Confession time: We’re biased. We think the Southwest is the greatest place in the world, and we aim to keep it that way.
The Grand Canyon Trust has been a leading voice in regional conservation for more than 30 years. From improving air quality around the Grand Canyon to helping win national monument protections in southern Utah, the Trust works tirelessly to protect the Colorado Plateau’s remarkable landscapes.
We are a non-profit conservation organization dedicated to making sure the region’s natural wonders, communities, and cultures thrive. We’re in it for the long haul, and we hope you are too. Join us ›
To safeguard the wonders of the Grand Canyon and the Colorado Plateau, while supporting the rights of its Native peoples.
We envision a Grand Canyon and Colorado Plateau where:
The Grand Canyon Trust traces its roots to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, where the Colorado River and love of place runs deep. Here’s our story.
In the early 80s, legendary river runner and wilderness advocate Martin Litton took several environmentalists downstream. One evening, sitting in the sand around a campfire undoubtedly recounting flips, jokes, and other river lore, the conversation turned toward the need to create an organization with the express goal of protecting the Grand Canyon. Long-time conservationist Huey Johnson proposed a name: the Grand Canyon Trust.
Over the next few years, those fireside chats turned into action. And in 1985, Arizona Governor Bruce Babbitt and several others officially registered the Grand Canyon Trust as a non-profit organization dedicated to defending the natural integrity of the Grand Canyon.
But the Trust realized early on that issues don’t stop at the boundaries of Grand Canyon National Park. So in 1987, we expanded the scope of our work to encompass the entire Colorado Plateau — the Four Corners region of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico, of which the Grand Canyon stands as the centerpiece.
Over the years we’ve grown from a one man show to a staff of more than 30, working on issues ranging from grazing, to forest restoration, to uranium mining. We have a membership of more than 3,000 people who love the Grand Canyon and the Colorado Plateau, and an active volunteer base of more than 400 people who help us with on-the-ground restoration work, data collection, monitoring and more.
The top sources of greenhouse gas emissions on the Colorado Plateau are electricity, transportation, and oil and gas production.
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Lyle Balenquah, a Hopi archaeologist, describes ancestral sites along the Little Colorado River.
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