and amateur astronomers, educators, scientists, writers, and visual and performing artists to the canyon to practice and share their discipline at our International Dark Sky Park.

The circumstances of the past year have accelerated the goal of bringing Grand Canyon to people at home. I hope this issue helps you find a new connection.

Grand Canyon Conservancy P.O. Box 399 Grand Canyon, AZ 86023-0399 (800) 858-2808 grandcanyon.org

Theresa McMullan Chief Executive Officer

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In this Issue 02

Explorations with Ed

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Learning from a Distance

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Artist in Residence Program Returns to Grand Canyon

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Seeing Stars: The Astronomer in Residence Program

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Helping Hikers Stay Safe on Grand Canyon Trails

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Second Phase of Inter-tribal Cultural Heritage Site Begins Construction

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What’s Happening at Grand Canyon this Summer

28

My Grand Canyon Story

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Nina Mason Pulliam Trust Protects and Preserves Grand Canyon National Park

30

Your Membership Benefits

33

Shop Grand Canyon Conservancy

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Explorations with Ed

by Ed Keable, Grand Canyon N at ional Par k Superintendent Editor’s note: Ed Keable has been Superintendent of Grand Canyon National Park since May, 2020.

In September he began sending out “field briefings” to park staff to highlight his efforts to get out from behind his desk and meet colleagues in the field—part of his endeavor to be Superintendent of the whole park. In his words, “I am interested in what you do. I am interested in your ideas on how we might do things better at Grand Canyon National Park. I am interested in you. I look forward to more opportunities to spend time with employees getting my hands dirty.”

Explorations with Ed shares edited versions of these missives with you, our GCC Members, so you too can learn what Ed’s been up to at the park.

Dear Friends, In October, Ranger Todd Seliga hosted a number of people at Tuweep to talk about the challenges and opportunities for the future operations for the western areas of Grand Canyon National Park.

Tuweep and the western reaches of the park are amazing places.

Todd does a fantastic job managing a number of challenges there that include increasing numbers of visitors and new recreational uses, current uses that are inconsistent with the area’s values such as incompatible visitor use patterns, encroaching development, poaching, cultural resource vandalism and theft, closed-area vehicle use, and the environmental impacts of abandoned uranium mines. We discussed all of these issues with Grand CanyonParashant Superintendent Brenda Todd and Arizona Strip (Bureau of Land Management) District Manager Mike Herder to ensure that we coordinate the park’s management on a landscape scale.

Our own Jan Balsom joined Todd to share information about the uranium mine’s lasting impacts on the environment.

We also managed to hike to Scotty’s Hollow and the Toroweep Overlook to remind ourselves of the responsibility we share to preserve these remarkable places.

The challenges we face in these parts of the park are real. We are committed to working with our partners, which, in addition to Grand Canyon Conservancy, will also include some of our affiliated tribes, Pipe Spring National Monument, Zion National Park, and the Grand Canyon Trust as we go forward. I will keep you up to date as we continue this important work.

Thanks, Photos by Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent, Ed Keable.

Ed

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Dear Friends

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Recently, I h ad the oppo rtunity to hik Trail on a pa e down the H leontology b ermit ri efing with Sc Managemen ience and R t staff. We sp esource ent time alon to know the g the Hermit rock formatio , getting ns, especially Sandstone, H the Coconin ermit Shale, o and Supai F to a couple ormation. W of locations e h a iked n d Canyon Nati learned abo onal Park. T ut fossils at h G ere is a rich rand in the park a paleontology nd there is ra resource pidly growin professional g interest in paleontologic it in the al communit general pub y and among lic. the

Reptilian tetrapod tracks in Coconino Sandstone.

Like our inte rpretive rang ers do with o program alo ur junior ran ng the west ger rim trail, staff and demons le d us on a fo trated how th ssil hunt ey are using and track fo technology to ssil informati o capture n in the park. fossils deem We even fou ed worthy of n d collecting fo collection! r the park’s research We also took time to talk a bout the pale park and exp o program a lored opport t the unities for in enormous a novation. Th nd exciting o e re are pportunities near, medium for this prog , and long te ram in the rm.

Thanks, Ed

Back row, L-R: Science and Resource Management (SRM) Chief Jeanne Calhoun, SRM Staff Anne Miller, SRM Deputy Chief Sarah Haas, and Scot Rogerson.

Front row, L-R: Deputy Superintendent Louis Rowe, SRM Staff Mark Nebel, and Superintendent Ed Keable.

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Dear Friends, In December, Lead Packer Chris Clark led me and several others on a mule ride to Phantom Ranch and back on Ebby, Notch, Junior, Artie, and Chester, with Sadie carrying gear. Our four-legged colleagues were especially accommodating.

The purpose of this orientation was to give Chris an opportunity to demonstrate to the group the work the packers and mules provide to support park operations. They collaborate closely with the trail crew to maintain our many trails by hauling dirt and equipment to the trail construction sites. We stopped at some of the dirt piles and barrow pits on the Bright Angel Trail to learn how they function. We learned how trails staff coordinate with the Planning, Environment, and Projects Division to ensure compliance to use fill material from the canyon to maintain trails.

We also stopped on both the way down and up to talk to a team of American Conservation Experience youth as they worked on the Bright Angel Trail. Members of the packing team worked with a crew on the South Kaibab Trail and another trail crew was working on the North Kaibab repairing a wall collapse caused by a pipeline break. All this while Chris was leading our group on our trip on the Bright Angel Trail.

The packing crew also routinely transports supplies to Inner Canyon work units. This essential function is also performed by the helicopter crew, whose work is quicker but more expensive than the packers. They also support the compost workers who are tirelessly hiking to and servicing the many composting toilets in the canyon. The Inner Canyon operation simply would not work effectively without the packers and mules. I can verify firsthand the value the members of this team add to the overall management of the park.

