Norm Nevills Norm Nevills Boatman’S Quarterly Review CRMP Update …Is Published More Or Less Quarterly by and for Grand Canyon River Guides
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boatman’s quarterly review the journal of Grand Canyon River Guides, Inc volume 17 number 1 spring 2004 Photo courtesy of Special Collections Department, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah. Photo courtesy of Special Collections Department, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah. NormNorm NevillsNevills CRMP Update • Prez Blurb • Protecting Ruins • GCY • GC Lava Dams Medical Control Quandries • Whale Foundation • 2004 Dam Ops Book Reviews • Historic Inscriptions • Thank Yous • One Last Buzz boatman’s quarterly review CRMP Update …is published more or less quarterly by and for Grand Canyon River Guides. he National Park Service (nps) is planning to release the Draft Environmental Impact State- Grand Canyon River Guides ment (eis) for the Colorado River Management is a nonprofit organization dedicated to T Plan (crmp) for public review and comment in May Protecting Grand Canyon 2004. The nps will seek public comment on the Draft Setting the highest standards for the river profession eis once a notice of availability has been posted in the Celebrating the unique spirit of the river community Federal Register. A schedule of public meetings will be Providing the best possible river experience announced following release of the draft. The Draft eis will analyze a full range of reasonable General Meetings are held each Spring and Fall. Our alternatives as well as a draft preferred alternative for Board of Directors Meetings are generally held the first managing recreational use on the Colorado River from Wednesday of each month. All innocent bystanders are Lees Ferry to Lake Mead. urged to attend. Call for details. Issues being addressed in the planning effort include, but are not limited to: Staff Executive Director Lynn Hamilton • the range of services and opportunities provided Board of Directors to the public, President John O’Brien • appropriate levels of visitor use consistent with Vice President Drifter Smith natural and cultural resource protection and Treasurer Lynn Hamilton preservation mandates, Directors OC Dale • allocation of use between commercial and non- Bob Dye commercial groups, Jocelyn Gibbon • level of motorized versus non-motorized raft use, Matt Kaplinski • non-commercial river permit system, and Jeri Ledbetter • continued use of helicopters to transport river passen- Jayne Lee gers from the Colorado River near Whitmore Wash. GCRG’S AMWG Representative Andre Potochnik Public and stakeholder involvement has been and GCRG’S TWG continues to be very important in this planning process. Representative Matt Kaplinski Information relating to the release of the Draft eis and BQR EDITORS Katherine Spillman how the public can be fully involved in the process will Mary Williams be provided in a variety of ways including postings on the park’s website at www.nps.gov/grca/crmp. Our editorial policy, such as it is: provide an open forum. The nps is committed to completing a final National We need articles, poetry, stories, drawings, photos, opin- Environmental Policy Act (nepa) compliance document ions, suggestions, gripes, comics, etc. Opinions expressed by December 31, 2004. We appreciate your interest in are not necessarily those of Grand Canyon River Guides, Grand Canyon National Park and look forward to your Inc. continued participation in the revision of the crmp. Written submissions should be less than 1500 words and, if possible, be sent on a computer disk, pc or mac Rick Ernenwein format; Microsoft Word files are best but we can trans- CRMP PLANNING TEAM LEADER late most programs. Include postpaid return envelope if you want your disk or submission returned. Deadlines for submissions are the 1st of February, May, August and November. Thanks. Our office location: 515 West Birch, Flagstaff, az 86001 Office Hours: 10:30–4:30 Monday through Friday Phone 928/773-1075 Fax 928/773-8523 E-mail [email protected] Website www.gcrg.org page 2 grand canyon river guides Prez Blurb HE BIggeST NEWS THIS WINTER is the following, the company we work for, and 3) our company has “The National Park Service (nps) is planning to “medical control”. Gcrg has asked gcnp to be very Trelease the Draft Environmental Impact State- specific about what they want us to be doing for people ment (eis) for the Colorado River Management Plan in a wilderness setting. The letter we sent to the park is (crmp) for public review and comment in May 2004.” in this issue. I wrote in my previous column, “Hopefully by the time On a lighter note, I was lucky enough to attend the you read this, the Colorado River Management Plan will Second Annual (I hope) “Whale Foundation Wing- be out in draft form…”. Well, it won’t be. Ding” in Flagstaff on the last weekend in January. A