HEALTH

Millions visit Grand Canyon, but 2,500

who live there stand to be most hurt by
coronavirus
Chelsea Curtis
Arizona Republic
Published 5:17 p.m. MT March 20, 2020 Updated 1:48 p.m. MT March 26, 2020

As one of seven natural wonders of the world, it's not surprising the Grand Canyon National
Park is consistently one of the top 10 most-visited parks in the country.

Its nearly 6 million visitors each year come from all walks of life across the globe to take in
the scenery, hit the trails or simply stop for a couple of hours to check something off their
bucket lists. 

Amidst the hustle and bustle of the tourism industry at the Grand Canyon's South Rim lives
a community of about 2,500 people that relies heavily on its success. The community is made
up of the Grand Canyon Village inside the park as well as neighboring Tusayan and Valle,
several miles outside the park. 

Now, the community is scrambling to address a global pandemic that has threatened their
livelihood. 

Grand Canyon is still open despite community's concerns

Several residents expressed concerns about the National Park Service's response to the
pandemic, with some saying it has been slow and others calling for a full-on closure to
protect residents from potential exposure to COVID-19. The reported statewide count of
coronavirus cases climbed to 78 Friday morning, including nine in Coconino County. 

The park service on March 17 closed some facilities and canceled programs in an effort to
support social distancing, it said in a press release. The following day, it temporarily
suspended entrance fees and announced the closure of restaurants with some offering
takeaway options. 
The South Rim appeared relatively quiet Wednesday and Thursday, which residents said was
likely due to snow that had fallen overnight those days.

Deives Furniel, a tourist from Brazil, told The Republic that the hotel he was staying at in the
park would close Friday and he'd have to make other arrangements. His flight home was
scheduled on March 23, leaving him wondering where to go in the meantime, he said. 

"It's hard to understand what's going on right now," he said. 

Clare Berry, who lives inside the park but works in Tusayan, wondered why tourists were still
visiting.

"I would love to see the park shut down, I would love to see businesses shut down, I'd love to
see at least a two-week grace period, just something to show us that we're important, too, as
people, as a community, we're more important than a couple of dollars," she said.

Berry said that while the number of new coronavirus cases increased across the state, people
were still vacationing at the South Rim.

"I don't know anyone personally who has it but when I go home, I got my dad and I got a
couple of older people in the household and that makes me uncomfortable; I don't want to be
working and then bring that home," she said. 

A Change.org petition garnered more than 350 signatures by Friday afternoon urging the

U.S. Department of Interior and Gov. Doug Ducey to close Grand Canyon National Park. It
had a goal of 500 signatures or about a quarter of the people who live in Grand Canyon
Village. 

"Grand Canyon cannot sustain both its community and an impeding, unchecked, visitor
population. Our 'local' large-scale medical center is 1.5 hours away," the petition said. "Our
'local' Walmart or Target is 1.5 hours away. Our local team of, wonderful, first responders are
just as important to remember during this time."

For weeks, the park service has deferred questions about its response to the pandemic to the
national office. Other than to say it was following the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention guidelines, monitoring the situation and had a Pandemic Influenza Plan in place,
a spokesperson has not responded to The Republic's repeated requests for comment.

Lily Daniels, a park service spokesperson at Grand Canyon South Rim, told The Republic late
Thursday the park remained opened and none of its employees were furloughed. 
"Our leadership is actively working and we're reacting in real-time to the updates in all
the echelons of different authorities, the CDC, the White House governs us coming down so it
might not seem immediate but we are reacting," she said.

On March 26, the National Parks Conservation Association called for the closure of Grand
Canyon South Rim and Zion National Park. In a press release, association President and CEO
Theresa Pierno said U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary David Bernhardt has refused
to close the parks, "needlessly putting lives at risk by operating as if this is business as usual."

She said warnings on the park service's website and closures of some facilities were not
enough to deter visitors from the area during the new coronavirus pandemic. She added that
parking lots were full at the parks and some areas were crowded, challenging social
distancing practices. 

"Given the risks associated with thousands of visitors flocking to the Grand Canyon during
this time of crisis, and the pleas from people who are most affected by this, it is unfathomable
that the administration is dragging its feet in allowing park staff to temporarily close the
park," Kevin Dahl, the association's Arizona senior program manager, said in a statement
included in the press release. 

Area's top employers suspend operations

Within the Grand Canyon's South Rim operates authorized concessionaires that staff and
manage the community's hospitality industry, namely food and lodging. Xanterra and
Delaware North Companies are two large concessionaires at the South Rim.  

While park leadership was criticized for being slow to respond, business leaders acted
on their own authority, furloughing workers and closing. 

Xanterra South Rim, which runs five lodges on the rim and Phantom Ranch inside the
canyon, suspended operations Friday until mid-May, according to Hinch Knece, western
regional director of marketing for the company. It planned to reopen May 22, according to its
website.

The company began contacting guests Thursday to inform them of the suspension, Knece
said.

