When the plowman plows and the thresher
threshes,
they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in
the harvest.
(I Corinthians 9:10)

eaders of this journal, most of us being long time private boaters as well as guides, have seen interim changes—changes to the river use and access rules that have been implemented without benefit of the Colorado River Management Plan (crmp). For example, we have seen new fairness in winter launches awarded to private boaters based on waiting list position, not on call-in speed. A similar change was made for cancellations. These changes have been made by Grand Canyon National Park administrators because they felt it was appropriate, not because the crmp proclaimed it. Managers have made changes to improve the abominable treatment of private boaters implemented by the patriarchs. They have done it in the past and I hope they continue to make management adjustments as quickly as possible based on new data and not postpone vital improvements. Here is a suggested interim change to help make Canyon river access more fair.

Imagine a situation that could happen today (and by the way we welcome ex-guide Mark Leachman back to the land of the healthy). Suppose a boater had put his name on the private boater waiting list over thirteen years ago and in the last year he had developed leukemia and couldn't go when his launch date was finally assigned this year. If the Park allowed it, he could defer his trip into the next year but no longer. However, under no circumstance could he have an equally qualified trip member step in as trip leader. If he couldn't go on the assigned deferred date, his trip would be canceled. Compare that to a guide who was scheduled for a trip and one minute before launch he fell off the truck and broke his leg. The trip wouldn't be canceled or deferred, but control of it would be transferred to another guide. I think the guide situation is fair and reasonable. I think the private boater situation is unfair and unreasonable.

Arguments about the length of the waiting list don't matter in the leukemia scenario so I won't address them. What does matter is that the National Park Service has postponed consideration of several interim changes until the crmp is complete sometime within the next four years—maybe. The postponement prolongs unfair treatment. One interim change suggestion that was deferred was a proposal to allow designation of alternate trip leaders for private trips. It is within the Park's power to immediately implement this simple change in permitting that would dramatically improve the fairness of the leukemia/broken leg scenario.

Fairness does not suggest that the commercial trip rules become like the private rules and demand the broken leg trip be canceled. To address fairness in this case the Park could make the private rules more like the commercial and allow the leukemia trip to launch with an alternate trip leader. It would not affect any guide's job or any outfitter's profit or profitability. It would allow more private trips to launch with less Park Service time involved. It would probably let more guides take their off-season trips without having to use their boss's allocation and equipment to run a “training” trip down the Canyon (come on guys, I was a guide, too).
If any guides have suggestions for immediate changes in river management, they should write to:

Superintendent Rob Arnberger
Grand Canyon National Park
po Box 129 Grand Canyon, az 86023
Be sure to specify that the request is for immediate consideration and is not a suggestion for the crmp.

David Yeamans