In fact, if the Park releases its draft when they say lot of Canyon-related art and gear was auctioned off, they will, it will be the worst time possible for river much good food consumed, and many old friends met guides to read the draft eis, formulate a reasoned and enjoyed. I hope a lot of money was raised. Looking opinion, and make constructive comments. In May, around at the Wing-Ding, I was reminded of Bill most of us will be packing for a trip, or packing for the Beer’s comment at a gts a few years ago, “You’ve got season to move closer to Flagstaff or Kanab, or already a tremendous organization with a tremendous group down river on our first or second or third trip of the of people.” I saw a number of folks there doing great season. things, accomplishing plenty, and not worrying who Our crmp mail may arrive at our winter home, our got the credit. That sounds like a good river trip to me. summer home, or at the outfitters. Then if it catches And it was a celebration—a chance to get together and up to us, we can read it on our trips, after the fourteen laugh, and tell an old story, or hear a new one, and hour day, write up our comments, find a stamp and an maybe summon up the courage, or the good sense, envelope, and mail them from Phantom Ranch, Grand to let your friends know how important they are to Canyon Caverns, or Meadview. you. If you’re lucky, you don’t need a celebration to Hopefully that fits in with the 30 or 45 or 60 day do any of those things, because your friends are close review period that the nps will schedule. Sixty days by, and close. Just hanging out at the Wing-Ding, I’m may seem like a long time to review a document, if reminded how lucky we are in the river community; you are sitting in an office, waiting for it to arrive. But we have more friends than we know sometimes. It’s if you are working a full season in the canyon, maybe amazing how fast a river season will go by, and how taking only single trip off to go to a wedding, 60 days good it is to see friends year around. will come and go in a flash. Speaking of celebrations, the gts will be coming up It is going to be hard for the gcrg Board to come soon, and we are hoping for a great turnout, for the up with a position on the draft eis, because we will land session and for the river session. We’ll be meeting all be on the water, on different trips, trying to touch Friday, March 26 at the Old Marble Canyon Lodge for base with each other, coming off on different days, the annual gcrg meeting. We’ll move from there to going back on this week or next. We will be formally the Hatch warehouse for dinner and a party. The gts requesting that Grand Canyon National Park (gcnp) will be at the Hatch warehouse, Saturday and Sunday, develop a very abbreviated executive summary of March 27th and 28th, starting at 8 a.m., coffee and the Draft eis, listing what would change between the breakfast earlier. Please come if you can; I know it current system and the proposed alternative. We are often conflicts with work, school, skiing, jury duty and hoping that this would be easy for guides to take with everything else in life. The gts is always the best place them on the river and short enough to attempt to read. I know to learn something about the Canyon, meet an Gcrg will be doing whatever we can to get information old friend, make a new one, and celebrate our commu- out to members in time for them to comment on the nity. Draft eis. If you have any ideas about the Draft eis, or I hope to see you there. anything else going on, please contact us at gcrg@info- magic.net or po Box 1934, Flagstaff, az 86002. John O’ I think the next most important issue that gcrg has been discussing this winter is the increasing level of wilderness medical certifications that are being required. Most of us now have quite a bit of training that has become mandatory. Much of which, we have been told not to use unless: 1) we are in a wilderness setting, 2) we have medical protocols in writing, at boatman’s quarterly review page 3 Protecting the Canyon’s Ruins NE OF THE MOST INTERDISCIPLINARY research that 10,000 years of human history may be buried in the ventures sponsored by gcmrc launched from sands of the Grand Canyon. “With active arroyo cutting OLees Ferry on May 4, 2003. The research group of archeological sites, many sites have recently been of geologists and archeologists—including representa- exposed, creating a huge problem for preservationists.” tives from the US Geological Survey, UC Santa Cruz, Can the creation of arroyos be slowed and the archeolog- Grand Canyon National Park, the Hopi Tribe, the ical sites preserved? What the Park Service wants, Balsom Hualapai Tribe, and Western Area Power Administra- makes clear, is a “system-wide” strategy that will relieve tion—set off to see the effect of Glen Canyon Dam her staff from trying to repair every exposed site indi- on the sand that has been vidually.