rand Canyon planners have reviewed the many comments and suggestions received from the public on the draft Wilderness Plan and the Colorado River Management Plan planning process. In an effort to better address park goals and the public's concerns, the park is taking a more holistic view on managing the park's undeveloped areas. To accomplish this approach, we are combining the wilderness and river planning processes, and proceeding with a more comprehensive, ecosystem-based planning effort that will look at land- and water-based resources collectively as well as visitor uses in these areas.
Please keep in mind that Grand Canyon planners are not starting over. Progress has been made on both the wilderness and river planning efforts. The completed work and your comments on both processes are still relevant. The new strategic planning approach is intended to provide a foundation for decision-making and guidance on complex issues related to wilderness values, resource protection, and visitor use on the land as well as the river.
The park's upcoming issue of Soundings will describe what has been done on both plans and where we are now in the new process. It will also contain a mail-back response form to questions about what you see as the future of undeveloped lands in Grand Canyon National Park. If you do not receive Soundings and would like to, please call Laurie Domler, (520) 556-7223 or grca_crmp@nps.gov to get your name on the mailing list. If you are not interested in receiving Soundings but would like to comment on the new planning process, please see the related article in this issue and respond to the listed questions. We look forward to your participation in this planning process.

Laurie Domler

Desired Conditions, or the "Whats" of Planning
Over the course of the last few months, you may have heard the Grand Canyon's Colorado River Management Plan (crmp) planning team talk about the “whats” and the “hows” of planning. In other words, what types of desired resource conditions and visitor experiences do we want along the river, and how are we going to achieve those desired conditions?
Past crmp discussions were filled with innovative ideas about finely tuned launch schedules, methods of phasing out motors and reallocating user-days, and forming workgroups to refine solutions. Suggestions such as these are valuable and will be critical management tools at certain points in the planning and implementation process. Sometimes, however, we become so focused on ways of how to fix problems that a very important and fundamental question goes unanswered. That is, what do we want the river to be in the future?
As park planners reassess and combine both the crmp and the Draft Wilderness Plan planning processes into a more comprehensive, broad-based management and implementation plan, an essential step in the process is to reaffirm with the public the desired conditions for which we are planning. What would we like the river to be like in the future? What do we want the backcountry to be in the future? In ten to twenty years, what would we like to see, feel, and experience while in these areas? What does the condition of the resource look like? Are natural and cultural resources near and at campsites and attraction sites in the same condition they are in today or do they look different? What is a river trip or a backcountry trip like in the winter, spring or fall as opposed to the summer? Are there different visitor experiences and activities at these times of the year? What is the level of visitor use? Will the river and its surrounding environment still be capable of offering the same types of experiences that it has for so many people in the past?
To achieve any desired outcome, we must first define those essential elements that make the backcountry and river profoundly unique and magical experiences. Below are questions included in the latest National Park Service newsletter Soundings. Please help us answer the “whats” of the planning process. If you feel that you have already answered these questions, rest assured your comments are included. Please avoid the temptation to offer solutions at this point.

1. What are the conditions and qualities that made a visit to the Grand Canyon so special to you? Describe that river or hiking trip.
2. Imagine yourself visiting Grand Canyon in 20 years. Describe what you would like to see and experience on a river or hiking trip at that time.
3. Is there anything else you would like the planning team to know?

Please send responses to:
Grand Canyon Planning Team
Attn: Laurie Domler
U.S. Geological Survey, Building 3
2255 N. Gemini Dr.
Flagstaff, AZ 86001