Grand Canyon is a complex place. It requires a large mix of people from many divisions and disciplines to work together to preserve the canyon and make it available to our visitors. It is important that we all know about and appreciate the contributions that each of us makes to this special place.

I want to extend my thanks to Chris and everyone our group met during our trip to Phantom Ranch for the work they are doing.

Thanks, Ed

Photos by Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent, Ed Keable.

Ranger Sarah Acomb, Deputy Chief of Interpretation and Resource Education Donna Richardson, Lead Packer Chris Clark, and Deputy Superintendent Louis Rowe prepare for a mule ride into the canyon.

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Dear Friends, Grand Canyon National Park has participated in the annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC) for years. I had the privilege and fun to join the count this year.

Ranger Brian Gatlin explained this activity when he invited community members to participate. He said, “The Christmas Bird Count, sponsored by the National Audubon Society, is the longest-running citizen science survey in the world. The data collected during Christmas Counts provides critical global bird population trends. In 2012, Grand Canyon National Park conducted its first CBC in nearly 30 years and made noteworthy observations. Over the subsequent years we have built on that success and continued to document the many reasons that Grand Canyon is designated as a ‘Globally Important Bird Area.’”

We broke out into several groups to count birds in different areas of the park over different times of the day. This year’s results are very consistent with what we’ve seen in recent years. Since restarting the CBC in 2012, we’ve averaged 51 species on count day; this year, we recorded 52. While the species count was typical, the number of individuals for many species was relatively low. Some highlights included our second highest counts for Red-breasted Nuthatches, Spotted Towhees, and White-crowned Sparrows, each of which was exceeded only by the exceptional numbers we found in 2017. We counted our highest numbers ever for Williamson’s Sapsucker (2), Say’s Phoebe (6), Lewis’s Woodpecker (9), and Brown Creeper (6).

Prairie Falcon and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker were recorded for the first time ever, and a Mallard at Phantom was only the second ever for our CBC. American Three-toed Woodpeckers were located for only the fourth time, and American Coots for only the fifth.

I want to thank Brian for his enthusiasm for this annual event that contributes to our knowledge about birds in the park and all the participants for their contributions. Plus, it was great fun!

Thanks, Ed

scans an Gatlin

Ranger Bri Lead Packer Chris Clark on the trail.

for birds.

Raven fl ock.

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Ranger Annie Kilby teaches a class in front of the green screen. Photo by Mindy Riesenberg.

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Learning from a Distance

by Annie K ilby, Grand Canyon N at ional Park Educ at ion Specialist

What is your most vivid memory from elementary school?

What did your learning environment look like? Regardless of where (and when) you attended school, the environment today looks very different—especially given the challenges of education during the COVID-19 pandemic—and very digital.

Grand Canyon National Park has long been on the cutting edge of virtual learning.

For 15 years, the park has brought programming to students across the country and the world—inspiring similar programs in other National Park units. The park’s Distance Learning program opens the door to experiencing Grand Canyon no matter where you are.

For many students, this is their first experience with Grand Canyon and our national parks. Virtual programming provides equitable access to this wonder. The park’s education program allows students to dive deep into what makes Grand Canyon unique while drawing connections to endless exploration opportunities in their own communities.

Since the first program connecting to a school in Massachusetts in 2006, Grand Canyon’s Distance Learning program has seen significant growth and innovation.

That first year, rangers reached classes via two-way video conferencing, connecting to 17 classrooms and approximately 525 students. The program continued to grow over the next six years, relying on this simple setup. In 2012, the program came to a crossroads, as the aging equipment could not meet the growing demand. Realizing the importance of providing access to Grand Canyon for students who have only dreamed of the colorful rock walls and diverse desert ecology, Grand Canyon Conservancy (GCC) support breathed new life into the program by providing a high-tech program with versatile equipment, laptops, a reliable internet connection, and most importantly, a dedicated studio space with a green screen.

From humble beginnings, the distance learning program at Grand Canyon grew to reach an average of 200 classes and 6,000 students a year from across Arizona, the country, and the globe.

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Ranger Andy Pearce monitors a fourth Grade Distance Learning class. Photo by Mindy Riesenberg.

This past year had its challenges, but those challenges were opportunities. The staff of the Resource Education team at Grand Canyon National Park took time to make improvements and changes to the park’s virtual learning programs through experimenting, innovating, and trying out new online learning methods. Our staff of trained educators improved the curriculum, implementing new methodologies and best practices in education with a focus on creating inclusive programs. The current programming builds upon academic standards and creates space to support selfefficacy among students through social and emotional learning. The park is looking to expand its Distance Learning reach by building partnerships with schools and youth organizations committed to serving untapped and traditionally underserved communities. To meet this growing need, our team is working with the park’s Tribal Liaison office to strengthen relationships with tribal schools while maintaining current relationships with Arizona teachers and schools to provide opportunities for students to connect with Grand Canyon.

This year helped our staff see opportunities to shift the focus of our existing program modules. For example, social studies lessons saw a complete overhaul, shifting away from stories of European American use of the canyon to a more accurate account of American Indian history. Instead of the standard curriculum, middle and high school students now investigate the historically tenuous relationship between the National Park Service and the associated tribes using case studies from the park’s history. Students reflect on how the past influences the present and what actions we can take to move forward. Elementary students look at how people have adapted to the landscape through the lens of food and the impact traditional agricultural practices have today in the face of a changing climate. Both lessons seek to elevate native voices and perspectives, highlighting these diverse cultures’ innovations and contributions.

To support the broader community of environmental and outdoor education providers, the park is participating in a nationwide learning network and program evaluation led by researchers at Virginia Tech and Clemson University.

