Grand Canyon National Park officials have drafted a new plan for how they hope to restore its river unit after they were forced to disband it nearly a year and a half ago following a federal sexual harassment investigation.
Earlier this month, park employees presented the public with their vision of what a newly organized river operations unit might look like. But before any modifications can be implemented, they still need approval from the park superintendent and the park service regional office.
The plan would create a new administrative position — river operations manager — who would work directly with the river operations unit and report directly to the park superintendent. Previously the unit was housed in the visitor and resource protection division.
The idea behind the new organizational structure is that it will give the river unit a very short chain of command between it and the superintendent. If problems arise again, the short communication chain to the top will help eliminate the chances that complaints and other issues will get lost along the way.
The Grand Canyon river unit was disbanded in March 2016 after reports of rampant sexual harassment from male members of the river unit to their female underlings.

The investigation found that reports of sexual harassment to managers and supervisors higher up the chain were covered up with no follow through to discipline the men responsible for the sexual harassment.
The government investigator concluded that harassment complaints were not properly reported nor investigated after employees filed them with park supervisors.
The river unit’s new organizational structure will include well-defined avenues of communication, a clear chain of command and follow ups if sexual harassment is reported in the future.
Additionally, the park is proposing to expand oversight of river operations by the superintendent’s office and a new interdisciplinary team that includes members from the river district and other divisions of the park.
As part of the future river unit’s oversight, an independent group will be formed whose responsibilities will include evaluating trip participants, reviewing post-trip reports and reporting any concerns to the superintendent.
It will also help in hiring river group staff and developing policies and procedures related to river trips.
The plan includes several suggested policy changes as well, including a mandatory review of what went well and what could be improved on each trip, a more standardized uniform policy and better communication of clear expectations about trip conduct and the consequences of poor conduct.
The team working on the changes to river operations aims to have a final recommendation to Park Superintendent Chris Lehnertz and the Park Service’s regional director by August and the interdisciplinary team selected by late summer.