Continues…

During the first year and a half that I worked in Uganda, from late 1976 to early 1978, in the far western rainforests at the eastern foot of the Mountains of the Moon, the nation was literally being ground into bloody mush under the boot heel of the genocidal dictator Amin Dada. Amin’s troops were slaughtering the nation’s elephants for ivory for foreign exchange hard currency. And they were slaughtering anyone from the wrong tribe, just to make politics simpler. During those dark times I maintained rare contacts with students at Kampala’s Makerere University, once known as the finest university south of the Sahara. The students there lived in dorms. And the dorms had slogans. And these slogans were printed on t-shirts that these students wore to reveal to one another that they still held, deep in their hearts, hope that the sun would someday rise again over a free Uganda.
Once such slogan simply read, “The Struggle Continues.” As all of us who have gone to bat over conservation issues know, there are no true victories after struggling to win conservation battles. Instead, unfortunately, each “victory” is only a delay that forestalls the destruction planned by the political powers that be, who often remain intent on grinding up nature’s beauty and converting her body parts into cash. But as we also know, should we fail to struggle to achieve such delays, the world will become a far poorer place in which to live.
We have recently seen the scoping process by the National Park Service to “gather” citizen input regarding the shaping of the new Colorado River Management Plan (crmp). Indeed, many of us gave our input. This “crmp” title, however, is a bit misleading. The “Management” is not ecological in scope, in the sense of, say, managing natural resources to maintain a natural river and/or river corridor. Instead it is merely allocational with regard to who gets to run the river, how they get to run it, when, and how much. Nor, of course, does the “Colorado River” Management Plan manage boating usage on the entire Colorado River, only the 226 miles of it between Lees Ferry and Diamond Creek.
Even so, Grand Canyon Park’s overall scoping process for the crmp did attract an estimated 15,000 comments from the public. This would have made those students in Kampala green with envy. We here in America are lucky beyond measure that our forefathers considered freedom of speech an inviolable right vital to the democratic process, which admittedly often turns out to be a far messier process to manage than a dictatorship. So thank you all, regardless of your motives or goals, for participating in this messy process.
The period for comments in this stage of the crmp has now ended. But you will get another chance to let your thoughts be known once a draft is proposed. When that time comes, remember, the crmp is supposed to serve your best interests, not that of the administering agency.
In the meantime other battles loom. The proposed pipeline and pumping station from Badger Rapid up Jackass Canyon to supply Peabody Coal with water to slurry coal to the Mojave Generating Plant in Nevada almost slipped into reality as a last minute “oh, by the way, we’re going to built this, too” assault on Grand Canyon.
This intended use of this Colorado River water in Grand Canyon was to replace water currently being over-drawn from the vanishing aquifer on Hopi traditional land. Peabody Coal has been advised that a renewed mining contract with the Indians is contingent upon Peabody finding “other” water. Due to the Upper/Lower Basin division drawn up in the 1922 Colorado River Compact and subsequent agreements, this “Indian” water from the Colorado must be drawn from the lower basin, downstream of the Paria. The Navajo perspective on the Jackass location for drawing this water is that the Navajo Reservation runs to the shoreline (if not into midstream) of the

Colorado; therefore the pipeline, et cetera, would be situated on Navajo Land subject to the decision of the Navajo Nation. Hence, it should be built.
All that really stands in the way, at the moment, of implementing this decision to use Colorado River water from Grand Canyon National Park solely to facilitate the profits of a commercial mining company many miles east is the “inconvenient” fact that Colorado water belonging to an Arizona tribe would be shipped entirely to Nevada—a currently illegal arrangement.
But top minds (legal ones, anyway) are now working on legally bypassing this illegality. When and if they identify a loophole in this shell game of water rights, the Jackass pumping/infiltration location, or an alternate one downstream of the Paria may suddenly become a fait accompli.
Only you can prevent this incredibly dangerous precedent from opening the first sixty-one miles and the final hundred or so on Grand Canyon National Park’s left side from becoming the equivalent of a Gold Rush hydraulic mining site.

Yes, it is up to you.
The struggle continues.
But we, unlike those unfortunate Ugandan students, possess the legacy of a Bill of Rights. Again, how lucky for us.
On a very different note, if you missed the gcrg Fall Meeting, you did miss out. Tom Moody, former president of gcrg, presented a barely-authorized version of the birth of the association and an insightful grand tour of the evolution of the boatman’s quarterly review. Tim Whitney brought us up to date on the latest resources of the Whale Foundation, a lifesaver for river guides. Scott Rogers reported on the alarming decline in native, endangered fish in Grand Canyon and the ecological challenges we face in rescuing native fauna from the depredations of exotic predators and from operations of the Bureau of Reclamation. The Sierra Club’s Rob Smith briefed us on the legal legerdemain of the Jackass pipeline project. Ranger Mike McGinnis discussed new nps Commercial Operating Requirements changes and considered suggestions from our guide membership for improvement of said requirements. The nps’ Jeffrey Cross advised us on the next steps of the crmp process. Former gcrg President Brad Dimock took us on a fascinating journey into the mind, the boat, and the epic solo journey of Canyoneer Buzz Holmstrom—by doing the thing himself. Chuck Higgins, regional public health consultant for the National Park Service in Denver, took us into the nonexistent mind of the Norwalk virus and presented a well considered epidemiological mystery solved, explaining how the tiny things made so many people sick in the Canyon last June. Dave Edwards and Geoff Gourley presented us with a dazzling but heart-rending romp through the inventive, inspired, and sometimes hilarious life and river-running times of Kenton Grua, gcrg’s visionary founder and twice president. And, finally, Bill Gloeckler’s band rocked the meeting to its roots during the grand finale.
Grand Canyon River Guides extends its thanks to all of the above people, to Lynn Hamilton, Executive Director of gcrg, for her organization and hard work in making the meeting happen and and to Teva for sponsoring our meeting. Our thanks go too to everyone else who donated their time, energy, and heart to our cause.
None of this—the gcrg Fall Meeting—would have come off half so well but for the generosity and dedication of Bruce and Nancy Helin, who again generously provided the facilities of the pro warehouse for the entire meeting. Thank you, Nancy and Bruce!
Michael P. Ghiglieri