This network consists of over 45 organizations, including six National Park units. Using shared outcomes of 21st-century stewardship, this network of providers, including Grand Canyon National Park staff, is working to uncover how to get students excited and engaged through relevant programs, laying the foundation for students to be advocates for the natural world. Using the power of collaboration, education principles, and student responses, the park is putting these practices into action, creating synchronous online ecology and geology programs for students in fifth grade and above.

As we look ahead to the future, the Distance Learning program at Grand Canyon National Park will continue innovating and improving to remain a leader in online education, making connections with students of all ages around the world.

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Kudos for the Distance Learning Program “These programs really engaged my students and held their attention. They were full of questions during and after the presentation and were so intrigued that they wanted to learn more. Under the current situation, we can’t go on field trips. Those ‘being there’ experiences add so much to our learning.”

–Debbie Voris, Teacher, Hopi Elementary School, Phoenix, Arizona

“It was really fun and inspired me to be a ranger.”

–Fourth grade student “If I am going to be honest, I had no idea there was so much versatility in the Grand Canyon. There were trees and brush in one ecosystem and in another there was barely any water and the climate was very dry. I always thought there were just rocks at the Grand Canyon besides the Colorado river!”

– Fifth grade student

Grand Canyon’s Distance Learning Program Goals •Promote student self-efficacy.

•Provide fun and relevant

programs that connect Grand Canyon to students’ homes.

•Support learning through real-world examples of education curriculum standards.

•Create opportunities and access for students to experience Grand Canyon National Park through fun, engaging student-driven programs.

Distance learning workspace (bottom left and right). Photos by Mindy Riesenberg.

Photo by Grand Canyon NPS.

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Grand Canyon Artist in Residence Program Returns to

Artists have been inspired by Grand Canyon’s majestic views for millennia, going back to the first people who lived on this land. In the late 19th century, painters of the Hudson River School created vibrant scenes that became the impetus for the creation of the National Park Service. Today, the sights and sounds in national parks continue to inspire artists in residency programs across the country.

Photo by Michael Quinn Grand Canyon NPS.

11 Grand Canyon National Park hosted artists through a residency program that started on the North Rim in 2003 and at the South Rim in 2007. It ran through 2017, at which time the program was suspended as the park and Grand Canyon Conservancy (GCC) worked to revise the program to better address park needs and opportunities to showcase the program. Now, the Artist in Residence program is returning with the goal of bringing new perspectives and insights about the canyon to light.

“We hope the level of work will not just bring artists to the canyon but bring Grand Canyon to the world of contemporary art,” said Rebecca Lowry of the Joshua Tree Innovation Laboratory (JT Lab), a national parks creative collaborator that, together with Bernard Leibov of BoxoPROJECTS, is working with GCC to relaunch the residency program. “There are incredibly rich sources of history and experience that can deeply infuse the artworld while energizing new visitors to come to the park.”

The residency will kick-off with artist and writer Heather L. Johnson, who will spend six weeks living and working at the South Rim from May 3rd to June 14th. Johnson is a contemporary multi-media artist who has been awarded artist residencies at BoxoPROJECTS (California), the McColl Center for Visual Art (North Carolina), Cherryhurst House (Texas), Villa Bergerie (Spain), and more. She has created several collaborative international projects involving artists, site-specific art, and random local participants from around the world. Her motivation is to inspire questions about where we are as humans, physically and psychologically, in relation to who and what surrounds us.

“This residency is an opportunity for me to dive into a place that is completely and overwhelmingly unknown to me in an intimate kind of way,” said Johnson. “I want a deeper understanding of this landscape, and I imagine I’ll walk away from this being more sensitive to the issues that affect Grand Canyon.”

The artists chosen for the residency program will reside at the South Rim where they can immerse themselves in day-to-day life at the canyon. With stays of six weeks or longer, the artists will have the opportunity to do a deep dive into the park and work closely with other specialists and rangers to craft projects that may open our eyes to old stories in new ways.

“Art is a vehicle for storytelling and revealing truths and making connections, and this program can bring forth new ideas and thoughts about this amazing place,” said Lowry, who was one of the Artists in Residence at Grand Canyon National Park in 2013.

“Heather is a critical thinker whose work has purpose.

She’ll bring a depth of experience and perspective to the adventure,” said Bernard Leibov, the Director of BoxoPROJECTS.

Future Artists in Residence will be chosen via a jury selection process. To learn more, email residency@grandcanyon.org.

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One-on-One with Heather L. Johnson Heather L. Johnson sees her time as Grand Canyon’s Artist in Residence as a research project to get to know the space and the people.

“Very little of what I’m interested in is about the views,” she said. “I want to know the details. I want to go for long walks and carefully look at everything, not only nature, but the village and the infrastructure that makes Grand Canyon tick.”

Johnson, who is based in Houston, Texas, has been focusing her recent work on the landscapes and the people she encounters through travel. She is interested in the traces of themselves people leave behind when moving through a given space— ranging from tales of personal experience that color a location’s cultural history to the physical transformations people make upon the landscape itself, be it through large architectural transformations or the subtler signs of human footprints.

As the Artist in Residence, she’d like to broaden her self-awareness by examining how her presence affects the parts of Grand Canyon National Park that she moves through, and conversely, how the qualities and features of the environment affect her.

She is hopeful that even with COVID-19 restrictions she’ll be able to have personal contact with the people who live and work at the canyon and the visitors who come every day. One of her plans is to take small groups on drawing tours that will focus on the things that get overlooked, like, she says, “a rock that looks like your grandmother, a flower, what you hear, what you smell, the trash left behind—these things make up the reality of a place.”

This idea stems from a series of “spontaneous drawings” Johnson began during an artist residency in Spain, involving early morning hikes and sketches of objects she felt drawn to on her path. With each sketch, she made a point of marking the paper according to how the subject made her feel, instead of how she thought it should appear, representationally, in the drawing.

