Volunteer Story: Brent and Dawn Davis

Brent Davis

NPS / Brent&Dawn Davis

Dawn Davis

NPS / Brent&Dawn Davis

A number of years ago my wife challenged me to, 'figure out what we are going to do in retirement.' She did not give me any boundaries to work within so I put together our love for travel, and experiencing new things and came up with the idea to try volunteering in parks. We met almost 40 years ago while working in Yellowstone one summer so volunteering in parks felt like coming full circle after long careers in the business & health care worlds. We have since volunteered at a couple of different parks in Oregon, and two other NPS units. But Glen Canyon is the place that has captured our hearts; the place we keep returning to. Over the last 3-4 calendar years I have probably spent almost an entire year at Glen Canyon.

Moonrise at Wahweap Marina

NPS / Brent&Dawn Davis

Other than the sheer beauty of Glen Canyon, the one thing that we treasure most about our time there is how much we get to learn about the area. Seeing the iconic vistas is great, but over the years we have had the opportunity to interact with almost every division within the NPS hierarchy. That has given us tremendous insight into the complexities of running an operation of this size, including interactions with the various public stakeholders. Over time we have come to feel like we have a vested interest in Glen Canyon and its operation.

Rainbow Bridge, Dark Sky Sanctuary

NPS / Brent&Dawn Davis

We did the photography that was used for the successful application to make Rainbow Bridge National Monument an International Dark Sky Sanctuary, and we also made the Dark Sky video on the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area website.

Our plan for this year was to build on those experiences and spend at least six months there helping the NPS pursue an International Dark Sky Park certification for Glen Canyon. That effort will take more than six months, so we were aiming to have an application submitted by some time in 2021. With the COVID-19 outbreak we have had to hit the 'pause' button, but once it's feasible from an operational standpoint, our plan is to resume our efforts to showcase the beauty of Glen Canyon and help with the Dark Sky application.

Dark Sky Research with the Davises

NPS / Brent&Dawn Davis