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Behind the Scenes: Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent Interview
How a Former Lawyer Now Runs the 2nd Most Visited National Park plus the Top Three Moments, Three Things I Learned and Three New Fun Facts About Grand Canyon: All from my conversation with Ed Keable, Grand Canyon Superintendent
Maddie Pellman
April 02, 2024
It’s Tuesday!! Today our episode with the Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent, Ed Keable, is LIVE. I’ve been reminiscing on Ed’s story since our conversation - his first role in the NPS was as Grand Canyon Superintendent — how crazy! Excited to share my favorite moments with you all 🙂 Listen NOW on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts 🪩🎉
Don’t worry — Ed & I had our cheesin’ moments 🙂
“This is a really cool podcast you're doing” (if Ed thinks so, I guess this means you have to check out the podcast 😉)
Top 3 Moments From Interview
Best Commute Out There: Ed walks along the canyon rim everyday to get to the office, hard to beat that.
“So it's an opportunity [on my commute] for me every day to see the canyon and to be both inspired by it and also for it to remind me of my responsibilities as superintendent.”
Type 2 Fun: Ed and I appreciating “Type 2” fun and how sometimes on backpacking trips, we learn to embrace the pain and laugh about it later (Type 2 fun is fun that isn’t necessarily fun in the moment, but you look back on fondly)..
“That's when I learned to really embrace the adversity that sometimes being on the river is because you're either going to be miserable or you're going to enjoy it. And I learned to enjoy adversity. You have to embrace adversity. And once you're able to do that, you can really thoroughly enjoy an experience that is not always easy.”
A Life Changing Grand Canyon Experience: Back in 1994, Ed visited the Grand Canyon for the first time and remembers “walking up to the rim and having this very powerful sense of the divine”. In that moment, he also had a thought that it would be cool to work there some day 🙂 a bit of foreshadowing!
3 Things I Learned Interviewing Ed
Given that I realized I knew almost nothing about the legal structure of our government, Ed having 23 years of experience in the Office of the Solicitor (Department of the Interior's primary office for legal counsel), led to me learning a TON - I had to do a lot of Googling mid interview to keep up with the legal terms 😅
Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps: This is the legal arm of the army & where Ed first worked as a lawyer — in this position he oscillated between both defense and prosecution work, representing either the convicted military folks or the US government depending on the assignment (he got to live in three continents over his 7 years serving in the army 🤯)
AWOL (Absence Without Leave) Charges: This is a criminal charge only applicable in the army (you can be charged with AWOL as a federal employee, but it is a civil offense). To summarize, don’t leave your post if you are serving our country!!
What the Secretary of the Interior’s Office Looks Like: “Hey, I think the Secretary of the Interior is gonna ask you a question. He wants you to come to the office when you're in town tomorrow” Ed walks us through the improbable day where the Secretary of the Interior asked him personally to be the Grand Canyon Superintendent and the stately office in which it took place (he asked if I had ever been in the Secretary of the Interior’s office and the answer was obviously no 😂)
3 Interesting Facts About Grand Canyon
Climate Change Impacts: The Grand Canyon is seeing climate change impact in three major areas 😢 (listen in to hear how more about how these impacts are playing out)
Human health (increases in heat related injuries/death)
North & South Rim forests are at greater risk of fire
Colorado River health deterioration (the water is getting warmer & the water levels are decreasing)
“I wish everyone knew just how much work it is to keep this place going and how well the staff here does this important work.”
If you were able to flatten the Grand Canyon it would be larger than the state of Texas (this is from Kevin Fedarko’s book, the Emerald Mile, whom Ed referenced). For my fellow Texans out there, you know how crazy this is. For folks who don’t know, from Austin it takes NINE HOURS to drive to El Paso, just to put things in perspective
Reimagining the North Rim: The North Rim is closed during the winter but Ed & team are getting to evaluate if they are going to winterize North Rim operations and are getting to brainstorm potential experiences they could offer (like yurts that people could ski to and eat lunch at or even camp out and spend the night). It’s not every day superintendents get to brainstorm net new potential operations. Listen here.
I lovedddd talking with Ed & left his interview beaming. His love for the Grand Canyon and for civil service was evident. Give the whole episode a listen 🙂
“I saw him [my father] helping many clients out of difficult situations in our rural community. Many of his clients couldn't afford his fees. So he would often either waive his fees, or he would accept in-kind payments in things like bushels of corn or baskets of zucchini. And so he taught me both the importance and the joy of serving others. And practicing law seemed like a really good way to satisfy that inspiring life mission.”
Maddie’s Outdoor Obsessions
This section highlight’s my favorite picks from the past two weeks in the outdoor & adventure world
AIARE: Skiing has been on my mind (well it always is, but alas). AIARE, the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education, is a great organization that teaches folks how to shred safely in the backcountry. I took an AIARE Avalanche Rescue Course before my trip to Japan last year and am hoping to take the AIARE 1 course next season so that I can start making avalanche risk assessments on my own. Check them out!!
Adventure Journal Podcast: “THE AJ PODCAST—HOW ADVENTURE CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE” I learned about this podcast through the Mountain Gazette weekly newsletter & instantly loved it. I listened to Cody Townsend’s episode, who is a famous free-skier (hence skiing being on my mind). Want to be inspired to pursue that adventure that’s been nagging you in the back of your head? Listen to Cody’s episode & it might just push you over the edge.
The Fifty: Cody Townsend, mentioned above, is pursuing the rad adventure of climbing and skiing “The Fifty Classic Ski Descents of North America.” He documents his real and honest experience attempting to do what no one has done before.
We will be releasing our next episode on Earth Day so our bi-weekly cadence will be a little thrown off but don’t worry, see you all soon. Peace and love peeps!
Maddie
p.s. Get your friends to sign up for the newsletter at whorunsthispark.com/newsletter.
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