Black Canyon Of The Gunnison National Park

In 2021, the National Park Service Aviation Program awarded the Excellence in Mentorship Aviation Award, the Tom Clausing Aviation All Risk (Hazard) Program Award, Aviator of the Year Award, and the Wright Brothers Aviation Safety Award.

When the climate changes enough, the vegetation communities growing in any given place will also change. Under an expanded bimodal climate zone, some plant communities in western national parks are more likely to change than others. National Park Service ecologists and partners investigated the future conditions that may force some of this change. Having this information can help park managers decide whether to resist, direct, or accept the change.

Byron Bryant's expedition continued exploration of the "Grand Canyon of the Gunnison" for railroad opportunities during the winter of 1883 and 1884. Their survey helped advise the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad to not continue through Black Canyon.

Across the US, changes in water availability are altering which plants grow where. These changes are evident at a broad scale. But not all areas experience the same climate in the same way, even within the boundaries of a single national park. A new dataset gives park managers a valuable tool for understanding why vegetation has changed and how it might change in the future under different climate-change scenarios.

Connie Rudd's career with the National Park Service began as a seasonal ranger in 1979. Her continual desire to learn propelled her to various sites and positions in interpretation, planning, and management until 2014, when she retired as Park Superintendent. In this Spotlight article, Rudd reflects on her career path, changes in interpretation, and being in upper management as a woman. Part of "Women’s Voices: Women in the National Park Service Oral History Project."

The Black-throated Sparrow edition of Get to Know the Plateau, spotlighting a beautiful bird of the Colorado Plateau. Brought to you by the Southern Colorado Plateau Network.

This finding aid describes the David Halpern Photograph Collection, part of the NPS History Collection.

Lieutenant John W. Gunnison, Lieutenant Edward G. Beckwith, and crew traveled from the Great Plains, over the Rocky Mountains, and into the Tomichi Valley. The expedition continued to follow the Grand River (Gunnison River). The Gunnison Expedition report contains the first official description of the Black Canyon.