“This enabled me to connect more intimately with each subject and its context, increasing my level of attention and respect for the environment through which I passed,” she said. “At Grand Canyon, I’d be very interested in photographing, drawing, and observing infrastructure that help drive the economy generated by park tourism, and I envision building a new body of work that garners its meaning from relationships and tensions existing between the delicate nature of the park itself and the infrastructural building blocks needed to sustain its tourism and surrounding communities.”

Overall, Johnson is excited about the opportunity to relaunch the Artist in Residence program at Grand Canyon. “I want to make myself available to people and I look forward to having something to talk about and share with them,” she said.

Artwork by Heather L. Johnson, Generator, 2019.

Photo of Heather L. Johnson by Wei Hong.

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Seeing Stars: The Astronomer in Residence Program

by R ader L ane, Grand C anyon N a t ional Park R ang er, Nig ht Sk y L ead

Photo by Michael Quinn Grand Canyon NPS.

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People have been enraptured by the stars over Grand Canyon for thousands of years.

Even in the age before global light pollution, when the full glory of the night sky was visible over every culture on Earth, this landscape offered a sharpness of starlight unparalleled throughout most of the world. We have the geography and climate to thank for this. Grand Canyon National Park is located high on the Colorado Plateau, far from the lights of large cities, in the dry desert southwest. Combined with the clean air and clear skies, Grand Canyon opens a unique window into the cosmos that has been celebrated by the indigenous peoples of this land since time immemorial.

Today, when 80 percent of people living in the United States can no longer see the Milky Way from their homes due to light pollution, preserving both the dark skies over Grand Canyon and the stories written in their starlight is more important than ever. The National Park Service, together with Grand Canyon Conservancy (GCC) and other park partners, has made great strides toward preserving natural darkness in and around the park. But what has already been achieved is just the beginning. Beyond retrofitting the park’s exterior lighting, we’re developing several opportunities for dark sky education and enjoyment that will revolutionize what it means to experience an International Dark Sky Park.

In 2019, Grand Canyon National Park was certified as an International Dark Sky Park by the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA). The IDA established the International Dark Sky Places Program in 2001 to “encourage communities, parks and protected areas around the world to preserve and protect dark sites through responsible lighting policies and public education.”

The efforts to certify Grand Canyon as an International Dark Sky Park began soon after.

It took several years of baseline research, regional advocacy, and outreach before the National Park Service and GCC could fully commit to the project. Finally, with a crucial wave of support from donors, GCC support allowed the park to hire a lighting specialist in 2013 to inventory all the park’s lighting fixtures. The goal was to determine how many fixtures would need to be altered to become dark-sky-friendly. Alterations would include fully shielding fixtures, adding timers or motion sensors, installing warmer bulbs, or simply removing fixtures all together. To be eligible for International Dark Sky Park status, at least 67 percent of the park’s total light fixtures were required to reach compliance. After a year and a half of inventory, our specialist tallied a whopping 5,094 exterior lights in the park.

With 34 percent of those lights already dark-sky-friendly, that meant around 1,500 fixtures needed to be retrofitted to meet eligibility. As the only national park with a K–12 school inside its boundaries and an employee community of nearly 3,000 residents, the process to make the South Rim of Grand Canyon dark-sky-certified was unprecedented in scale.

The park completed the herculean task in the summer of 2019. Soon after, the incredible retrofit process and the park’s night sky programming were recognized with IDA’s International Dark Sky Place of the Year Award. Thanks to the dedication of many, Grand Canyon has become one of the largest, most complex, International Dark Sky Parks on Earth. In achieving our goal, we’ve made a declaration to all parks worldwide: If Grand Canyon National Park can do this, any park can do this.

And we’re not finished. We continue to retrofit lights beyond the 67 percent benchmark.

The IDA requires parks to make 90 percent of their exterior lights dark-sky-friendly within five years and to have a plan for 100 percent compliance within ten years of certification. For Grand Canyon, this means finishing up a few areas in the South Rim Village, which contains the vast majority of the park’s total lighting and focusing on other districts of the park like the North Rim, Desert View, and Phantom Ranch.

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Photo by Harun Mehmedinović, SKYGLOW.

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But fixing the lights is only half of what it means to be an International Dark Sky Park. The other half is providing visitors the opportunities to learn about and enjoy the stars.

It is this hemisphere that will truly set Grand Canyon apart, since very few places on Earth see as much visitation while maintaining such pristine levels of natural darkness. This combination of factors is one of the main reasons our annual Grand Canyon Star Party has become the largest night sky festival in the National Park Service. In 2019 (the last time we hosted Star Party in-person at the canyon), our estimated visitation over the eight-night festival was 12,500. Over 81,000 eyes peered through telescopic eyepieces. 4,300 visitors attended our nightly guest speaker presentations.

1,500 visitors attended our nightly constellation tours. We recently introduced night sky photography workshops that exceeded expectations, attracting up to 70 visitors per late-night session.

Photo by Harun Mehmedinović, SKYGLOW.

19 We have an extraordinary opportunity here: on a moonless summer night at Grand Canyon, the center of the Milky Way is bright enough to cast your shadow. Visitors genuinely want this experience. Park ranger night sky programs are by far the most popular topic in the park. While the summer Grand Canyon Star Party spearheads our dark sky program efforts, our goal is to offer several opportunities throughout the year that foster these experiences. Enter the Astronomer in Residence program.

An opportunity for visitors and researchers alike The Astronomer in Residence program offers professional and amateur astronomers, educators, scientists, writers, and visual and performing artists the opportunity to practice and share their discipline under one of the most pristine night skies in the United States. Through artwork and educational outreach, the program informs park visitors about the values of dark night skies, spreads awareness about the threats of light pollution, and explores society’s complex relationship with natural darkness.

