her receiver picks up a signal Nearby tourists grab their binoculars They are excited to spot the endangered raptor in midflight Farther east hikers trek down the South Kaibab Trail They see the Colorado River below On the river life-jacketed rafters approach rapids Their stomachs tense in excitement Elsewhere in the park on the canyon’s North Rim a tourist catches her breath She looks around in awe of the sunset-colored 6 Saving the California Condors In 1982 California condors faced extinction Twenty-two wild condors survived worldwide Researchers blamed habitat loss and hunters An effort was made to save the birds Condors were captured and bred by biologists at California zoos In 1996 six captive-bred condors were released near the Grand Canyon at Vermilion Cliffs The condors wear radio transmitters for monitoring Accidental lead poisoning is the biggest threat to their survival Hunters leave gut piles with lead bullet fragments where condors feed More than 400 condors survive worldwide today Three mating pairs nest within the park
buttes mesas spires and temples Discover the Grand Canyon Grand Canyon National Park is in northwestern Arizona The Colorado River created the canyon The water began cutting through Earth’s crust 6 million years ago Over time the river’s swift waters wore away stone Measured by the river the park is 277 miles 446 km long At its widest point the Grand Canyon measures 18 miles 29 km across It is 1 mile 1 6 km deep The Grand Canyon is so big astronauts can see it from space 7 PERSPECTIVES Endangered Water Supply The Trans-Canyon Pipeline supplies all drinking water in Grand Canyon National Park It was built in the late 1960s It was meant to last 30 years Leaks and breaks in the pipeline are common In 2015 crews began replacing the worst section at the bottom of the canyon near Phantom Ranch Replacing the pipeline is expensive and dangerous But it will ensure reliable water for the millions of visitors to the park and for the thousands of park employees who live at the Grand Canyon
The North Rim has fewer visitors than the South Rim because it is far from cities and interstate highways Each year more than 5 million people visit Grand Canyon National Park It is the second most visited national park in the United States The South Rim has three visitor centers Grand Canyon Visitor Center is near Mather Point This is where most people see the canyon for the first time Desert View Visitor Center is near the park’s east entrance The newest is Verkamp’s Visitor Center in the historic Grand Canyon Village For more than 100 years the Verkamp family ran a store here The visitor center now has exhibits about pioneer lives 8
The North Rim Visitor Center is open May through October The North Rim is 1,000 feet 305 m higher in elevation than the South Rim It is cooler in the summer and gets more snow in the winter The National Park Service NPS closes the road to the North Rim in winter due to deep snow Becoming a National Park The Grand Canyon has been home to humans since the last Ice Age approximately 13,000 years ago Many American Indian tribes have ties to the area Their stories tell how the Grand Canyon was formed Beginning in the 1500s American Indians shared their knowledge of the canyon with explorers Many explorers wanted to profit from mining logging ranching and hunting in the Grand Canyon area The first legislation to protect the canyon came in 1893 President Benjamin Harrison created the Grand Canyon Forest Reserve Its goal was to manage the forest responsibly Then President Theodore Roosevelt made an important speech at the 9
