Fall Meeting

The gcrg Fall Meeting in Fredonia was quite a success. The group size was somewhat on the smallish side, but the guides attending were completely engaged—they came prepared to listen and ask questions. The weather was fabulous, the food was great and the talks were interesting and meaningful. What more could we ask for?
We learned about the eminently worthwhile and incredibly necessary work being done by the Grand Canyon National Park Foundation. Their work spans a wide range of projects not covered by National Park funds. This includes trail building, restoration of historic buildings (not to mention historic boats!), diverse wildlife projects and much more. We heard details on the mechanical removal efforts spearheaded by the Grand Canyon Monitoring & Research Center as a means of reducing trout populations and giving the endangered humpback chub a fighting chance. We learned more about the “negative sediment budget” in Grand Canyon and the incredibly sophisticated technology used to monitor fine grain sediment deposits and distribution.
Ranger Mike McGinnis from Grand Canyon National Park gave us a detailed rundown of river issues as they pertain to the guides. Thankfully, we won’t be undergoing an extensive revision of the Commercial Operating Requirements this time around. However, please note that the “grandfather clause” for American Red Cross First Responder will be eliminated after January 1, 2005. In other words, after that date, the park will no longer accept American Red Cross First Responder certifications. You have one more year to make the switch to a Wilderness-based course that complies with National Park Service (nps) requirements.
Fortunately, river guides have been doing a good job of reporting gi illnesses and educating their passengers. Incidents of dehydration were down, and there were no cases of its polar opposite, hyponatremia (water intoxication), reported in 2003. Nor were there any fatalities. We also discussed at length the Norovirus problem that continues to plague Grand Canyon—seven river trips experienced gi outbreaks this summer. Mike’s suggestions for preventive measures that should be implemented on every river trip include:
• Purify drinking water as per nps recommendations (Note: as per a new regulation in the 2004 cor’s, potable water for backcountry operations must be hauled from a public system, boiled, or filtered & disinfected).
• Continue diligent hand washing (remember to purify your hand washing water or use hand sanitizer).
• Stay out of the kitchen.
• Clean your filters with purified water (not river water!).
• Don’t work on a trip until seven days after the onset of a gi illness.
• Report outbreaks to the nps on the forms provided in the cor’s and follow nps protocols.
Mike also urged guides to have passengers on the trail (for hiking out) by 6 a.m. Park rangers see a number of river passengers in trouble when they’ve started hiking later in the morning. The discussion of hike-out problems and river incidents certainly underscored the need for the nps to be more responsive to gcrg in disseminating incident reports as they occur in order to highlight trends that may necessitate preventive measures. We sincerely hope that the Park can implement workable procedures for this prior to the next river season.
Pam Hyde led an informative discussion of the challenges inherent in an Adaptive Management process that is dominated by water and power interests. She also discussed the need for articulating focused objectives, engaging support of the public and creating alliances and better communication with other environmental organizations. We learned about “pesky” creepy-crawlies and even deadly critters in Grand Canyon including all manner of spiders, scorpions, ants, flies, Africanized bees, and mosquitoes. We also heard about all the incredibly positive things Grand Canyon Youth has been doing for kids from a variety of communities and backgrounds.

The discussion of the Colorado River Management Plan (crmp) centered on “process not content” at our meeting. Suffice it to say that a full range of reasonable draft alternatives, including a preferred alternative and “no action” alternative will be available for public comment by the end of this year. All of these alternatives are currently undergoing a preliminary impact analysis, and mitigation measures will be added where necessary to address any major impacts that are identified. Once the crmp/eis is published, you can expect extensive public review opportunities, including public meetings. So gear up for the next round! You can keep informed by visiting the park website at www.nps.gov/grca/crmp.
Clearly the most poignant and moving portion of the day was the talk from the Whale Foundation. Discussing depression as a concept, and then hearing a first hand account from a river guide who spiraled down into depression, rage and despair was a shattering awakening for those present at our meeting. River guide Chris Wright courageously chronicled his long dark journey and recovery. The immediacy of those problems and their prevalence in the river community was brought home in the most personal way possible. By acknowledging what he experienced, Chris laid bare the problems that exist in the river profession, the urgency of building awareness of those destructive tendencies, and the need for action. It dispelled many preconceived notions about river guides and brought to light the absolute need for the assistance and expertise that the Whale Foundation has to offer. For those attending the meeting, it was indeed a powerful awakening as well as a glimpse of how the Whale Foundation has actually helped to save and rebuild shattered lives. We can’t thank Chris enough for sharing his story. It took enormous strength, born of a true desire to help others. If the Whale Foundation has a primary message, it must be that “You’re not alone.” This sentiment grounds us as a community and brings home the collective responsibility we have for our continued well-being. We hope that in sharing, Chris found additional strength through his willingness to acknowledge his pain and through the support of other fellow guides. Chris’ journey hit home with all of us. The Whale Foundation should serve as a superb model for building support networks on rivers outside of Grand Canyon as well. The need is universal and profound.
We ended the meeting with a fabulous spaghetti feast, the excellent movie “Three Women, Three Hundred Miles,” and a raffle of goodies provided by Teva, Willow Canyon Outdoor in Kanab (who also provided tasty coffee for the day), and Demaree Inflatable Boats. We’d like to sincerely thank Western River Expeditions (and Trent Keller, Brian Merrill and Paul Thevenin specifically) for hosting the event and helping out in a myriad of ways that helped to make the day a real success. Rotating the Fall Meeting between Flagstaff and “points north” is incredibly valuable and a practice that we will continue in the future. I would also like to thank all of the wonderful speakers who took the time to come and share their knowledge with the rest of us—we learned a lot and the opportunity to ask questions and have open discussion was invaluable. Thanks go to Jennifer Hicks for all the meal planning and cooking and to Matt Kaplinski for bringing all the audio-visual equipment and being the “tech man extraordinaire” for all of the power point presentations. And we appreciate Julie Munger’s willingness to show her fabulous movie about her intrepid riverboarding adventure. It was a fun way to wind down the evening. Overall, everyone pitched in and it was a super group effort. If you made it to the meeting, thanks for making the effort to come. To those who couldn’t make it, try us next time! It’s a great event.

Lynn Hamilton
Executive Director