The program is modeled after the Artist in Residence program popular in parks across the country. The park hosts a chosen applicant on-site for a short-term residency; the resident, in turn, completes projects in their medium through direct experience of the park’s resources. Some of the resident’s finished project is donated to the park and some visitor outreach is completed based on the nature of the residency. The difference is that this program focuses on night skies, astronomy, and the various disciplines studying natural darkness. Not only are astronomers encouraged to apply—we also invite educators, advocates, artists, and other outreach disciplines to share their expert knowledge, inspiration, and equipment with park visitors.

Having a residency program that focuses specifically on night skies is beneficial in numerous ways. Principally, constraining the residency to one resource allows for a deeper exploration of that resource. Imagine the various disciplines through which a resident might connect visitors with the stars . . .

Perhaps the resident is an amateur astronomer with a set of impressive homemade telescopes. She resides in the park for a month, sets up her telescopes on the rim for passersby, presents formal evening programs on astronomical subjects, and builds a couple of telescopes for the children of Grand Canyon School.

Perhaps the resident is a professional astrophotographer. He provides the park with stunning time-lapses of the Milky Way for his residency. He gives a few public night sky photography workshops during his stay.

Maybe the resident is a composer. She comes to write a series of nocturnes inspired by the Grand Canyon night experience. She might perform some famous nocturnes in public evening programs during her stay.

Perhaps the resident is a science writer. She proposes to write about the benefits of natural darkness on sleep and well-being. She spends the entire residency living with very minimal artificial light, relying mostly on the cycles of the Sun and the Moon. She gives public presentations on her research. She writes about her experience and publishes the piece in Canyon Views.

Or maybe the resident is a renowned professional astronomer. He spends his residency providing constellation tours every night to visitors. During the day, he records a video series discussing ways people at home can live a dark-sky-friendly lifestyle. He shares the video series on GCC’s social media platforms.

The possibilities are endless. The “Astronomer” in the title is meant to be a catch-all for anyone with a unique perspective on the celestial sphere. The more residents we host, the more we discover the richness of dark skies and their importance in our lives in a world increasingly losing sight of them.

As with all our preservation efforts, the aim is not only for visitors to enjoy and protect their national parks, but to leave motivated to enact change in their own communities. Grand Canyon is one of the last sanctuaries of the heavens above. Let it be the pulpit upon which the good word of the stars is shared so that once again, worldwide, we may let there be night.

To learn more about the Astronomer in Residence program, email residency@grandcanyon.org.

GRAND

CANYON ASTRONOMER IN RESIDENCE

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Helping Hikers Stay Safe on Grand Canyon Trails

Photos by Grand Canyon NPS.

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The Preventive Search and Rescue (PSAR) program at Grand Canyon National Park was established in 1997 with the mission of reducing visitor injury, illness, and death on the trails during the hottest summer months. In the years since, advances in technology, improved hiking gear, and increased availability of backcountry information have shaped the playing field on which PSAR operates. Today, PSAR has a staff of 10, and in 2021, a seasonal PSAR ranger will be stationed on the North Rim for the first time.

PSAR volunteers are the official “welcoming party” to Grand Canyon hikers. Volunteers attend a two-day training at the end of April followed by two to three days of shadowing rangers on trails, for a total of 30–40 hours of preparation for the busy time of year.

Volunteers reduce the load on park rangers and the potential harm visitors could get into by means of “prevention through education.” Every day during the season, rangers and volunteers deploy onto corridor trails and slowly patrol down into the canyon. They take positions at natural bottlenecks on the trails close to common rest areas to educate visitors descending farther into the canyon on topics such as personal preparedness and safe hiking practices.

In a typical year, 65 PSAR volunteers travel from all over the country each year from April through October to support the program. However, due to COVID-19 restrictions, only the local volunteers who lived within a five to seven-hour driving radius from the canyon could work in 2020, meaning only 25 volunteers were active last year. But those 25 volunteers made all the difference to visitors hiking Grand Canyon!

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Photo by Michael Quinn Grand Canyon NPS.

“In 2020, we saw that people got into trouble much sooner than usual, and I believe that was because people were out of shape because they weren’t doing their usual exercise while they were under quarantine, even things like walking the stairs or walking to cars,” said Meghan Smith, Preventive Search and Rescue Supervisor.

Some visitors to Grand Canyon make dangerous plans and casually descend into the canyon with unrealistic goals in mind. In 2020, the PSAR volunteers who were on-hand were integral to helping visitors visualize more attainable goals or alternative options. Smith also said that the COVID-19 virus meant a new approach to handling hiker assists.

“Though we’re outdoors and there is room to distance, people still congregate in the shade, near water, and by bathrooms, so we had to discuss how to distance ourselves in this situation,” she said. “Once an assist was identified, there were layers to our approach. For example, if someone was vomiting or had asthma constriction, we had to decide whether we would mask or not, hike in front of them or behind them, camp with them or in their proximity. There were definitely new layers of consideration for how we managed these issues.”

One change that was made was that the porch at the Phantom Ranch Ranger Station was overhauled. The shade structure added sprayers for misting people with water so it could become the first place of triage before entering the building to visit the clinic. Smith said it was a greater buffer than they had in the past.

The PSAR team expects 2021 to be similar to 2020. They plan to start the season in May with a smaller group of volunteers like last year and will gauge attendance levels as the park begins reopening facilities based on national COVID-19 regulations.

“I am so pleased to be allowed to be a part of this program and a part of an organization of rangers who are so dedicated to park service.”

– Bill Fallon, PSAR Volunteer

A PSAR Poem

by Larry Dutch, PSAR Volunteer

General Contacts 150000

149,264

120000 90000 60000

76,310

30000 0

2019

2020

We’re Preventive Search and Rescue We don’t make a fuss.

We do our work with volunteers, The Park depends on us.

We hit the trail at early morn to help hikers up and down.

If the stuff they have don’t fit their plan We’ll turn their butts around.

