Backcountry Graffiti Removal Trip - Sep 9th-11th

Join Glen Canyon National Recreation Area’s Graffiti Removal and Intervention Team for a three-day, two-night overnight backcountry stewardship trip that combines sandstone graffiti mitigation with dark-sky quality measurements at Rainbow Bridge National Monument.

Up to six volunteers will report to the Glen Canyon NRA Headquarters parking lot in Page, Arizona, on September 9. The tentative itinerary includes land-based GRIT work at Party Cave, Blue Pools, and Midnight Canyon; a first-night camp at Midnight Canyon; NPS motorboat transportation from Wahweap to Forbidding Canyon; an approximately two-mile backpack hike to the Rainbow Bridge area; a nighttime dark-sky measurement period; and condition checks at previous treatment sites in Padre Bay before returning on September 11.

Volunteers must be comfortable with:

• Tent camping for two nights in remote backcountry conditions.
• Hiking up to five miles per day on uneven sand, rock, shoreline, and trail surfaces.
• Carrying a backpack weighing no more than 50 pounds for approximately two miles.
• Performing outdoor labor in hot, arid, sunny, and potentially windy conditions.
• Repeated kneeling, bending, gripping, reaching, and use of hand tools such as hammers, paint scrapers, and wire brushes.
• NPS government-vehicle and motorboat travel as passengers.
• Limited connectivity, changing weather and lake conditions, and delayed access to commercial or medical services.
• A short nighttime duty period with low visibility and uneven footing.

Volunteers will work under the direct supervision of the trip leader and must follow all instructions from the Boat Operator in Charge. Volunteers will not drive a government vehicle, operate or refuel the boat, or use tools or treatment techniques that have not been approved by the GRIT lead.

NPS will provide the motorboat, personal flotation devices, GRIT tools, safety glasses, gloves, and a shared operational communication device. A backpack, tent, warm-weather sleeping bag, and shared stove/fuel may be available by advance request. Volunteers are responsible for their transportation to Glen Canyon NRA Headquarters, food, footwear, clothing, headlamp, personal medications, sleeping/camping equipment (unless requested in advance), and water/water-treatment supplies identified in the final trip plan.

NPS housing and reimbursements are not provided.

Applicants must be at least 18 years old before signing their Volunteer Service Agreement and before service begins. Selected participants must create a Login.gov account, apply through Volunteer.gov, review the position description and JHA, and sign an OF-301a before the event. No advance training course is required, but mandatory event-specific safety, GRIT tool/PPE, boat-passenger, backcountry, and dark-sky briefings will be provided before the applicable work begins.

Because of the remote logistics, selected participants must be available for the full September 9–11 trip.

Submission of an application does not guarantee selection.