Knece declined to answer whether employees were furloughed, how the company plans to
help them, or even how many employees work at the South Rim.
Annie Watson said she was expecting her employer to suspend operations but thought it
would happen sooner. 

"I wasn't expecting for it to be as long as they were anticipating it to be but I think it's the
right decision for everybody," she said. 

Watson, who is a server at El Tovar Hotel on the edge of the canyon, is among many South
Rim employees who live in a dorm. Others live in houses, apartments, cabins or trailers that
are owned by the companies they work for, she explained.

"Just like a college dormitory, I have a roommate and a shared bathroom," Watson said.
"There is other housing available but this is where I chose to live. It's the cheapest for me."

The vast majority of the housing in the Grand Canyon community, including those outside
the park, is owned by the companies the residents work for. As residents lose work, they're
worried they may also lose their housing. 

While she did not know Thursday if she would still be paid during Xanterra's suspension, she
said she was told employees could remain in their housing rent-free and have access to
takeaway meals. She estimated that her dorm, Colter Hall, had about 100 people with two to
a room, raising concerns of the potential spread of the virus.

"Honestly, I'm concerned for some of our older people and I get concerned for the people
who are here from different countries — it's got to be scary," she said. 

Watson said the company increased cleaning at her dorm, however, practicing social
distancing remained a challenge. Fortunately, she has a car and family in Phoenix, but not
everyone has that, she said. 

"It was concerning for me, mostly because we do live in the dorms, that I can't quarantine
myself anywhere," she said.

Grand Canyon Airlines, Papillon furlough most employees

Town of Tusayan Mayor Craig Sanderson, who is also chief pilot at Grand Canyon Airlines,
told The Republic the fixed-wing air tour company suspended operations and
furloughed most of its employees at its bases in Tusayan, Page and Boulder City,
Nevada. Additionally, the company's sister operation, Papillon, was operating minimal
helicopter tours near the South Rim and also furloughed most employees, he said.
He estimated the company had more than 100 employees at the South Rim and that about
95% were furloughed. During the furlough, rent and utilities for its employees living in
company-owned housing would be deferred and the employees' health benefits would be
paid by the company through April, Sanderson said. 

The furloughed employees were advised to seek out unemployment benefits, he said. 

"Similar to what's happening to the Town of Tusayan, it doesn't have to do with the virus
being a direct impact on the community, it has to do with the fact that people aren't coming
here because of the virus," he said. 

Worries about grocery supply

On top of housing, some are worried about limited groceries.

Delaware North Companies operates the only grocery store on the South Rim, Canyon
Village Market, as well as one in Tusayan. 

According to its website, the company planned to close on Sunday its Yavapai Lodge, which it
says is the largest lodging complex in the park and contains a restaurant and bar. Its grocery
store in the park would also change its hours to noon to 6 p.m. starting Monday, the website
said.  

Amanda Bissette, a bartender employed with Delaware North, said she was furloughed along
with the company's hourly employees while salaried employees were unaffected.

The company has let them live in housing rent-free and would provide three takeaway meals
a day, she said. 

"I've been saving so I know that I'm okay ... I'm extremely worried about my friends. It's a
low-income community and that’s what makes me scared is my friends who have bills," said
Bissette. 

The grocery stores in the park and Tusayan appeared to have mostly full shelves Thursday
aside from a limited supply of bread and no toilet paper. However, Bissette said she worried
about its long-term supplies such as products like toilet paper and cleaning supplies that
appeared to be limited everywhere. 

A spokesperson for Delaware North Companies did not immediately respond to requests
for comment.
Schools close; food pantry overwhelmed
On March 15, Gov. Ducey ordered all state schools to close through March 27, including the
Grand Canyon Unified School District located inside the park. The district has nearly 300 K-
12 students who live as far as Valle along with a small number of students enrolled in its
preschool, explained principal Matt Yost. 

The school plans to continue educating students online as well as with physical workbooks
for those who live in rural areas with no access to internet, said Yost. 

Additionally, the school planned to deliver breakfast and lunch to its students during the
closure. The plan was to have some at the school and deliver the takeaway meals to its
regular bus stops inside the park and through Tusayan and Valle, said Yost.

"We have over 65% of our students who are on free and reduced meal plans so that's a
population that we want to make sure, just because school is closed, doesn't mean they
weren't able to count on two meals a day," said Yost. 

Kate Maragos of the Tusayan Fire District told the Tusayan Town Council Wednesday during
a special meeting about the new coronavirus that the fire district helped distribute St. Mary's
Food Bank's monthly food boxes to Grand Canyon community residents that day. There, she
said, two families told her the food from the school was all their kids could eat that day. 

"We ran out of food in 54 minutes, we had a line wrapped all the way blocking traffic, we had
to turn away dozens of families looking for food," she told the council. 

She explained that because many families lost their jobs this week amid the coronavirus
pandemic, the monthly food drive saw "hundreds of families" in line with many worried
about how they'd feed their families this week, she said. 

