The Dragon Bravo Fire at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon is not only burning through thousands of acres of forest but is also damaging tourism at the South Rim even though they are separated by more than ten miles across the Canyon. Potential tourists have the mistaken impression that the South Rim is impacted by smoke and fire miles away. It’s not.

Arizona Senator Mark Kelly is working to spread the word that the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and the businesses in the area are open despite the Dragon Fire in the North Rim. On August 8th, he toured the South Rim with Tusayan Mayor Clarinda Vail, Coconino County Supervisors Patrice Horstman and Tammy Ontiveros, and Williams Mayor Don Dent.

“Myself and some of the mayors are trying to address that and get the message out that if you had plans to come to the South Rim come to the South Rim,” said Kelly.

Here is a link to the message Kelly recorded with Vail, Horstman, Ontiveros, and Dent.

https://youtu.be/AD2acEqrL1w

Mayor Vail said, “We’re just glad the Senator came just to bring some awareness that the South Rim is still open. A lot of the national media doesn’t understand the vastness of Grand Canyon National Park and we’ve even heard the fire called the Grand Canyon fire without being specific to point out the South Rim is still open. We were already slow to begin with, and I think this has just added to that. So, we are trying to get the word out that the South Rim is still open and we have great temperatures and good rates because it has not been busy. It’s an especially good time for visitors from hotter areas like Phoenix and Tucson to come see us at the South Rim.”

Senator Kelly says there is another reason for the South Rim’s tourism troubles. And it has nothing to do with forest fires or the weather. The senator says it’s the current political climate. He says President Trump’s tariffs policies and a war of words with Canada are keeping Canadian and overseas tourists away, “Folks from overseas don’t want to come to the United States anymore and that happens when you have a Commander-in-Chief that says he wants to turn Canada into the 51st state. That pisses people off.”

Kelly also flew over the North Rim fire and noted the fire, and the closure of Highway 67 has made it impossible for businesses that survived the flames to operate. Highway 67 closes in the winter. Once the fire is out, he would like to talk to Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs and explore the idea of keeping the highway open in the winter so that businesses could operate year round and hopefully recover some of their losses. He also stressed the importance of rebuilding and improving the infrastructure at the North Rim, “Because this is a treasure for our state, our country, and even the world.”