Two Nonprofits Team Up to Rebuild Arches National Park Staff Housing

Two nonprofits partnered to demolish an unusable house inside Arches National Park, with plans to construct a new unit that will double the amount of park staff it can serve. The effort, driven by Friends of Arches and Canyonlands and the Canyonlands Natural History Association (CNHA), cuts to what Steve Evers, executive director for Friends of Arches and Canyonlands, describes as the park's single most urgent problem. "Our organizations exist to support the national parks," Evers wrote. "If the park service cannot hire staff because there is no housing, many elements of the NPS mission are at risk, including their ability to provide an enjoyable visitor experience and protecting the natural and cultural resources of the park itself."

The scale of that problem showed up at a Moab Tourism Advisory Board meeting in February, where board member Sharon Kienzle reported a startling detail: Arches National Park had sifted through 500 applications, but many applicants were turning down the job. "Everyone is telling them that they took a job somewhere else or there's no housing available, and that's why they're not coming," Kienzle said.

The house that anchors this project was deemed unusable by NPS in fall 2024. Without this nonprofit partnership, "this project would likely not be completed for years," Evers said, pointing out that the 2026 construction line for NPS's budget was "cut almost in half" from $172.4 million in 2025 to $88.5 million in 2026.

The project proceeds in three phases. The first phase was to demolish the existing structure. The second phase includes working with an architectural firm to develop construction documents and assist with proposals for construction. The third phase is the construction of the house once funding is secured. The nonprofits have wrapped up the demolition phase and are now in the design phase, with the design process streamlined by using prototype design templates curated by NPS.

The project was made possible because both nonprofits were awarded funding through the National Park Foundation's Housing Catalyst grant. The grant was established specifically for national park partners to assist with housing staff. Sam Wainer noted that "the grant from NPF was crucial in getting the entire housing project going by preparing the site for the future housing development." Wainer added that phases one and two are covered under that initial grant. To date, the nonprofits have acquired $250,000 for the project.

This isn't the first time the two organizations have joined forces on housing. The groups previously partnered to purchase a nine-bedroom home rented to Arches staff, with Friends of Arches and Canyonlands serving as the "main catalyst" in that purchase with "limited support" from CNHA. In 2023, CNHA separately purchased seven homes to rent rooms not only to NPS employees, but to U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management employees as well.

"We find there is a lot of power in partnerships and we're proud to come together to solve the challenge our parks, and in turn, our community face," Evers said. With demolition complete and design underway, the project now hinges on securing the funding needed to break ground on phase three, the construction that will finally double what the site can offer to the rangers, scientists, and support staff who keep southeast Utah's red rock parks running.