Preventive Actions 25000 20000

22,251

15000 10000

12,541

5000 0

2019

2020

Hiker Assists 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0

741

332

2019

2020

Kathie Reichart provides direction to a visitor at the top of the S. Kaibab Trail.

Photo by Grand Canyon NPS (bottom left).

Grand Canyon NPS Photo.

Rangers at Boat Beach during the 2020 pandemic park shut-down.

Grand Canyon NPS Photo.

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2 4 | C A N YO N V I E W S

Second Phase of Inter-tribal Cultural Heritage Site Begins Construction “We share Desert View as a symbol to bond the peoples of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

The Watchtower serves as a connection to embrace the heartbeats of our people and visitors far and wide with the heartbeat of the canyon. We are still here.” -Inter-tribal Working Group Vision Statement This quote from the Inter-tribal Working Group, a partnership established in 2013 between the eleven traditionally associated American Indian tribes of Grand Canyon, the National Park Service, and Grand Canyon Conservancy (GCC), is the crux of the work Grand Canyon National Park is doing to reimagine the site at Desert View as an Inter-tribal Cultural Heritage Site.

The second phase of the site (the first phase, completed in 2019, included the conservation of the murals inside Desert View Watchtower) will begin a new era for Grand Canyon National Park in addressing the historic inequities inherent in Western land domination. When completed, it will convey a new relationship and partnership between American Indian tribes and the National Park Service, elevating Grand Canyon through the voices and human stories of the park’s traditionally associated tribes.

“This project was conceived of by our tribal partners who continue to collaborate with us to expand first-voice tribal interpretation, improve visitor orientation, and enhance the overall visitor experience at this site,” said Grand Canyon Superintendent Ed Keable. “Here at Grand Canyon, we have a rich legacy of featuring cultural demonstrations in celebration of native people, heritage, history, and cultures. With the assistance of Grand Canyon Conservancy, we are able to strengthen these programs even further and make lasting change for many years to come.”

When completed, the site will provide the opportunity for tribal members to teach visitors about past and present indigenous life and culture in and around Grand Canyon. Visitors will have the opportunity to interact directly with tribal members, listen to their stories, and observe various cultural demonstrations.

According to Project Manager Vicky Stinson, the fabrication of stonework for the renovation of the outdoor amphitheatre is already underway. Construction at the site should begin this summer. In addition to the amphitheatre, work will include the rehabilitation of a building that will eventually become the Tribal Welcome Center and the creation of an outdoor demonstration area nearby, as well as the improvement of pathways and accessibility.

Coinciding with this project is the development of a Tribal Welcome Video that will be played alongside the current Orientation Video at the Visitor Center beginning in 2022. This video will serve as an introduction for visitors to the deep tribal heritage at Grand Canyon, the ancient history of the first peoples who lived in and around Grand Canyon and who are still thriving today.

To learn more about the Desert View Inter-tribal Cultural Heritage Site and how you can support it, visit grandcanyon.org/desertview.

Learn More about Cultural Demonstrators Online Phase Two Project Partners The Cultural Demonstration Series at

and The Kemper and Ethel Marley Foundation

11 Traditionally Associated American Indian Tribes of Grand Canyon Havasupai Tribe Hopi Tribe Hualapai Tribe Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians Las Vegas Band of Paiute Indians Moapa Band of Paiute Indians Navajo Nation Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe The Pueblo of Zuni Yavapai-Apache Nation

25 Grand Canyon National Park provides visitors an opportunity to interact with tribal artisans from Grand Canyon’s traditionally associated tribes and share their history and crafts with the public. This program, presented by GCC and Grand Canyon National Park, complies with the Indian Arts and Craft Act of 1990, ensuring that every art and craft product is marketed truthfully to consumers regarding the Indian heritage and tribal affiliation of the producer.

In 2020, a dedicated section of GCC’s website was developed to promote the artists who participate in the Cultural Demonstration Series. Viewers can explore demonstrators by craft (carvers, jewelers, painters, potters, weavers, and other) and learn more about the people and the artworks they create. A video series developed by Grand Canyon National Park, “History Behind the Arts,” explores the rich history of the artists, their traditional native crafts, and how they have been influenced over time.

“What better way to honor the Great Spirit than to do everything by hand,” said Duane Maktima, Hopi-Laguna Pueblo metalsmith and Cultural Demonstrator.

“My ancestors did it and so can I.” To learn more, visit grandcanyon.org/demonstrators.

Photo by Lear Miller.

Concept rendering of the site, designed by Andy Dufford.

2 6 | C A N YO N V I E W S

What’s Happening at Grand Canyon this Summer

Photo by Grand Canyon NPS.

STAR PARTY Saturday, June 5–Saturday, June 12 While the on-site event at Grand Canyon National Park is canceled on both rims due to concerns over COVID-19, the park will bring the wonders of the night sky into the virtual realm through a series of video premieres on the park’s Facebook page. Throughout the week, join astronomers online as they take us to the stars and beyond! This year’s event will be focused on indigenous voices and tribal connections to the stars.

Visit nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/ grand-canyon-star-party.htm

for schedules and information.

Photo by Lear Miller.

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Photo by Michael Quinn Grand Canyon NPS.

13TH ANNUAL CELEBRATION OF ART Begins September 11

Wednesday, August 25

Photo by J. Baird Grand Canyon NPS.

FEE-FREE DAYS All National Park Service sites that charge an entrance fee will offer free admission to everyone on the following dates this summer: Wednesday, August 4

One-year anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act In 2020, The Great American Outdoors Act was passed.

This legislation enables national parks and other federal lands to repair and upgrade vital infrastructure and facilities that will enrich the visitor experience, protect resources, and enable increased access for all visitors.

National Park Service Birthday On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the legislation establishing the National Park Service.

