The wildfire that destroyed a Grand Canyon lodge this month was the latest blow to the National Park Service staffing and funding cuts.

The Dragon Bravo Fire devastated over 70 structures at the Grand Canyon's North Rim, with only 8% containment.

The national parks of the West are a treasure, and once you are immersed in all their massive grandeur, it’s easy to assume they’ll always be there. I know it’s become a cliché, but the Joni Mitchell lyric from “Big Yellow Taxi” keeps running through my mind as I write this: “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone.

But for Frisco, it was the stay at Grand Canyon Lodge, the North Rim’s near century-old accommodation, that made the biggest impression. She could already see herself returning someday to the sprawling property,