Grand Canyon Weekly Wrap-up — Jan. 3-7, 2022

COVID News

CDC guidance on quarantine and isolation period

The CDC has recently shortened the recommended guidelines for isolation and quarantine. Now, people with COVID-19 should isolate for five days; then, if they are asymptomatic or their symptoms are resolving, they should wear a mask around others for another five days.

Isolation separates sick people with a contagious disease from people who are not sick.

Quarantine separates and restricts the movement of people who were exposed to a contagious disease to see if they become sick.

People exposed to COVID-19 may need to quarantine based on vaccination status.

For those who are unvaccinated or are more than six months out from their second dose (Pfizer or Moderna) and not yest boosted, the CDC is now recommending five days of quarantine. Individuals who have received a booster shot dose do not need to quarantine following exposure but should wear a mask for 10 days after exposure.

For anyone exposed, best practice would also include a COVID-19 test 5-7 days after exposure.

If symptoms occur, individuals should immediately quarantine until a negative test confirms symptoms are not attributable to COVID-19.

COVID-19 Symptom Checker

The CDC has recently launched a clinical assessment tool that helps individuals decide when to seek testing or medical care if they or someone they know has contracted COVID-19 or has come into close contact with someone who has COVID-19. Use the self-checker to help determine if you should seek a COVID test, medical care, or monitor. The symptom checker can be found at the following site.

 As a reminder, possible COVID symptoms include:

Three Vaccine Events this Week

Realizing the demand for vaccines is still high in the community, Coconino County Health and Human Services Mobile Vaccine Team is planning two separate events over two days this week. The County event will have all types of vaccines (first, second, third, and boosters for J&J, Moderna, Pfizer) and will have the pediatric Pfizer doses (first and second) for children ages 5-11-years-old.

The Grand Canyon Clinic will also be holding a COVID-19 vaccine booster event on Saturday, January 8 (flyer here). Spaces are limited to 90 doses and individuals can call the clinic directly at 928-638-2551 to schedule. The Clinic will only be offering the Moderna vaccine. If individuals have scheduled an appointment with the clinic but end up going to get vaccinated elsewhere, please call the clinic directly to cancel. This will help the clinic avoid wasting doses and ensuring as many individuals get vaccinated as possible.

Many thanks to the Coconino County Health and Human Services and the Clinic for sponsoring these events and to the Albright Training Center, the Grand Canyon Rec Center, and the Tusayan Fire Department in helping host these staff!

Testing at the Grand Canyon Clinic

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.

As a reminder, patients awaiting testing should review the latest CDC guidelines for recommendations on when to test after exposure and/or the onset of symptoms to ensure maximum validity of the test results.

Current CDC guidance advises vaccinated individuals, who have come into close contact with someone with COVID-19, be tested 5-7 days after their last exposure. Individuals who are not fully vaccinated should get tested immediately and then follow up with an additional test 5-7 days after their last exposure.

Thinking about hosting a large event or gathering at Grand Canyon?

With the increased presence of COVID-19 in Arizona and nationally, it is especially important that park employees, community members, and stakeholders planning large events are doing so well in advance to ensure proper COVID mitigations are in place. As part of this planning process, all individuals wishing to host large events should consult the park’s Adaptive Management Park Operations (AMPO) Team along with NPS Public Health Consultant, Ronan King.

Our AMPO Team continues to meet weekly and make decisions and offer guidance on large events and gatherings on a case-by-case basis. Each event is reviewed individually and takes into consideration the size of the event, the activity, the space the event is being held, and the risk for COVID-19 spread.

Please keep in mind this review process takes time and is necessary to ensure our community is safe from the spread of COVID-19.

Arizona and Grand Canyon Community Statistics

Case numbers in Arizona increased this week to 5,986 new cases per day compared to last week’s average of 3,387 per day. As of Tuesday, there have been a total of 285 cases in the 86023 zip code since the beginning of the pandemic (of these, approximately 84 cases are in the park).

Coconino County reports the Grand Canyon community is 71.5% fully vaccinated as of December 30.

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

Holiday Thank You!

This holiday season, as in many previous years, we saw a marked uptick in visitation on the South Rim. While we welcome this increase in visitors, the inclement weather between Christmas and New Year’s added challenges for many work groups.

We would like to recognize all front line employees who worked over the holidays and helped improve visitor’s experience including: the South Rim and Desert View Entrance Station who managed long lines and a huge influx of visitors, Interpretation and Backcountry Information Center staff who helped answer visitor questions, the Roads and Trail Crew who helped keep roadways and greenway trails clear and safe for the visiting public, Custodial Staff who helped keep restrooms and facilities clean, and Law Enforcement, Dispatch, and Emergency Services who helped respond to emergencies, vehicle slide-offs, and accidents throughout the park.

Happy New Years from the Superintendent’s Office

As we begin 2022, there are many reasons to be optimistic about the future of the park. Despite the ongoing challenges of the pandemic and budget, the staff at Grand Canyon continue to do amazing work.

