2007 Grand Canyon History Symposium Kirstin Heins Heins has lived and worked in Grand Canyon National Park for seven years, primarily in Grand Canyon's Backcountry Information Center, as staff, supervisor and lead. She was first exposed to park planning efforts during her involvement with the recent Colorado River Management Plan revision. In 2005 she had the opportunity to work for Northern Arizona University and the Grand Canyon Semester, a unique undergraduate experience and special partnership between Grand Canyon National Park and Northern Arizona University. Days spent in the canyon only serve to lengthen her Grand Canyon hiking wish list. She has a B.S. in Forest Recreation Resources from Oregon State University. Presentation Abstract... Tracing the Management Footprint in Grand Canyon National Park's Backcountry:   Although the National Park Service has had a hand in developing and managing the park's backcountry areas since the park's creation, initial development was often driven by non-governmental commercial and resource interests. Several different recreation phases followed initial development in the early part of the 20th century, but broad, formal, visitor management-based backcountry planning efforts were not undertaken until 1974, when the National Park Service completed its first backcountry management plan, corralling the increasing recreational use occurring primarily on the early trails. The 1975 Grand Canyon Enlargement Act dramatically changed park boundaries and was a significant factor in the need for a new Backcountry Management Plan. A 1983 plan laid the ground work for the present plan, completed in 1988, as well as today's zone-based management system which has remained remarkably stable over the last 25 years. Concurrently, the park's management challenges and resource issues have remained interestingly similar. Specific management actions initiated during this planning era include designated campsites, use area boundaries, use limits, and trail and signage standards. This project chronicles the advent and creation of some of Grand Canyon's more significant backcountry regulations and management strategies, with particular emphasis on the post- National Environmental Policy Act era of National Park Service planning. It also will help provide a setting for the forthcoming backcountry planning effort.