Grand Canyon Weekly Wrap-up — Jan. 24-28, 2022 — ‘Safer Federal Workforce Update’ and more news

COVID News

Safer Federal Workforce Update

We’ve gotten new guidance this week from the Safer Federal Workforce Taskforce pertaining to vaccinations for federal employees. This information is the result of legal challenges related to COVID-19 vaccination requirements.

The new guidance instructs us to take no action to enforce or implement the COVID-19 vaccination requirement pursuant to Executive Order 14043 on Requiring Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination for Federal Employees. All the other guidance on protocols related to masking, distancing, travel, testing, and quarantine—remains in effect.

Did you ever wonder who makes up the Safer Federal Workforce Taskforce? This group is led by the White House COVID-19 Response Team, the General Services Administration (GSA), and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Task Force members include: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Federal Protective Service (FPS), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the United States Secret Service (USSS). For more information, visit: https://www.saferfederalworkforce.gov/. 

NPS Employee N95/K95 Update

We’ve had some additional questions about picking up N95/KN95, or KF94 masks from the warehouse. Please remember that we are authorizing supervisors to determine the number of masks needed for each work unit. Supervisors or their designee should then get them for their work unit from the Warehouse. If you have questions, please talk to your division chief. We need to ensure our front-line colleagues who interact with the public routinely are the first to receive these masks. Staff at FMD will be working with staff at the Warehouse to ensure that the supplies we have are issued to work units and we will continue to work on ordering to ensure we have an adequate supply in the future.

If you are not a supervisor and you picked up respirators from the warehouse last week, check in with your supervisor and make sure you sign and file the “Voluntary Respirator Program” agreement.

For those employees that want to use a KN95 respirator, provided by the NPS or personally purchased, or any other respirator type, such as a N100, N95, or NF94, while you are on duty, you will need to read the OSHA 1910.134 Appendix D, which your supervisor will provide. You will also need to sign a “Voluntary Respirator Program” agreement with your supervisor. The reason for this is the N95, N100, KN95, and KF94s masks are all considered respirators by the CDC and OSHA, and OSHA regulations require the NPS to inform you of when and where you can use the respirators safely. Your supervisor will keep the signed “Voluntary Respirator Program” agreement on file so that we can prove to OSHA that we have complied with their requirements.

Clinic Booster Event-January 29

The Clinic will be having its next adult vaccine booster event on Saturday, January 29 and slots remain available. Individuals should call the clinic directly to schedule.

The clinic is still providing first and second doses to individuals, and the next scheduled event for first and second doses will be held on January 20.

The complete flyer for this event can be found here.

Clinic Update

As a reminder, the clinic continues to offer COVID-19 testing Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, by appointment only. On Mondays and Fridays, testing occurs at 2 p.m. and on Wednesdays at 11 a.m. The number of slots is limited each day based on clinic staffing and patient load, so please call ahead to schedule. There is currently no option for saliva testing and no rapid testing is available.

Turnaround times for test results are currently between 48-72 hours compared to the 6-7 days the clinic was reporting several weeks ago.

Arizona and Grand Canyon Community Statistics

Case numbers in Arizona increased this week to 20,634 new cases per day compared to last week’s average of 18,631 per day. This is the highest weekly seven day rolling average we have had since the pandemic started. We are hoping that we are near the peak of the Omicron variant and that numbers will start decreasing soon.

Coconino County is reporting 376 cases in the 86023 zip code. We have had approximately 159 total cases in the park since March 2020 (28 new cases were reported this week).

Coconino County reports the Grand Canyon community is 72.2% fully vaccinated as of January 21.

