e met with members of the Park Service just after the New Year to catch up on new rules and regs that might be coming our way, talk about the gts and learn what we could pass along to our membership so that we¹re all on the same page. We met with Patrick Hattaway, Jim Northup, Dave Trevino and Allen Keske and here¹s what we thought all of you should know:

• The checkout at the ramp at Lees Ferry will still be as streamlined as last season, and each company should expect about three on-river spot checks per season to check permits. This is part of an attempt to maintain accountability to the current plan, fee structure and allocation system.
• Ed Cummins wants to re-emphasize that if you want to renew your license please call ahead to make an appointment. Ed and Ray will be out more on ranger duties so they may not be there if you show up unexpectedly. Call the Lees Ferry station at 520-355-2313.
• There will be no changes in health regs or the food code‹the Park will continue use of the standardized checklist that many of you saw last season. There is a new Park Sanitarian whom you may see on the river. Jim Nothnagel comes to us from several years at Glen Canyon nra and has an office at the Northern Arizona University Forestry Building. We¹ll see if we can convince him to come up to the gts to introduce himself.
• There will be no advance review copy of the cor¹s this year because the changes are very few and very minor, including the emergency radio frequency change mentioned in the last bqr, and a couple of other details.
• Just a reminder that the trend in injuries last season was the same as in years previous: off-river hiking injuries were by far the biggest problem, not river-related stuff. Please be very mindful and stress this to your folks. We know you do, but it can¹t hurt to go over it again.
• Hantavirus warnings need to be included in our orientations. The Center for Disease Control (cdc) has said that the best way to avoid contact is to not sleep on the ground, so we should expect passengers asking us for tents more than they normally might.
• Some not-so-new regs that we need to be reminded of: bow-riding motor rigs, including the very front of the side tubes (the angled part) is prohibited. This doesn¹t mean the ³bathtub² areas in some motor rigs, or the main part of the side tube, but dangling your feet off the nose, or bronco riding the snout of the outrigger. This is part of the Code of Federal Regulations, a Coast Guard rule, not just Park Service. In addition, although many of you weren¹t aware of this (we weren¹t) swimming rapids (intentionally) is not allowed as per gcnp regs. This rule has been in effect for a long time, but obviously that 48° water has been really tempting at times.
• Sorry, but you can¹t refuse to take a Park Service ride-along on your boat, even if you hadn¹t been informed that they were coming along. Don¹t leave ¹em on the beach, okay?
• The upper ledge at Nankoweap is still off limits. Please let your folks know because the buildings are not in such great shape and there have been complaints to the Park about passengers going up there, leaning on the walls, etc.
• Toilet practices are never anything we can compromise on! Someone saw a passenger heading off into the rocks with a shovel and toilet paper. This is not good. Please follow the regs everyone‹ things like that are there for a really good reason. You may not want to do the tarps under the table thing, but come on‹backing off on toilet stuff? Ride your folks if they don¹t like it. It¹s really important.
• Regarding safety and rescue situations: The Park also would like us never to leave a boat or major equipment behind and go downstream without calling them. Also‹and this is something I don¹t think many of us know‹the River District is not going to slam a trip or a company if they get off their schedule in the process of trying to help another trip. Our first concern should always be safety of people and equipment, whether from your trip or someone else¹s. If you end up taking a day to help someone out in a serious emergency and you are late at your destination, the Park will not penalize you. This is for emergencies only‹not if someone¹s stove breaks.
• The hikers¹ guidelines for safety in heat will be back in place next summer. We will need to get our folks on the trail by 7 a.m. (from Phantom or the Rim), or not until after 4 p.m. People are advised to wait at Indian Gardens until the switchbacks are in the shade. Once again, Cremation Camp will be at a premium, and those two camps are reserved for trips with exchanges. While you¹re at it, please save Grapevine for people with exchanges as well. We know you may want to camp in the Gorge on the only trip of your life, but please have some thought and care for the people climbing out of the Canyon in the summer¹s heat.
• We talked about the possibility of relaxing the no-helicopter rule for guide family emergencies. They are very willing to discuss the possibility, and were not entirely opposed to the idea, but they asked that we also consider a range of alternatives that might work for us. They are more than willing to get messages to us any way they can: at Phantom, hike them in with a nearby ranger, send them down with faster trips, etc., but it would be good for us to figure out what might be other ways to contact guides on the river if there are family emergencies for which they should leave. So think about it and we can talk about it at the gts.
• The nps will be testing a new type of satellite phone, the Iridium, which is apparently far superior to any other type of phone at getting out of the Canyon. It¹s supposed to be able to receive messages as well. If the Iridium works as well as they hope, we may be moving towards that as a way to keep tabs on the outer world, and for the outer world to keep tabs on us. This may be the wave of the future for emergency situations. No, you can¹t check the ball scores or the stock prices with it, sir. Sir, put down the sat phone and step away from the boat, sir. Sir!

So that¹s all the news that¹s fit to print from the nps side of things. If you have further questions or clarification in mind, several nps folks will be at the gts in late March, and they¹d be happy to talk to you there.

Christa and Bob

Your NPS Representatives

In case you didn¹t know who some of the people that we (and therefore you) deal with at Grand Canyon National Park, we thought we¹d remind you of the people whose names we toss around so casually in conversation. These are good folks and they¹ve helped us a lot‹whether it has been fighting off the Coast Guard or getting our gts river trip on the water, they¹re good people to know. Thank ¹em next time you see them.