In 2021, COVID-19 continued to dominate much of our personal lives and park management. The park’s leadership team continues to successfully implement a strong plan to manage COVID-19. Our leadership team, our Public Health Consultant Ronan King, supervisors, employees, concessioners, and residents have demonstrated a commitment to pursuing this strategy diligently. We remain optimistic that we will collectively get through this pandemic and return to a more normal state in 2022. In the meantime, it is important we all remain vigilant and minimize the spread of COVID-19 by following current CDC guidelines.

Our budget has been a source of stress in park management in recent years because of the park’s reliance on fee revenues. In 2021, park visitation was estimated to be around 4.5 million visitors which is promising considering 2020’s marked decrease in visitation at 2.9 million visitors.

Despite these challenges, we have many great projects to look forward to this next year including: the parks creation of the Indigenous Affairs Strategic Plan, the proposed renaming and re-interpretation of Indian Garden to Havasupai Gardens, the construction and tribal engagement of the Desert View InterTribal Cultural Heritage site, facility improvements to the Phantom Ranch Wastewater Treatment Plant, repaving of Mather Campground, APS substation relocation, the beginning construction of support facilities, including a new helibase, for the Transcanyon Waterline project, and finalizing the schematic design for replacement of the South Rim Wastewater Treatment Plant project funded by the Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF) of the Great American Outdoors Act.

All of the work we are doing is driven by the 2020-2025 GRCA Strategic Planwhich employees helped to develop. There is much to be optimistic about in 2022 and we hope you share our optimism.

New Documentary by the Azulita Project

The Azulita Project, a nonprofit educational outreach program focused on reduction of plastics, recently released a new documentary filmed in Grand Canyon called, ‘Evidence of Us.’ This project has been a long time in the making and was filmed here on the South Rim in the fall of 2020 with numerous interviews from park staff, including Superintendent Keable.

According to Azulita’s website: “This film is a powerful reveal of pollution, overconsumption and waste cast by plastic use. From the bottom of the Grand Canyon to our oceans to our own backyards, this short documentary directed by QMedia questions what it means to be good stewards of our shared home.”

A full-length version of the video is available here.

Winter Pile Burning Begins this Week

Beginning Thursday, January 6, NPS wildland fire personnel will begin pile burning along the highway 64 corridor, taking advantage of recent snow and rain. This pile burning will continue over the next several months, as conditions allow, and will take place between the South Entrance Station and Desert View Drive Junction (mile markers 238-240).

Prescribed fire plays a vital role in decreasing wildfire risks to life, resources and property by reducing available hazardous fuels. Fire staff carefully plan prescribed fires, initiating them only under environmental conditions that are favorable to assuring firefighter and visitor safety and to achieving desired objectives.

Safe driving tips and District Report from South Rim Patrol

Over the course of winter break, rangers and the roads crew dealt with slick, snowy roads combined with the increased visitation. This lead to many minor crashes, stuck vehicles, and parking issues.

With the onset of winter weather and slick roads, rangers want to remind residents and visitors of winter driving tips and guidelines:

🐌 Slow down and increase following distances.

🧹Clear all your car windows and roof before driving anywhere.

💡 Turn your lights on.

🤚 If possible, delay your trip until the warmer part of the day.

During times of inclement weather, rangers are proactively making traffic stops for driving too fast for conditions, following too close, and obstructed view. Did you know you can be ticketed for driving too fast for conditions even if you’re going slower then the posted speed limit?

Travel safe and enjoy the crisp views of the forests and canyons!

California Condor Chick 1114 takes flight!

This week it was reported California Condor Chick 1114 has fledged from the Battleship nest. This is an untagged, fuzzy, black-headed condor. The chick is newly mobile and park biologists would appreciate any observations of this bird or its parents J1 and E3 (the number shown on the wing tag). This chick has been hanging out at Powell Plateau recently (see photo) and will likely be hanging out in the corridor area over the next several months.

Please also let Miranda Terwilliger or Greg Holm know if you or your staff see “bad” behavior, i.e. the bird and humans are spending time in close vicinity.

Passing of Grand Canyon School Superintendent, Shonny Bria

Dr. Shonny Bria was a valued member of the Grand Canyon community and served as the Superintendent of Grand Canyon Schools for the past seven years. In honor of her work, a Shonny Bria Memorial Scholarship Fund has been established to carry on the tradition of helping others continue their education. Those interested in donating to the fund may call (928) 890-9384. More information is available on the school’s website.

The Grand Canyon School has decided to postpone the originally scheduled January 6 memorial service and will reschedule this event for a later date.

Tissues Requested for Grand Canyon School

The Grand Canyon PTA is asking for donations of facial tissues as the school’s primary corporate donors can no longer provide tissues. To make it through the end of the school year in May, PTA is requesting approximately 400 standard-sized boxes of tissues. Donations can be dropped off to the school front office. If you have any questions, please contact Cherie Benefield at president@grandcanyonschoolpta.org.

Please note: new operational changes are posted below in red.

South Rim

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