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Updated: Budgeting At Grand Canyon National Park Is Not Always As Simple As You Might Think

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In a park with many uses -- mule rides, backpacking, river running -- budgeting to meet needs at Grand Canyon National Park is not always easy or simple. Top photo by Cecil Stoughton, National Park Service Historic Photograph Collection; middle photo NPS; bottom photo, Mark Lellouch, NPS.

Editor's note: This rewords the 15th paragraph to reflect that park officials did not say most comments received on the environmental assessment spoke in favor of above-the-rim rides over Inner Gorge rides.

The recent debate over mule rides in Grand Canyon National Park has left park officials, who say they have to live within their budgets and the public's desires, strongly criticized by mule backers, who say trail impacts might be less of an issue if park managers were smarter with how they spend their money.

Unfortunately for outsiders, fully understanding National Park Service budgeting is not always an easy task. There are funds dedicated to specific aspects of a park's operations, overlapping assignments that can make it difficult to tease out how much is spent on a specific area, and, among other things, funds that must be spent within a specific time-frame.

These challenges can be found in just about every one of the 394 units of the National Park System, which makes the following a helpful primer for those trying to understand how spending decisions sometimes are made in their favorite parks.

When Grand Canyon officials in March 2010 embarked on an environmental assessment to help chart the future of livestock use in the park, they pointed out that "an annual budget of approximately $3 million is needed to adequately maintain the park’s corridor trails; however, the park only receives between $1.5 and $2 million annually through entrance fees, concessions franchise fees and other sources for trail maintenance and repair."

"Additionally," they continued, "deferred maintenance costs on inner canyon corridor trails currently exceeds $24 million (GRCA PAMP 2006) – unless management actions are taken in the near future, trails will continue to fall into disrepair and deferred maintenance costs will continue to increase."

The uproar over the park's eventual decision to restrict public mule rides down to Phantom Range in the park's Inner Gorge to 10 mules per day along the Bright Angel Trail, and 10 a day from Phantom Ranch to the South Rim via the South Kaibab Trail, got me wondering about the trail maintenance funding woes, and how easily it might be to move money from another area to help meet those needs.

Since river trips down the Colorado River are a main attraction of the Grand Canyon and require more than a little attention from the park to manage, I figured that'd be a good place to look into the funding quagmire. What I found out is that nothing is entirely cut-and-dried when it comes to park funding.

For starters, Grand Canyon National Park currently spends about $1.4 million a year on river operations -- the permitting office, river patrols, concessions program, rangers staffing the put-in and takeout, environmental audits, and fee collections from river trips, just to name the most obvious tasks.

To cover that $1.4 million, the park receives a little more than $200,000 for river operations in its base funding from Congress, according to park spokeswoman Maureen Oltrogge. Another $600,000 or so comes from private user fees, she added, and the balance -- some $500,000 -- comes from concession fees.

“That pays for us to administer that operation," she said, "and that, too, pays for a ranger at Lee’s Ferry (the put-in), it pays for a ranger at Meadview (the takeout), it pays for river patrol operations."

And often those river patrols are multi-purpose, Ms. Oltrogge continued, explaining that while there might be a river ranger on the boat, there often might be someone working on Inner Gorge trail maintenance, vegetation studies, or archaeological or fisheries research. As a result, here can be a mingling of park funds traveling in that boat.

"It’s not as clean as you can take it from here without affecting something else. As nice as that would be, you just can’t do that," said Ms. Oltrogge.

Indeed, added Barclay Trimble, the Grand Canyon's deputy superintendent for business services, the money generated by river trips has to be spent on river management.

“All the stuff that comes from cost recovery from the privates (trips), that has to be spent on the resources that are being used to generate those fees. So that really can’t be reallocated at all," he said.

As to the furor over just 10 mule rides a day, park officials pointed out that current use patterns overwhelmingly show there are more hikers in the canyon than mule trips. Nearly 200 comments were received on the draft EA, they said in their synopsis, and "a wide variety of comments were received and a majority supported retention of at least some level of stock use in the park." By making more above-the-rim mule rides available, the park was responding to public demand, the officials said.

"I would say we're providing an opportunity for a bigger population, a bigger visitation base, to have that experience" of a mule ride atop the South or North rims, rather than in canyon's Inner Gorge, Mr. Trimble said during an earlier conversation. "We have had several comments over many, many, many years ... about a need for some above the rim. Not everybody wants to spend a full day going down into the canyon, baking in the sun, and coming back out.”

“The opportunity is still there, we are still providing mules down into Phantom Ranch and the North Rim is providing a ride down into the canyon," he added.

In an editorial endorsing the park's preferred livestock plan, the Arizona Daily Sun pointed to the disparity between the numbers of hikers and mule riders in the canyon.

In truth, it hasn't been the mule rides that have increased dramatically but the number of hikers -- hundreds of thousands now use the Bright Angel and South Kaibab trails each year. The two groups have combined to wear out the trails much faster than they can be repaired, resulting in a $20 million backlog of repairs.

But because there are no other viable trail corridors into Phantom Ranch, something had to give, and it was clear that the visitor experiences of 300,000 annual hikers were going to outweigh those of 10,000 mule riders. Deeply rutted trails filled with mule dung and urine, combined with rules of the road that give mule trains priority -- even when they step on a hiker's foot -- made it a foregone conclusion that some of the mules would have to go.

