n the phone the other day with someone from the upper half of the gts river trip talking about the wind: lining the boats in the flatwater below Paria Riffle, blood blisters on hands, only six miles the first day. He said, ³I¹ll bet you¹re glad you¹re not on the river now, eh?² We laughed, but underneath it all I thought, ³actually, no.² I¹m never glad to not be on the River, she¹s become too much a part of my life to feel completely glad, windy or not, to be up here. I suppose that¹s part of what we all get out of spending so much time with gcrg: it keeps us in touch with the River even when we¹re not there. And it¹s what I enjoyed at this year¹s gts land session at the Old Marble Canyon Lodge. This was one of the best gts¹s I¹ve been to in a while, made so in part by the energy and imagination of the people who put it together. Next time you see Jon Hirsh, Richard Quartaroli, Bob Grusy, Lynn Hamilton or Laurie Lee Staveley, thank them for all the work. It¹s not easy putting one of these things together and it¹s always amazing to see utter chaos and piles of small slips of paper and post-it notes come together into a really terrific, blast of a weekend.

The other reason it was such a good seminar was all the rest of the people involved. I sat out on the sunny (amazing!) Marble Canyon Lodge lawn listening to talks from some incredible researchers, members of several Native American nations, dedicated nps personnel who have given a good portion of their careers to studying and trying to protect the Canyon, and a whole host of other people who call this landscape ³Home² for whatever reason. As I sat and listened, I looked around at the audience: guides new and seasoned, guides long-gone but back for a weekend,private boaters, managers and their outfitters, former passengers-turned-Canyon-lovers, boatmen from other parts of the country waiting for a turn in the DitchŠ

This, I believe, is what it takes to make one of these things successful. This community is where our power and our strength lie. Thanks to all of you who came to speak, listen, party and play beer can golf at odd hours of the morning, who came to learn and teach and soak in the sun in the land of Beginnings. That¹s really what Marble Canyon is all about for all of us who guide and travel and research on the Colorado River. It¹s The Beginning Place, the place where we start. A fitting place to start the next season on the river‹the future.

At a February meeting in Page, a few of the gcrg Board members got together with representatives from ten of the companies to discuss the future. We figured it was about the first time that gcrg had gotten together with the outfitters as a group since the days of Tom Moody‹long overdue. We talked about places we¹ve disagreed in the past, places we may disagree in the future and places we hope we can agree. We talked about areas where we could put our sizable talents together for the good of the Canyon and the river community. And nowhere do I see a better place to do this than with the gts. There will always be things about which the outfitters and guides disagree. In some cases these things are mild enough that we can just have our separate opinions. But in the cases where one side or the other feels threatened, we need to be able to agree to disagree without fear for our jobs or the continued success of incredibly valuable events like the gts.

The gts has always been a partnership, between the guides, nps and the outfitters, and it will always be more valuable as a partnership. Now that a lot of companies run their own training trips and seminars, it seems harder to get participation in the gts river trip. This year we only had representatives from eight companies on the trip, we could barely fill the 24 spaces the Park gave us. I remember years when we had forty people on the trip and a waiting list. At the land session there were outfitters or managers from eight companies in attendance. It was great to see those companies represented and I thank them for making the effort to come. I¹d love to see everyone there. I know people have things to do and we can¹t always get everyone to come, but I can¹t think of anything better to put your energy into than your own guides¹ training. So as a partnership, outfitters, come listen to the talks, come hang with the community, be a part of the future of your own guides. They are, when you think about it, the future of your companies.

I hope we can keep the gts going strong a long ways into the future. Because it¹s not just the talks, the information, the slides and hand-outs. It¹s not just the discussion of issues and new policies and concerns and news. It¹s not just the books for sale or the great dinners cooked by Jennifer, Emily, and the gang, the band howling into the night or even the golf games. It¹s all of us, from different companies and crews, different canyons and rivers, different backgrounds and approaches and different relationships to this River that makes this so valuable for the future of our community.

We talked a while at the gts this year about Traditional Cultural Properties on the river, places that have special significance to Native American cultures. Places like the Hopi Salt Mines, and the Sipapu and the dwellings at Nankoweap or Furnace Flats. But we talked about tcp¹s in a different context this time. We talked about them in relation to our culture, the guides¹ culture, the culture of the river community. For we are indeed a tribe, a group with a history and traditions, even a language all our own. There are places on the River and in the Canyon that are important to our culture, traditions without which we would lose some of our identity, and a community without which we would not be who we are. As we move into this coming season, think about what places those are. Think about what¹s important to you about this River, this Canyon and this community. Think about how we can all make this whole experience even better and this community even stronger. Let us know‹in future meetings with each other and the outfitters, we want to be able to bring your thoughts with us to help guide us. Guiding is, after all, what we all do best.

Christa