February 7, 2019 | While he was growing up on the arid, remote Hopi Nation in northern Arizona, Marshall Masayesva never paddled a kayak or went backpacking. People who lived in his community spent a lot of time outdoors, but the term “recreation” was seldom uttered; Masayesva never thought of himself as an outdoors person.

That began to change after high school when Masayesva’s sister encouraged him to get a job in the conservation field. “She wanted me leave the reservation, so she threw an application at me,” he says.

January 4, 2019 | On the “bucket list” for people all over the world is to hike the Grand Canyon, most notably, the Bright Angel and Kaibab Trails. Of the six million-plus annual Grand Canyon visitors, it is estimated less than 7 percent actually hike down into the canyon (only 1 percent to the bottom). Even so, that adds up to 434,000 hikers a year on the corridor trails.  

Maintaining these popular trails for safe passage are many people who work at times in high heat and low temperatures to ensure hikers and mule riders a safe journey.