Call Goes Out For Businesses To Rally Support And Funds To Keep The Grand Canyon Open

TUSAYAN, Ariz., Oct. 1, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Faced with the prospect of disappointed tourists from around the country and around the world, Red Feather Properties is pledging $25,000 to help keep the Grand Canyon open and the South Rim area-based company is urging business owners around the State of Arizona and around the United States to follow its lead.

It's been done before. In 1995, then Governor Fife Symington marshaled state resources and private donations to keep the Park partially open for 21 days during a government shutdown.

Red Feather Properties Manager Clarinda Vail urged fellow business owners in Tusayan and in Arizona to pledge funds to keep the Canyon open.

Vail said, "Shutting the Grand Canyon damages the reputations of the United States, the State of Arizona, and the Town of Tusayan. My family has been here for three generations and we can't sit by as a national treasure is abruptly closed destroying the vacations of people who travel here from around the world."

Vail is also hoping fellow business owners will follow her lead and donate funds to keep the Canyon open, "It's time for the businesses that rely on the Grand Canyon to give something back as the Park faces its hour of need."

She is also hoping the newly-incorporated Town of Tusayan, which has contingency funds and surpluses totaling more than $1 million, can also contribute. Another solution could lie with the State Parks Department.

Vail added, "The vast majority of Tusayan's sales tax revenue comes from tourists. Hopefully our Town will look at this as an investment."

In setting aside $25,000, Red Feather Properties is hoping more businesses will follow suit and that the State of Arizona can coordinate this effort as was done 18 years ago.

Red Feather Properties owns and operates the Red Feather Lodge in Tusayan and owns a number of commercial properties in Tusayan and has been serving tourists in Northern Arizona for nearly a century.

SOURCE Red Feather Properties