Flash flood safety

Fortunately, no one was reported hurt or missing during Tuesday’s flooding, but weather events like this serve as a reminder of the dangers that come with monsoon season in northern Arizona.

If you plan to hike in the area during monsoon season, keep a few things in mind:

• Know the forecast and study maps before embarking on a hike.
• Be aware of your surroundings, and avoid places where water might flow during a flash flood, like dry creek beds and slot canyons.
• Do not cross flowing water or flooded trails where water is above your knees.
• Move to higher ground immediately if you see or hear a flood coming. Do not try to outrun a flood.

You can learn more about how to stay safe in various weather conditions on our website.

Kane Fire 100% contained

The Kane Fire, located about 13 miles southeast of Jacob Lake on the North Kaibab Ranger District of the Kaibab National Forest, is currently 2,854 acres and 100 percent contained.

The fire was detected on August 3 after a lightning storm, and fire managers immediately implemented a full suppression strategy. Ensuing precipitation over the next several days curtailed fire activity considerably.

The remaining staff is now focused on cleanup and suppression repair.

Bison management on the North Rim

Beginning in early September, Grand Canyon National Park managers will implement the fifth season of live capture and removal of bison from the North Rim.

Since reduction efforts began in 2018, park staff have removed 203 bison from the North Rim, with 182 transferred to eight different Tribes through an agreement with the InterTribal Buffalo Council (ITBC). 

The ITBC is a collection of 69 federally recognized Tribes from 19 different states whose mission is to restore bison to Indian Country in order to preserve our historical, cultural, traditional, and spiritual relationship for future generations. Grand Canyon National Park would like to thank ITBC for their generous support in this project.

This year’s Bison Incident Management Team includes Incident Commander Miranda Terwilliger, Planning Section Chief Kim Furgerson, as well as Joelle Baird, Danielle Buttke, Santiago Garcia, Greg Holm, Mike Lyndon, Jack Pennington, Aly Powell, Christina Ryan-Miller, Elyssa Shalla, and J. Houston Thompson. 

Visitor spending report calculates economic value of parks

A new National Park Service report shows that 4.7 million visitors to Grand Canyon National Park in 2022 spent an estimated $759 million in gateway regions near the park. This spending supported a total of 9,990 jobs, $346 million in labor income, $576 million in value added, and $1.0 billion in economic output in local gateway economies surrounding Grand Canyon National Park.

“Grand Canyon National Park continues to be an economic linchpin for local communities and the region surrounding the park,” said Superintendent Ed Keable. “We continue to heavily rely on the support of our neighbors and are proud to be able to help sustain local communities for many years to come.”

The peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis was conducted by economists at the National Park Service and the U.S. Geological Survey. The report shows $23.9 billion of direct spending by more than 312 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park nationwide. This spending supported 378,000 jobs nationally; 314,600 of those jobs are found in these gateway communities. The cumulative benefit to the U.S. economy was $50.3 billion.

The report’s authors have produced an interactive tool that enables users to explore visitor spending, jobs, labor income, value added, and output effects by sector for national, state, and local economies. Users can also view year-by-year trend data. The interactive tool and report are available at the NPS Social Science Program webpage: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/socialscience/vse.htm.

To learn more about national parks in Arizona and how the National Park Service works with communities to help preserve local history, conserve the environment, and provide outdoor recreation, go to www.nps.gov/arizona.

2023 Celebration of Art coming soon

Since 2009, Grand Canyon National Park and Grand Canyon Conservancy have been hosting Celebration of Art.

Celebration of Art (CoA) brings artists from all over to paint the world-class scenery the canyon offers.

The artists stay and paint for a week, and for four months afterward, their work is shared and sold online and at Kolb Studio.

Living with a host family during the Celebration of Art is preferred by some artists, as they enjoy spending time with those of us that live at Grand Canyon. This is a special opportunity GCC has not been able to offer the last few years due to COVID.

This year’s event will kick off with an online auction on September 1, an on-site component September 9-15, and an exhibition and sale September 17, 2023, through January 15, 2024. We will be welcoming back some of our veteran artists and several new additional artists this year.

The artists will need accommodations from September 8- 18 in order to participate in the event. Artists are typically out of the home before sunrise and gone for the bulk of the day, busy painting the canyon, they may return around lunchtime and after sunset. Hosts are not obliged to provide dinner but may do so if they wish.

If you have a spare bedroom and would like to volunteer to be a host, contact Heather Peeters of Grand Canyon Conservancy at HPeeters@grandcanyon.org.

APS Substation trenching continues next week

Trenching work for the substation will transition from the north end of Clinic Road to Havasupai Street August 28. Trenching will occur for approximately four weeks along Havasupai Street to about 200 feet after the Havasupai and Barry Hance Circle intersection.

Impact to Residents

Blood drive at Rec Center September 8

On Friday, September 8, Vitalant will hold a blood drive at the Grand Canyon Community Recreation Center at 2 Mohave Street from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Organizers say their need is critical, so if you have the time to give, you can make an appointment here.

Canyon Closet to re-open September 9

You may not be thinking about the cold now, but fall will be here soon.

The Canyon Closet will open its doors this year with a grand opening event on Saturday, September 9 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.at the new temporary library location in the old Chase Bank building by the Market.

Starting September 13, they will be open on Wednesdays from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.

For more information, or to make donations of gently used clothing and shoes, contact canyon_closet@grandcanyonschoolpta.org.