Saturday, September 25

National Public Lands Day Established in 1994 and held annually on the fourth Saturday in September, National Public Lands Day is traditionally the nation’s largest single-day volunteer effort.

It celebrates the connection between people and green space in their community, inspires environmental stewardship, and encourages use of open space for education, recreation, and health benefits.

Photos by Michael Quinn Grand Canyon NPS (top).

Join us virtually and at the canyon for this special event which raises money towards a dedicated arts venue and for arts programming at Grand Canyon National Park.

Like last year, works by participating artists will be available for purchase in-person at Kolb Studio and online at shop.grandcanyon.org.

A combination juried and invitational event, Celebration of Art invites the top plein air artists from across the country to paint at Grand Canyon from September 11th to September 17th. The artworks will be on sale through January 17, 2022. Please visit grandcanyon.org/coa for event updates and links to all online activities.

Photo by Grand Canyon NPS.

2 8 | C A N YO N V I E W S Each year I try to return to Grand Canyon and once more be a part of this living museum.

Because of lighting, shadows, textures, or weather, something new always seems to catch my eye each time I visit. It may be at the Pioneer Cemetery to see and remember some of the famous names in Grand Canyon history, or to stop at the stone heart imbedded in the low wall along the rim near the El Tovar hotel placed there by a Civilian Conservation Corps worker in the 1930s to show his love for a Fred Harvey girl, or to find a new footprint of a Permian age creature frozen in time in the Coconino Sandstone along the Hermit Trail.

Bill and his wife Laura Hall at Grand Canyon. Photo courtesy Bill Di Paolo.

My Grand Canyon Story

by Bill Di Paolo, GC C Brig ht Ang el Circ le Member In the early 1970s, I had the opportunity to work as a geologist for the U.S. Geological Survey in Flagstaff, mapping north-central Arizona and the “small town” area of Sedona. I was able to work at and spend a great deal of time within Grand Canyon and on trips down the Colorado River. I also feel lucky to have had the opportunity to meet with Eddie McKee* on a few occasions to discuss the geology he had studied and written about at the canyon since the late 1920s.

He was the park naturalist from 1929–1940, and published many articles in “Nature Notes,” as it was called back then.

For these reasons, my wife and I have supported Grand Canyon Conservancy over the years. We are proud to say that we are also in the Bright Angel Circle, and able to make Grand Canyon Conservancy part of our estate plan, leaving a lasting legacy. This is indeed a special place to be protected and preserved forever. *Grand Canyon Conservancy was founded in 1932 as the Grand Canyon Natural History Association by naturalist Edwin “Eddie” McKee (1906–1984). A ranger working on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, McKee saw the need for a park partner that would support interpretive programs and publications about the canyon. From its beginnings, the Natural History Association did just that, funding interpretive talks, research, and scientific papers.

Every summer for several years, I was also invited to teach college field geology courses held in the Sedona area, Flagstaff, and Grand Canyon. I had the chance to pass on my love for the canyon to all those students.

Since then, over the years, I have given many slide lectures to organizations including the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

Grand Canyon is certainly the greatest natural museum in the world. When we are there, we are able to become part of the natural world: the geology, geomorphology, wildlife, vegetation, and the prehistoric and historic human history. We can be transported back in time a billion years and see evidence of the earliest forms of life on earth, or a thousand years in prehistoric time and see the ruins and granaries of the early Native Americans who called this place home. In historic time we can see the evidence of the pioneers, prospectors, entrepreneurs, scientists, and explorers who came and went, and lived and died here.

Bill Di Paolo

July 1978.

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Nina Mason Pulliam Trust Protects and Preserves Grand Canyon National Park Nina Mason Pulliam (1906–1997) was a journalist, a business leader, a humanitarian, and a lover of all creatures. Pulliam began her career as a journalist in Indiana and worked with her husband, Eugene C. Pulliam, as founding secretary-treasurer and member of the board of Central Newspapers, Incorporated, the media holding company he established in 1934. Following her husband’s death in 1975, she served as president of the company until her retirement in 1979, and as publisher of two of the company’s newspapers, the Arizona Republic and the Phoenix Gazette, from 1975 to 1978. She was known for her lifelong love of animals and her nature conservancy efforts.

Upon Pulliam’s death in 1997, the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust was established to support the causes she loved in her home states of Arizona and Indiana. Since 2001, Grand Canyon Conservancy (GCC) has been the recipient of several grants from the Trust, including the development of the Greenway Trails, the Watershed Stewardship Project that studied beach restoration along the Colorado River, the restoration of Kolb Studio, and most recently, the restoration work along Bright Angel Trail.

“Nina was introduced to the canyon as a young adult, and she visited it often,” said Gene D’Adamo, President and CEO of the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust. “It was truly one of her favorite places in the world, which is why the canyon is such a special partner for the Trust.”

D’Adamo pointed out that the overall protection and preservation of natural ecosystems is the driving force behind the support the Trust gives to GCC. “GCC is more than one of our grantees,” he said. “What we do and what GCC stands for fits with our core values 100 percent. It’s a true partnership.”

D’Adamo said that the responsibility for caring for Grand Canyon lies with all of us to ensure that we protect it for generations to come. “It takes financial resources to increase native habitat, remove invasive plants, and create accessibility at the canyon, and the Trust supports that,” he said.

Pulliam loved Grand Canyon, its ecosystem, and its ancient history and culture, and the Trust continues this relationship to this day.

“Nina would be very, very pleased by our partnership with GCC, and everything we are doing is through the lens of something she would want us to do,” said D’Adamo. “She’d be very proud of the work we’re doing to protect the canyon.”

Nina Mason Pulliam, photo courtesy Nina Mason Pulliam Trust (top photo).

Photo by Kristen M. Caldon Grand Canyon NPS.

3 0 | C A N YO N V I E W S

YOUR MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS Your support helps fund projects including trails and historic building preservation, educational programs for youth and the public, and the protection of wildlife and their natural habitat.

