A canid that has been roaming the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park has been confirmed to be a gray wolf, according to a DNA analysis performed for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Having peaked on Thursday, high flows of the Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park will taper back down to normal by Saturday, leaving behind replenished shores, improved fish habitat, and more space for campers. But the benefits will be lingering, according to the Glen Canyon Institute.

Dave Uberuagua could be viewed as a poker player facing the slim prospects of filling an inside straight draw. The superintendent of Grand Canyon National Park doesn't like, or agree with, the analogy, but in less than two months concession services on the South Rim of his park will be shuttered unless he can do in that period what the National Park Service has failed to accomplish for three years: negotiate a concessions contract.

Barring a temporary agreement, mass layoffs stand to cripple concessions operations at Grand Canyon National Park on December 31, shuttering hotels and dining rooms, ending mule rides and bus tours, and canceling some memorable New Year's Eve celebrations on the South Rim.