ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — U.S. land managers are racing the clock as hotter, drier weather raises the risk of wildfires in the nation’s overgrown forests with each passing year.

The Grand Canyon Lodge was one of dozens of structures destroyed in a fast-moving wildfire in Arizona over the weekend, the National Park Service confirmed.

Wildfires burning at or near the Grand Canyon's North Rim are still raging as strong winds, high heat and low humidity persist.

National wildfire policy has changed significantly over the past century. After the “Big Burn” of Idaho and Montana in 1910, federal fire officials treated all fires as an enemy and instituted a “10 a.m.” rule seeking to snuff them out within a morning of spotting them.

“The North Rim of the Grand Canyon is like another world,” said Ethan Aumack, executive director of the Grand Canyon Trust, who has fond memories of skiing through the woods to the rim after the lone road that leads there closes for the winter. “It feels like a much more personal place.”

A combination of high winds, dry air and above average temperatures caused a wildfire in the Grand Canyon to rapidly expand and cause major damage.

The Grand Canyon Lodge in far northern Arizona that was an elusive getaway for nearly a century has been destroyed by a wildfire.

Two wildfires continue to burn near the Grand Canyon; the White Sage Fire has burned nearly 53,000 acres and is 4% contained. The Dragon Bravo Fire has burned about 8,500 acres.

I visited the Grand Canyon's North Rim looking for a uniquely Arizona experience. Instead, it taught me what it meant to be an Arizonan.

In this secluded paradise, mail still arrives by mule, turquoise cascades tumble into travertine pools, and time flows at the pace of the river.