The move to fewer mules in the Grand Canyon is a changing of the recreational guard. While mules long have been associated with the canyon -- Brighty, anyone? -- the demand for mule rides into the canyon at a minimum seems to be slackening, while the influx of hikers determined to hoof it with their gear on their back is climbing.

Under today's budgeting scenario, something had to give, and park officials went into their deliberations with one certainty, as Ms. Oltrogge pointed out during our conversation.

“No matter what decision you make, you’re going to have people happy with it and people who are not," she said.

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I am a former mule guide (1981,1982,1989) It's unbelievabable that so many have lost perspective on the importance of the mules, the history of the mules in the canyon, how much the hikers have to enjoy and benefit from due to those mules! They have been a part of the canyon since before it was a park! Teddy Roosevelt would roll over in his grave over even the thought of the mules being removed. While I was a guide I remember all too well hikers complaining about the pit stops the mules had but funny thing is the minute one of them was hurt that mule was God! I personnaly did what was referred to then as a "Drag out" one night and left the mule barn at 11:00 at night to go to the river house to get a gentleman with a sprained ankle. I put myself and my mules out for one hiker in pitch darkness and he found out just how valuable those mules are! Those trails, the bridge, Phantom ranch and the rest houses are all there originally because of those mules! Sad how the hikers and many others seem to forget this. How many people that are not able to hike the canyon have been able to enjoy it's wonders because of the mules? I've seen way more damage left by hikers such as all the trail cutting they do before switch backs and deficating along side the trails as well as all the garbage they leave! I had maybe planned on retiring from what I do now and returning to guide just because it was one of the greatest jobs I ever had and what a shame I wouldn't be able to because some hikers couldn't handle the smell of mule waste or be able to step around it. There were tourists I remember would be at the round corral in the mornings and tell me they came from great distances just to see the mules and watch them head off into the canyon! Can't say that I've ever heard one say they came just to watch a hiker do that! The mules are an icon they ARE the Grand Canyon! I loved my job as a guide and I've hiked the canyon as well and this entire issue is rediculous! There are far greater issues that need to be addressed at the canyon than this! If you were to take a poll all over the world and ask what is most synonymous with the Grand Canyon it would be the mules! Take the mules out and lets see what the hikers will say when their food they buy at Phantom Ranch is too expensive to buy becasue it all had to be flown in or all the toilets cost to use them, and they put a toll booth at the trail head so every hiker has to pay because of the revenue they have lost from the mule riders being gone....come on people pull your head out! What's next...remove the bears and buffalo in yellowstone because some hiker doesn't want to worry about being killed by them? Might as well take Mickey mouse out of Disney land too it is just a rodent ya know! These people that are complaining are the same ones that complain about the american farmer and rancher while their mouth is full and say "I don't know why we need the farmer and rancher we can get what we need at the grocery store!" What a shame this is even in question!
Sincerely, Jess Goodwin, Former Wrangler


Lawyers are with the DOI Office of the Solicitor. They are government employees. The NPS does not pay any extra for lawyers assigned to NPS cases.


Well my goodness, the NPS is watching this post :),, GOOD, Cause I'm making phone call's that go over there head. Well if the last comment is correct, then those Lawyers in the DOI office should be the VERY first to have to find a new job, Mules of the Grand Canyon are far more important than these folks that live off the misfortune of others and put World renowned Mules out of work, Kind Regards , Former Wrangler Gordon Smith


Jan Brewers office will take your call's on this matter- 602-542-4331,, in State 1-800-253-0883,, Utah Gary Herbert 1-801-538-1000 - 1-800-705-2464 God Bless Teddy Roosevelt. Regards Gordon Smith, Former Wrangler.


Wallapi Johny, Uncle Jim Owens, John Wayne and Red Williams. Let them all be in the sweet dreams of NPS, REgards Gordon Smith


So what discretion does a superintendent have in raising and directing (or denying )funds for particular projects? $200 million windfall to IMR region and all of a sudden the Inner Canyon Trail budget has to be sustainable after 60 years of deferred maintenance? What EXACTLY in the PARK is sustainable besides the Supt's family retirement package? Just a question.


I respect the opinions of the mule wranglers and my experience as both a volunteer ranger and hiker is they are very helpful, friendly and skilled people. However the issue is how to pay for the trail maintenance which is caused by the mules hoofs. The issue isn't that hikers discard trash, or large scale trail erosion is caused by improperly installed water bars or hikers boots cause trail damage--come on MAN.
If anyone doubts the damage mule hoofs make on the trails, follow a string of mules down a snow packed trail. The hoofs pull up clumps of snow/frozen ice ranging from the size of a softball to that of a watermelon. On a dry trail, the visibility of the damage takes longer to see but it occurs with every hoof mark. The GCNPS doesn't have the funding to perform proper trail maintenace. Little options were left since Xanterra couldn't fund the money required for proper trail maintenance. I believe I understand the disappointment and economic impact of this decision to the people working in the mule ride business but the greater good must be served. Maintaining Grand Canyon corridor trails safe for visitors.


When the NPS is calculating the cost of maintaining trails, how does it calculate cost incurred by mule trips and cost by 300,000 hikers annually? Is cost due to wear and tear on the trails by hikers, paid for by fees? If it is not, then either the fees should be raised or the number of hikers reduced.

The National Park Service appears to have an elitist pro-hiker and anti-mule prejudice. A study should be done by an outside analyst, not picked by either NPS or the Dept. of the Interior, to properly determine the cost of maintenance due to mule rides and the cost of maintenance due to hikers.


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