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    Thousands Gather at National Parks Across U.S. to Protest Job Cuts

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    Thousands of people gathered on Saturday at national parks from California to Maine to protest the Trump administration’s firing of at least 1,000 National Park Service employees last month.A group called Resistance Rangers — consisting of about 700 off-duty rangers, including some who were fired from the National Park Service — tried to organize protests at each of the country’s 433 national park sites on Saturday to stand up against what they see as threats to public lands, including the job cuts. By the afternoon, there were protests at at least 145 sites, according to Nick Graver, a 30-year-old graduate student who helped organize the demonstration at Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California.Protests were held in popular spots like Yosemite in Northern California, the Grand Canyon in Arizona, Acadia in Maine, Yellowstone in the Northwest, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and Great Falls Park in Virginia, as well as lesser-known places like Effigy Mounds National Monument in northeastern Iowa. Tensions have been particularly high at Yosemite, where employees have unfurled upside-down American flags in protest across iconic sites like Yosemite Falls and El Capitan.Mr. Graver said his group was concerned not only about the firings but also about resource extraction on public lands and possible threats to national monuments, such as a proposal to remove the president’s power to designate national monuments.The National Park Service said it was working with protest organizers to allow people to “safely exercise their First Amendment rights,” while protecting its resources.Joshua Tree National Park in Twentynine Palms, Calif., last week.Bridget Bennett for The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Man Dies During River Trip in the Grand Canyon

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      His death is the seventh reported in Grand Canyon National Park since July 31.A Colorado man was found dead in Grand Canyon National Park on Saturday, according to the National Park Service. It is the seventh death reported there in less than two months.The man, Patrick Horton, 59, of Salida, Colo., was on a self-guided river trip with a group along the Colorado River when he was found dead by others in the group, the Park Service said in a statement.The Grand Canyon Regional Communications Center, the dispatcher for emergency operations in the area, received a report around 5:30 a.m. on Saturday of a death in an area known as Poncho’s Kitchen, near River Mile 137 along the Colorado River, the Park Service said. Park rangers arrived to find Mr. Horton dead at the scene, the agency said.Mr. Horton died on the 10th day of a private, self-guided river trip, which requires a river permit that is won through a lottery system, the Park Service said.A cause of death has not been released. The Park Service said it was investigating the death in coordination with the Coconino County Medical Examiner’s Office.Representatives for the Park Service and the medical examiner’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday evening.The Grand Canyon National Park, in northern Arizona, attracts millions of visitors each year, many of them hikers who descend thousands of feet from the rim of the canyon to the Colorado River below. According to the Arizona Office of Tourism, about 5,000 of the 27,000 people who travel along the river through the Grand Canyon each year do so on private trips with the appropriate park permits.The death is the seventh reported in Grand Canyon since July 31, according to previous news releases from the Park Service. Others include a 60-year-old hiker from North Carolina who was on a multiday backpacking trip when he was reported missing by a relative; an unidentified 80-year-old man who died after his boat flipped over in a river; Chenoa Rickerson, a 33-year-old woman whose body was found after a flash flood; and Leticia A. Castillo, 20, whose body was found 150 feet below an overlook.There have been at least 15 deaths in Grand Canyon so far this year, including six fatalities reported over two separate weeklong periods this summer, The New York Times reported.The park averages about 17 deaths per year, with the most common cause being cardiac arrest, according to data from the last decade. More

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      Waterline Breaks Force Grand Canyon to Halt Hotel Stays on South Rim

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      The popular destination has put strict water restrictions into effect before one of summer’s busiest weekends.Citing recent breaks in its waterline, Grand Canyon National Park in northern Arizona announced Wednesday that it would temporarily halt overnight hotel stays on the South Rim of the park starting Thursday afternoon, just before the busy Labor Day weekend.The park also announced strict water restrictions on the South Rim after four recent significant breaks in the 12-and-a-half-mile-long Transcanyon Waterline, which supplies water from the canyon for use in the park.The park has been dealing with water supply problems since July 8, according to the Park Service, saying that “currently, no water is being pumped to either the South or North Rim.”It was not immediately clear how long the closure would last. Joelle Baird, the park’s spokeswoman, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.“The goal is to restore full operational status for overnight guests on the South Rim as quickly as possible,” the Parks Service said in the statement.But Xanterra, which operates hotels inside the park, said on its website that no overnight guests would be allowed to stay inside the park from Aug. 29 through Sept. 4.The closure, which comes at the height of the park’s busy summer season, affects overnight accommodations, such as hotel and camp sites inside the park. Hotels outside of the park, in the town of Tusayan, will not be affected.The closure affects the four hotels in the park that are owned by Xanterra Travel Collection: El Tovar, Bright Angel Lodge, Maswik Lodge, and Phantom Ranch. It also affects Yavapai Lodge, a hotel about half a mile from the South Rim, and Trailer Village, an RV park.The El Tovar Hotel, on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, is one of the hotels that will be closed to overnight guests because of water restrictions in the park.George Rose/Getty ImagesThere are just over 900 lodging units on the South Rim, according to the Park Service.Visitors will be allowed only to go “dry camping,” the Park Service said, adding that there would be no spigot access at campgrounds. Faucets in bathrooms will stay in use, the Park Service said.Campfires, including warming fires and charcoal barbecues, will not be allowed.On the North Rim — the lesser visited part of the Canyon — a lodge and camp grounds will remain open. Also known as the “other side” of the Grand Canyon, the North Rim attracts about one tenth of all park visitors, according to the National Park Service. About six million people a year visit the park.It is not the first time the Transcanyon Waterline has experienced problems. The waterline, built in the 1960s, has outlived its expected life span, according to the Park Service, and requires a lot of expensive repairs. Since 2010, there have been more than 85 breaks that have disrupted water delivery to the park.The park will continue to be open during the day, and food and beverage services will be up and running. The post office will remain open during the day. More