Grand Canyon Weekly Wrap-up — April 12-16, 2021 — Navajo Nation Re-implements “Safer at Home” Executive Order and more news

Grand Canyon National Park

Key Messages – Week of April 12, 2021

COVID-19 Updates

This week’s numbers at a glance:

The average number of new cases per day in Arizona in the last week was 761, slightly higher than the number of 631 per day in the previous week.
As of Thursday, April 7, the total number of cases in the 86023 zip code since the pandemic began is 198. This number represents cases both inside and outside the park.
Since the pandemic began, we’ve had 45 total positive COVID-19 cases in the park. To date, and as reported, none of the positive cases resulted from interaction with park visitors.
More detailed statistics are available on the Coconino County COVID-19 Dashboard.

Navajo Nation Re-implements “Safer at Home” Executive Order

Navajo Nation reissued its stay at home order on April 9, 2021. This order has the same direction as previous orders and encourages Navajo Nation residents to stay safe at home. Daily curfews are in place from 10 p.m. – 5 a.m. mountain daylight time.
As always, there are no restrictions upon staff or community members relative to travel to and from the park.
You can read NDOH Public Health Emergency Order 2021-008 here .
Specific guidance for the Navajo Nation can be found on the Navajo Nation website.

Public Health Consultant Contact Information

If you test positive or become ill with COVID-19 symptoms, please report your situation to your supervisor and our NPS Public Health Consultant immediately. This is to ensure proper public health protocols are followed and that any exposure to the virus is minimized.

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

NEW NPS Guidance on Mask Use for Visitors with Disabilities

The NPS issued a Q&A document for mask use by visitors with disabilities. Key points from this guidance include the following: 1) some disabilities may make it dangerous to wear a mask, 2) not all disabilities are apparent to observers, 3) staff should not ask about the nature of the disability, and 4) staff should seek alternative ways to meet the needs of visitors who are not able to wear a mask due to a disability.

The Q&A document for NPS employees is linked here.

This Week’s COVID-19 Vaccine Information

Coconino County and the State of Arizona are opening vaccinations to all persons 16 years of age and up. Moderna vaccines are only available for adults 18 and up. Pfizer vaccines are available to individuals 16 and up. There are vaccine appointments available at various locations throughout the county.

The State and County continue to make significant progress in vaccine administration. It has never been easier to make a vaccine appointment.

As of Monday, April 12th:

More than 192 million vaccine doses have been administered in the US.
Over 36% of adult Americans have received 1 vaccine dose, and nearly 22% are fully vaccinated.
Approximately 36% of Arizonans have received 1 vaccine dose, and 24% have been fully vaccinated.
In Coconino County approximately 43% of the population have received the 1st dose, with 32% fully vaccinated.
According to the Navajo Department of Health, nearly 90% of Navajos have received at least one vaccine dose, while 88,513 people have been fully vaccinated, more than 36% of the 244,209 people who access health care through the Navajo Area Indian Health Service.
The Kaibab Paiute have reported that 100% of their community is fully vaccinated.
Approximately half of the residents of Hopi have received at least one dose of the vaccination.

To schedule a vaccine appointment at the Grand Canyon Clinic, call the clinic directly at 928.638.2551. The Clinic has administered 1,830 vaccine doses, with 851 individuals fully vaccinated.

Northern Arizona University’s Union Fieldhouse in Flagstaff is opening a new vaccination site on April 19th. This new location will have a supply of the Pfizer vaccine and therefore will be open to Coconino County residents as young as 16 years of age.

The site will be open 7 days a week from 7 AM to 5 PM and will have 1,000 appointments available each day. Appointments for this new location will be available starting at 11 AM Friday, April 16th. You can learn more from

this AZ Daily Sun article.

COVID-19 Testing Details

The Grand Canyon Clinic has hours for COVID testing on Wednesdays from 11 a.m.-12 p.m. If you need a test outside of this hour, you need an order from your health care provider indicating a test is warranted.

In Flagstaff, COVID testing is available at Coconino Community College at 2800 South Lone Tree Road, and the NAU Fieldhouse at 1050 Knoles Drive.

Testing is also available at other locations in Flagstaff, including:
Walgreens on 4th Street
NextCare Urgent Care
The Veterans Affairs Clinic

Messages and Grand Canyon News

Telecommunications Plan Moves Forward

A Message from Superintendent Ed Keable

In November of 2020, I signed the Telecommunications Plan and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) as part of a parkwide effort to improve communications throughout Grand Canyon. You only need to work at our administrative offices on the South Rim once or twice to recognize the connectivity challenges we all face at the park. Some days, it might even feel like ‘mail by mule’ is our fastest communication method!

