Permits issued to people to navigate the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon are once again being honored, at least for the next 7 days.  Thank you to everyone who helped right this injustice. The Governor of Arizona offered to have her state pick up the tab to keep Grand Canyon National Park open for the next 7 days and the park service finally accepted the offer.  This is great news.  Please join me in taking a moment to thank the following people:

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer Twitter: @GovBrewer
Utah Governor. Gary R. Herbert  Twitter: @governorherbert
Bill Parks (http://billhparks.nrsweb.com/ ) and Gator Crump of NRS (Northwest River Supply http://nrs.com) for a $30,000 pledge to the State of AZ  Twitter: @NRSWEB email: service@nrs.com and gator@nrs.com
Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent Dave Uberuaga email:  Dave_Uberuaga@nps.gov
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell Twitter: @SecretaryJewell
Any other representatives you may have contacted on this matter.  I contacted WA Senators Patty Murray  ‏@PattyMurray and Maria Cantwell @CantwellPress and WA House Representative Suzan DelBene twitter: @RepDelBene
Tom Martin, Friend of The River.

There are two more things we need to accomplish:
1.  We need to make sure these parks stay open beyond these temporary accommodations.
2.  We need to take the appropriate legislative actions to ensure this never happens again.

Read more on the park openings from Washington Post

The following National Parks are currently open and operating on state funds:

Arches National Park (Utah, open October 11-20)
Bryce Canyon National Park (Utah, open October 11-20)
Canyonlands National Park (Utah, open October 11-20)
Capitol Reef National Park (Utah, open October 11-20)
Cedar Breaks National Monument (Utah, open October 11-20)
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (Utah, open October 11-20)
Natural Bridges National Monument (Utah, open October 11-20)
Zion National Park (Utah, open October 11-20)
Rocky Mountain National Park (Colorado, open October 11-20)
Statue of Liberty National Monument (New York, open October 12-17)
Mount Rushmore National Memorial (South Dakota, open October 14-23)
Grand Canyon National Park (Arizona, open October 12-18)

NOTE: These openings are TEMPORARY.  The leaders mentioned above have stated they acted in response to our messages to them.  If this issue matters to you, make sure you let them know.

Here is the publicly available document defining the deal between Utah and NPS.  Whereas it is a legal document and whereas no one associated with law or politics can be brief, it is.. Well read for yourself.  No wonder the government is shut down.