westernrvparkowner wrote:
To me it just sounds like a whole lot of Government-speak. From the "we have a lot of work to do" to "need to obtain funding", all the way to "unauthorized run that couldn't be stopped without bad press". That is all just a bureaucrat saying "sorry, but there is nothing we can or will do about it". I have found individuals working for the park service to be truly great. They will go out of their way to help you, just as you found. But as an entity, the park service is a monolith that cannot act. Any proposed changes will be met with a litany of studies, public comments and the inevitable lawsuit challenging everything. The environmental wackos will attempt to block any handicapped access accommodation that moves a rock or displaces a blade of grass. The activists will push for every possible accommodation to be the gold standard and the costs will balloon from a few hundred thousand dollars to multiple millions and the whole thing will just collapse upon itself. Don't book your reservations yet.
I can understand part of what you are saying but you're not being realistic. The comment was a private one made in a staff meeting and I mentioned it because the ranger after spend part of his day in a wheelchair found out how many obstacles the are and what a huge job it is to list and prioritize them. You may be able to say I'm going to change something in your park of a few acres but s park the size of the GC has a lot of hidden problems and identifying them and funding them cannot be done overnight.
I would suggest you go to the Park and contact Dave or Diane Chalfant about what they are doing. Obviously Dave wants to know what needs to be done or he would not instruct his staff to use a wheel chair instead of walking. Now the staff is more acutely aware that there is a problem and it is big.
The multi million dollar improvement to Bright Angel Trailhead is but one improvement that has been talked about for years and Dave in partnership with the GCA raised the money for plans and construction. There are now restrooms there along with benches, shade covers and water for filling water bottles.
Dave gave permission to the GCA to use the Kolb Studio as a gift shop and venue for special events. The conditions was that he GCA restore the studio and residence. The restoration had to follow Park Service guidelines and regulations. And at a cost several millions of GCS funds, the restored building was opened and dedicated last weekend. To recognize the many Indian tribes that have called the area home a medallion was designed and the designed was transferred to concrete in a plaza by the newly built Mather Amphitheater. The biggest problem with the medallion's design was not any of the things you mentioned but getting the Tribal names in an order that satisfied eight sovereign Indian Nations. The amphitheater looks like it is a natural feature of the park.
Care and planning like this takes time and is proof that the Park Service is not a monolith. As for the Rim to Rim run, the organizer insisted that it was not an organized even, as fines were levied against the organizer it was noted that his statement was BS. How could 250 runners all wearing identical T shirts be a coincident?
Sorry Mr. Park Owner, the completions of so many improvements in the last four years were not a fluke. They may take time but nothing unusual.
Rant over, please visit the park, you can park you car and take free shuttles almost everywhere but the Phantom Ranch.