A spokesperson for the food drive's operations did not immediately respond to a request for
comment. 

Michael Scott, president of the Grand Canyon Food Pantry in the park, told The Republic it
also experienced a surge in the past week as people were furloughed and others had their
hours cut. The pantry supplies members of the Grand Canyon community with food and
personal hygiene products, like toilet paper and diapers, he said. 

Scott said his immediate goal was to secure supplies for the pantry. He also planned to work
on expanding hours and increasing staff at the pantry and then creating some form of food
distribution in Valle, which they haven't been able to do for nine months, he said. 
Limited health care near Grand Canyon could mean little
testing
During the Tusayan Town Council meeting, a resident brought to the council's attention a
potential need for new coronavirus testing near the South Rim or at least transportation to
Flagstaff for testing. 

While testing across the state was limited, access to testing for the Grand Canyon community
poses a unique challenge because the closest hospital and testing sites are more than an hour
away in Flagstaff, the town's Vice Mayor Brady Harris said.

Currently, there is no testing available at the South Rim, where one North Country
Healthcare clinic operates. Coconino County is offering drive-up testing to people with a
doctor's order at its county fairgrounds and Coconino Community College’s east campus,
both in the Flagstaff area, said Coconino County spokesperson Matthew Rudig. 

Brandon Abbott, deputy chief medical officer for North Country Healthcare, told The Republic
the clinic can order patients a COVID-19 test and then the patient would have to drive to a
testing facility in Flagstaff, he said. 

Requirements to get a test are strict. As of Thursday, the clinic had not seen anyone with
COVID-19 symptoms or ordered anyone to be tested for it, said Abbott.

“I hope people understand we are having to make very challenging decisions on who to test
and who to not to test and patients should not take that personally," Abbott said.

Town of Tusayan debates, then declines emergency

declaration
The Tusayan Town Council discussed during its emergency meeting Wednesday the
possibility of declaring an emergency in order to tap into funding.

Some business managers at the meeting said a declaration mandating businesses to close would
further harm companies that have suffered in the past week.

David Chavez, general manager at the Best Western in Tusayan, told the council the hotel’s
future bookings were down about 33% and that many hotels in the area were seeing
cancellations. He told the council he anticipated being down at least 60% in volume this year.

He also said cuts in employees’ hours had already taken place.

Restaurants, on the other hand, were still seeing large crowds, Clayann Cook, general
manager at Big E’s Steakhouse in Tusayan, told the council. Staff attempted to seat
customers six feet apart and the restaurant was in “sanitation overload,” she said.

“Right now we’re separating people between patio and saloon and into the dining room,
rotating seating to keep people fairly apart,” said Cook. 

She said a declaration with restrictions on the town’s businesses would “kill them.”

After two hours of near-chaotic debate, the council directed staff to draft an emergency
declaration but did not approve one, the town's Vice Mayor Brady Harris said.

Council approved expenditures up to $25,000 from the town’s general fund to assist non-
profits and charities who could help residents in need, Harris said. 

Harris explained that a unique issue the town faces is, in helping residents with costs
associated with rent and utilities it, in turn, may need to provide money to businesses that
own the residences and are fronting costs during furloughs.

“When you’re talking about emergency measures and providing assistance in funding, you
can’t, even in the times of emergency, provide for private businesses; it’s just one of
those lines you can’t cross,” said Harris.

“But when you’re helping residents in our town are you, by helping them pay their rent and
their utilities, actually helping the businesses? That’s a gray legal area that we’ll have to
discuss and explore with our lawyers to make sure in the future we don’t get in trouble,” he
continued.

Coconino County declared a state of emergency that day, along with Flagstaff earlier in the
week. 

Looking to park service for answers

Gov. Ducey on Thursday announced he would limit restaurant service and close bars in
counties with confirmed cases of COVID-19, which includes Coconino County. He also called
on the National Guard to help grocery stores and food banks restock shelves to protect food
supplies. It's not yet clear how that may affect the Grand Canyon area.

Bissette, the bartender who was furloughed, expressed disappointment in the National Park
Service's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, claiming it has provided little to no direction
to the companies and employees based there. 
"My manager was really doing everything they could in our building to keep us as safe as
possible because they just weren't getting any direction from NPS and I feel like that's really
where the ball dropped," she said.

"What was most horrifying for us was over the weekend when other parks started closing ...
we were like, why aren't we included in this? What makes us exempt? Everyone in Calfornia's
national parks is being protected, what makes us exempt?"

"It's not Xanterra and it's not Delaware North, it was the National Park Service that did not
make the call soon enough and just kept pumping people into this park," Bissette said. 

Have a tip about how the coronavirus is affecting the Grand Canyon or its surrounding
communities? Reach the reporter Chelsea Curtis, who grew up in Grand Canyon Village, at
chelsea.curtis@arizonarepublic.com or follow her on Twitter @curtis_chels.

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