Annual Members of $35 to $999 receive: •An official Grand Canyon Conservancy Member card •Discounts in our park and online stores •Reciprocal discounts at other participating Public Lands Alliance stores around the country (over 400 nationwide!)

•Invitations to members-only events and experiences •Canyon Views subscription

Photo by Grand Canyon NPS.

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GRAND GUARDIAN MEMBERSHIP Grand Guardians are a dedicated and philanthropic community of Grand Canyon enthusiasts who provide unparalleled support for Grand Canyon Conservancy (GCC), protecting and preserving Grand Canyon National Park. The Grand Guardian program offers a range of meaningful and enriching experiences to inspire and inform supporters.

Grand Guardian support begins at $1,000 per year. For your convenience, consider a monthly option, beginning at $84.

WITH GRAND GUARDIAN MEMBERSHIP, YOU’LL ALSO EXPERIENCE: Guardian $1,000 •Priority registration for Grand Gathering and Celebration of Art •Acknowledgment on Digital Displays in the Visitor Center •Recognition in our Annual Report •A dedicated Grand Guardian Members phone line •An annual Grand Canyon Conservancy CEO and Grand Canyon National Park leadership talk and Q & A •Invitations to our quarterly Canyon Conversations Virtual Series •Invitations to events and receptions exclusively for Grand Guardians

Sentinel $2,500 All Guardian benefits plus: •One free Grand Canyon Conservancy publication •One complimentary $35 membership to give as a gift*

Protector $5,000 All Sentinel benefits plus: •Invitation to private annual Grand Canyon Conservancy CEO canyon exploration event* •Custom day adventure with a guide for up to six people * For questions about becoming a Grand Guardian, please contact Lynn Donahue at ldonahue@grandcanyon.org or (602) 697-8147. *Details and dates to be mutually determined. Subject to blackout periods. A limited number of guests may attend. The event theme changes annually.

3 2 | C A N YO N V I E W S

Grand Guardian Spotlight “ For more than 30 years we have been

hikers, rafters, and visitors to Grand Canyon. The canyon has shared with us its many gifts to nurture our minds and spirits. It tests us physically to remind us what is really important in our lives. When we first came to visit, we had few resources to help support the myriad of operations it takes to keep the canyon available to the public.

Now, we are better able to support the activities of Grand Canyon Conservancy as it supports the park. As Preventive Search and Rescue (PSAR) volunteers we have seen firsthand the infrastructure improvements GCC provides to the PSAR program and the park. We give to Grand Canyon Conservancy because Grand Canyon has given so much to us.”

—Laura Penny and Steve Gottlieb, Grand Guardians

Photo courtesy Laura Penny and Steve Gottlieb.

CANYON CONVERSATIONS NEW to our Grand Guardian membership benefits is the quarterly Canyon Conversations series—interactive, virtual, invite-only presentations by some of the world’s leading experts in the outdoors, science, hiking, and more.

Join us on July 15, 2021 as we hear from scientist Larry Stevens, former Grand Canyon National Park ecologist, who will discuss the “Biodiversity and Biogeography of the World’s Most Famous Large, Deep Canyon.” Grand Guardians will receive invitations via email.

Photo by Lear Miller.

Shop

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Grand Canyon Conservancy shop.grandcanyon.org

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1) Vintage Circle Hoodie

Celebrate Grand Canyon by wearing this soft, stylish hoodie featuring an image of Grand Canyon on the front and the year this National Park was established (1919). Unisex sizes XS–XXL. $62

4) Plush California Condor

The California condor is one of the rarest birds in the world and the largest bird in North America. Currently listed as endangered, the species almost became extinct in the late 1980s.

With a wingspan that can grow up to 91/2 feet, these magnificent birds can soar to heights of 15,000 feet and travel at speeds approaching 50 mph! $17

5) 6)

2) Erosion Tee

“Erosion Happens” at Grand Canyon!

Teach your friends about the amazing rock layers that make up this National Park with this tee. Two billion years of history can be seen from the Vishnu Basement Rocks up to the Kaibab Formation. 100% cotton. Unisex sizes S–XXL. $20

5) Grand Canyon National Park Matching Game

This custom matching game features 24 images of places and things found in Grand Canyon National Park. Your family will have a great time matching the cards while enjoying imagery of the wildlife, landscape, buildings, and scenery of our favorite National Park.

The back of the box has educational facts about each image. Choking hazard, small parts. Not intended for children under 3 years. $15

Shopping GCC’s stores supports Grand Canyon National Park, and GCC Members receive 15% off every purchase!

3) Grand Canyon Stainless Steel Water Bottle

These 32 oz. bottles, featuring a beautiful graphic scene of Grand Canyon, are made from durable, double-walled stainless steel. This is the perfect bottle to take on a hike into the canyon as it keeps drinks cold for 24 hours and hot for 12 hours! The leak-proof spout lid prevents spills.

BPA free. $25

6) Official Guide to Grand Canyon’s North Rim

by Stewart Aitchison Just ten miles across the abyss from the busy South Rim, the North Rim of Grand Canyon is a world unto itself. Those who make their way here are rewarded with dramatic views, a sublime terrain, and a rare degree of solitude. From trails and viewpoints to where to stay and what to look for—you’ll find everything you need to know to get the most from your visit.

Softcover. $14.95

Use promo code 15GCC21SP at checkout.

G R A N D C A N YO N C O N S E R VA N C Y P. O . B O X 3 9 9 , G R A N D C A N YO N , A Z 8 6 0 2 3 W E I N S P I R E G E N E R AT I O N S O F PA R K C H A M P I O N S T O C H E R I S H A N D S U P P O R T T H E N AT U R A L A N D C U LT U R A L W O N D E R O F G R A N D C A N YO N .

grandcanyon.org

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