Public Health Contacts

Ronan King, Lieutenant Commander, U.S. Public Health Service

Mobile: (202) 891-8599, Email:ronan_king@nps.gov

For all email correspondence, please also cc: Chris Glime, Captain, U.S. Public Health Service

Mobile: (202) 641-3518, Email: christen_glime@nps.gov

Desert View Inter-Tribal Cultural Heritage Site construction begins

We are pleased to announce that construction has started on the first elements of the Desert View Inter-tribal Cultural Heritage Site. The NPS Trail Crew is currently working on the new amphitheater in collaboration with Chevo Studios, out of Denver, Colorado. This is an important, collaborative project that was developed with the park’s traditionally associated tribes and will provide first voice interpretive opportunities as well as increased opportunities for tourism on tribal lands.

This week, stone mason and artist Andy Dufford from Chevo Studios was on-site working with the trail crew to finalize plans for grading and to assist with setting a portion of the rim-side boulder retaining wall. Some of you may know Andy from numerous projects that he’s completed at the South Rim, including the Mather Amphitheater, the Tribal Medallion, GCVC Plaza, and the stone sign at the Bright Angel trailhead. As part of this project, trail crew will also begin working on realignment of Desert View area trails to make them compliant with accessibility standards. Work will continue in through the summer.

Desert View facilities will, for the most part, be accessible to the public during construction; however, there will be detours and occasional closures as needed for work adjacent to doors. During construction, access to these facilities may not be universally accessible.

If you have any questions about this work, please don’t hesitate to contact Project Manager, Vicky Stinson. We would like to thank Vicky for her many years of work to make this project a reality. We would also like to thank the NPS Trail Crew for their hard work and enthusiasm on the project.

California Condor rescued in Rider Canyon by Peregrine Fund

On Friday, January 21, the Peregrine Fund rescued California Condor “Y9” from within the park in Rider Canyon, located near Marble Canyon and river mile 17. The condor had been reported as injured by a hiker.

The Peregrine Fund, whose mission is to conserve birds of prey worldwide, had staff successfully hike into the canyon, secure the condor in a kennel and safely carry the condor out of the canyon. The condor is now recovering with wounds likely caused by a predator and is receiving veterinarian care at Liberty Wildlife in Phoenix. The hope is to allow Y9 to recover and be re-released into the wild in the near future.

Steam train Saturdays return for Grand Canyon Railway

The Grand Canyon Railway will continue its “Steam Train Saturdays” in 2022 from April through September. The railway will by featuring several fully-restored vintage steam-powered locomotives and will arrive the first Saturday of the month from April through September, as well as select dates throughout the year.

The first Steam Train Saturday in 2022 will be for President’s Day on February 19th. A complete Steam Train Schedule can be found on the Grand Canyon Railway’s website.

Discovery Channel series ‘RV There Yet’ features Grand Canyon in new episode

Last week, the Discovery Channel’s series, ‘RV There Yet’ premiered an episode featuring the South Rim of Grand Canyon. The episode titled, “Speck of Dust,” follows the RV There Yet crew as they stay at Desert View Campground for the night, explore a trail on the South Rim, and take an 8-mile e-bike ride to Hermits Rest.

A link to this episode is here and is also available to view on the RV There Yet YouTube Channel.

South Rim District Report Available

See what South Rim Patrol has been up to over the past few weeks by reading the South Rim District Report below:

Native Taco Sale Fundraiser to support Grand Canyon 8th Graders

This Friday, January 22 there will be a Navajo Taco Sale Fundraiser that will benefit the 8th Grade Field Trip to Washington D.C. Show your support by calling ahead to order. More information can be found in this flyer.

Updated Services of Worship Flyer for Grand Canyon Community

Please reference this updated flyer for Winter 2021-2022 Services of Worship on the South Rim. Please note, the NPS does not encourage, discourage, or endorse any religious group or message.

Please note, no new operational changes are noted this week.

South Rim

Lodging occupancy in the park is expected to be at or near capacity. Our concessioners are expecting a busy season ahead!

Xanterra

Delaware North

Other

Desert View

The following park closures remain in place:

Please visit the Grand Canyon National Park website for a complete list of closures and available amenities.

Photo Credits (in order of appearance)