The Glen Canyon National Recreation Area is starting a new volunteer program directed at making their visitors’ experience in the park safer and more enjoyable by attempting to prevent accidents and safety incidents before they occur.
The park service is calling their new program “preventative search and rescue.”
The effort is an extension of the park’s voluntourism program, which they began two years ago. During the early stages of the new program, the park will concentrate their resources at Horseshoe Bend, which, due to the large amount of visitation, sees a higher than usual rate of accidents and heat-related health issues. During the hottest weeks of the year, park service rangers may respond to a dozen calls per week to assist people who have become dehydrated and/or overheated during their walk to the overlook.
The idea is to create a pool of volunteers who can man a shaded booth along the route to the overlook where they’ll hand out water, provide information and assist with general safety issues, said Amanda Hammond, assistant chief of interpretation for Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

Hammond is hoping that the bulk of her volunteers will be locals.
The park will train the volunteers on how to call emergency responders, how to assist emergency responders and how to help mitigate the circumstance while help is coming.
To thank their volunteers, park service will give them a park pass good for a year after they complete 30 hours of service.
Moving forward, the park would like to expand the preventative search and rescue program throughout the park. The majority of that effort will come from visitors acting as the park’s eyes and ears during their park visit, said Hammond.
For instance, if they’re driving to Alstrom Point they’ll make contact with people they see along the way and make sure they have enough water, know where they’re going, their vehicle is running properly, etc.
Service from tourists — called voluntourism — has been a growing trend nationwide in recent years, said Hammond.  In 2015, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area had around 300 tourists help with service projects inside the park. Last year, that number reached 500 tourists and this year they’re on track to have about 700 tourists help with park service projects, said Hammond.
“Visitors who volunteer at the park they’re visiting report having a fuller, richer, more memorable experience,” said Hammond.  “It gives them a deeper sense of connection and ownership.”