It’s a huge understatement, but Grand Canyon National Park is home to a wide variety of plant species, more than 1,500. A lot of that is credited to the dramatic elevation change in the canyon.
Leaders at the park wanted to do something to help protect more of those plants.
So the non-profit Grand Canyon Association worked with the park to help raise funds to construct a greenhouse on the site.
This will allow the park to grow its own native plants for use in the park.Before, cuttings were sent out of state, germinated and trucked back to Arizona.
The park will save between $60,000 and $70,000 a year, said Ann Scheflen, the chief philanthropy officer for the Grand Canyon Association.
"We're just delighted that we have the capacity right here at home to grow our own plants," Scheflen said.
