This post is meant to be informative. It is to show people how life at the Grand Canyon works.
The national park system is made up of many national parks all over the country. While a lot of them are very similar in function there is a lot of differences in them. I am writing specifically on the Grand Canyon National Park as I've lived here for 2 and 1/2 years now. Along with the NPS Park Rangers there's also a few other companies that help run the park. Xanterra and Delaware North run the hotels and the gift shops here while the Grand Canyon Association runs other things for the residents here.
We have running post office and General Store and we also have a clinic. If you have a major medical issue you have to go to the hospital in Flagstaff or Sedona whichever is closer. What sets Grand Canyon apart from the other parks is that we have our own School District here. And we have a few hundred students which are made up of families that live here and natives from the reservations nearby that go to school here. There's also a daycare/Preschool the Kaibab Learning Center which my wife Amber works for as a teacher.
Including the J-1 students who come on work visas to work depending on the season There is close to three thousand people living here. A lot of people do not know that people actually live here to make this work but we do.
Now The NPS Rangers they are in charge of and run the tours and informative shows that go on here. And if you are interested they also do scientific discovery at all the parks. That is ran and funded by the national park system. And they are also in charge of Forestry service, making sure that the forests are alive and healthy. And also that the wildlife and animals are doing what they need to be doing.
Very recently I watched a show about the Yellowstone National Park and learned how the wildlife affect everything. And it's really crazy how a simple herd of animals can have such an impact on the entire ecosystem. But this and like I said taking care of the forest is what NPS does. And they're also in charge of the emergency here. So police fire those are handled by NPS.
But overall my point is we have a functioning Community here. It is a pretty large one if you think about it.
