tranger Things Have HappenedŠ Greetings from Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center (gcmrc). Yeah, you heard right, I work for science now. As of July 6, I took over Jeff Behan¹s job as Logistical Coordinator for gcmrc. So what I do now is basically run the river operation for all the gcmrc sponsored science trips. I miss guiding, miss my pards, miss the folks but actually I¹m pretty happy here. Yeah, here at my desk, 8 to 5.

I see this as a good opportunity to still be part of the river community and really learn about just what¹s happening in the world of science. At heart I¹ll always be a guide, always be passionate about that place, Grand Canyon. Now I have the opportunity to be a contact for the guiding community to hopefully improve communications between science and recreation. So, to start with here¹s my email:cfritz@flagmail.wr.usgs.gov . My phone number is 520/556-7207. I¹d like to hear any ideas you have to help make a healthier partnership with science; gripes, questions, suggestionsŠanything. What I¹ll start doing is publishing a schedule of science trips in the bqr. I can also publish a little blurb about each project and hopefully how it might relate to management issues. I also invite everyone to check out the gcmrc website: www.gcmrc.gov. There¹s a lot of good info there about the program. Then there¹s the politics. I¹ve got a lot of homework to catch up on here too.

But, mainly what I sense is that our job¹s not done, folks. We wrote our letters, we got our folks to write letters and look what happened: we got an eis and a Grand Canyon Protection Act. So far all that¹s meant is the kinder gentler flows are here to stay and so is science. But now what? How about those beach building flows? What studies are important? How do we help science guide the management priorities of Glen Canyon Dam? We¹ve already proven the voice of the guiding community and our contact with the public can be highly influential. But the process is not over. It is ongoing and we need to continue to pay attention to the issues and make our voice heard. Gcrg has a responsibility for the stewardship of Grand Canyon‹the place we are passionate about, the place we are so lucky to work in. And if I¹ve figured out anything in the short time I¹ve been here it¹s that our partnership with science is crucial to the decision making process. Fritz