This week, I am pleased to announce that we have some exciting telecommunications updates to share with the community:

On March 30, Verizon turned on cellular service at a temporary tower in the Mission 66 warehouse area, across from Albright Training Center. They also upgraded some of their antennas on the Village tower.
If you have Verizon as your cell phone or internet provider (as most of us do) you may have noticed better service throughout the Village. Several employees have approached our leadership team to report more bars on their phones and better reception, particularly in park housing.
AT&T Equipment was recently installed on the same tower. Service should be on in the next month or two, although no specific timeframe has been provided.
T-Mobile also has been issued a right of way permit to use the tower, but they do not yet have a timeframe to install their equipment.
Niles Radio installed equipment on the EMS Station One building to provide additional service.
Access Parks issued a right of way permit to provide high-speed internet to Xanterra employee residential housing.
High-speed fiber is coming to the GC School: Fiber is currently being installed with a completion date approximately mid-June. Fiber should go “live” not long after that, although we do not have a specific date for project completion.

The implementation of the Telecommunications Plan is a critical component of the park’s Strategic Plan. It provides a continued framework and guidance for the construction and operation of telecommunications infrastructure—specifically, telecommunications towers, small-cell sites, and fiber optic communications cable—within already developed areas of GRCA.

Currently, the park’s Right of Way team is developing a prospectus to request proposals to construct, operate, and maintain communications facilities at the canyon. This process, as well as the right-of-way process required for all telecommunications companies, will continue to take time. However, I am happy to see that progress is moving quickly, and I expect that we will see more improved service over the next year.

I would like to thank the numerous individuals and teams that worked to complete the plan and recognize those who are working on next steps to improve our telecommunications, including Jill Beshears, Larry Glickman, Lowell Head, Pete Jones, Doug Lentz, Rachel Bennett, Chris Burnette, and Catherine Lentz; regional partners Brian Pederson and Tim Gilk; and Truda Stella in the Washington office.

I will keep you updated as we continue to make progress on this important work.

Go Before You Go! Cedar Ridge Composting Toilets Unavailable 4/25 – 5/10

GRCA trails staff will close the Cedar Ridge Compost Toilet Facility on the South Kaibab Trail for much needed maintenance, evacuation, and rehabilitation between Sunday April 25th and Monday May 10th.

The tanks must be completely evacuated to perform the necessary maintenance. The rehab work will be done by a contractor from Advanced Composting Systems.

If you plan on hiking the South Kaibab trail, know that you should use restroom facilities prior to beginning your trek. The toilets at the trailhead will be unaffected.

Earth Day Trash Pickup During National Park Week

Want to give back to GRCA during National Park Week? On April 22, Earth Day, Treacy Stone and and his staff are coordinating a trash clean up inside the park.

Any available NPS staff should meet in the parking lot of FMD at 9AM. FMD will have gloves and trash bags. Please bring your mask and a reflective safety vest if you have one (FMD also has a few). FMD staff will ID “trash hot spots” in the days leading up to the event and will send available teams out to work.

Be on the lookout for additional National Park Week highlights, including fun themes and activities posted to the Grand Canyon National Park Facebook Page. Not able to visit the park next week? Below, you can enjoy a “Minute Out In It,” filmed by Interpretive Ranger Rader Lane during one of the canyon’s recent windy days.

Minute Out In It: Cloud Shadows

Hazard Tree Removal 4/19

Monday, April 19, Dan Boughter will be working with the hazard tree removal contractor to complete work in the Desert View campground, Tusayan Museum area, and Moran Point. Some hazard trees will be removed and some clean up in the campground will occur.

Ribbon Falls Bridge Demolition Begins 4/17

Demolition of the Ribbon Falls Bridge will begin April 17. The bridge has been closed for over two years due to its deteriorated state and recently, part of the bridge collapsed into Bright Angel Creek.

A medium lift KMAX helicopter will be in the park for the APS project near Phantom Ranch and will be used to remove Ribbon Falls bridge. This will lessen the number of helicopter flights needed for the project.

Park staff intend to replace the bridge as quickly as possible and are actively seeking funding opportunities so that Ribbon Falls can be safely accessed. Ribbon Falls is an important location to many, including tribal members for whom the falls are spiritually significant.

From now until the bridge is replaced, visitors will be asked to stay on the North Kaibab Trail and travel safely in this area.

Future updates trail status can be found on the Grand Canyon National Park website: https://go.nps.gov/trailstatus.

Current Operational Updates

Desert View Accessibility

The East entrance gate is open to traffic on Highway 64.
Desert View Trading Post Coffee and Ice Cream is expected to open April 16th.
Desert View Gas Station is expected to open April 16th, offering Pay-at-the-Pump services only.
Desert View Campground will open on April 29th. We will start taking reservations on April 21st. via www.recreation.gov.

Weekly Concessions updates

The following Concessions services will be available this week:

The Fred Harvey Food Truck will be located at the El Tovar / Hopi House area from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Seven days per week, weather permitting.
Maswik Gift Shop has expanded its hours to 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Canyon View Market Deli is currently closed. To help compensate for the closure, the Canyon View Market will open at 7a.m., additional Breakfast items will be available at the Yavapai Coffee Shop (open 7 AM – 1 PM), and Lunch and Dinner will be available at Yavapai Tavern (open 12 PM – 9 PM).

The following park closures remain in place: