Heroes Need Help Too: Keeping Park Protectors Safe

Visitor safety is a top priority at Grand Canyon National Park. It's also a challenging one. Every day, guests from around the world arrive ready to explore a diverse, beautiful, and rugged landscape. They often don't know that Grand Canyon weather can be extreme or unpredictable. Sometimes, even the best-prepared visitors can get caught up in dangerous situations.

Keeping Grand Canyon visitors safe only happens with the park's Visitor & Resource Protection Rangers or park firefighters. Rangers, for instance, are often called into challenging outdoor environments in remote locations that aren't accessible by roads. More than 30 park firefighters serving as volunteers or on collateral duty assignments must respond to calls for service 24 hours per day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

Critically, park rangers and firefighters need more funding for crucial equipment that allows them to do their work safely. For rangers, two new Utility Service Vehicles are urgently needed to replace the 14-year-old fleet of two vehicles. Park firefighters need to replace the system that allows them to fill air cylinders – and thus be able to breathe – during emergencies.

Your impact: Helping those who help others

Your generous gift will:

• Provide two new Utility Service Vehicles for park rangers, making it easier to reach visitors during search and rescue missions, potentially saving lives.
• Replace the outdated air compressor, air storage tanks, and safety fill station that firefighters use to fill the air cylinders that allow them to breathe.