t may seem a bit premature to be making plans for next spring, but we need you to do some planning— for the Guides Training Seminar that is! Both land and river sessions will be fantastic, offering the most comprehensive interpretive training available in the human, natural and cultural history of Grand Canyon, along with relevant resource management issues. The annual Guides Training Seminar is made possible by the committed efforts of the following gts partners: Grand Canyon River Guides, the individual commercial river outfitters, the Grand Canyon Conservation Fund (a non-profit grant making program established and managed by the Grand Canyon river outfitters), Grand Canyon National Park, the Grand Canyon Association, and Teva. So mark your calendars for the following dates:

Gcrg Spring Meeting

Date: Friday, March 24, 2006 Location: Marble Canyon Lodge (Marble Canyon, az). Topics: Gcrg board nomination, conservation and guide issues. Dinner and party at Hatchland afterwards

Gts Land Session

Dates: March 25–26, 2006 Location: Hatch River Expeditions warehouse, Marble Canyon, az. Cost: $35 (or $30 if paid by March 1st) Lodging: on your own-at one of the local lodges or camping is ok. Bring: a camp chair, a mug, dress warmly and in layers and plan on staying for the weekend! Leave: leave your dogs at home please! It’s rather interruptive during talks. Focus: The cultural, natural and human history of Grand Canyon and current Park issues, plus the wonderfully informative Whale Foundation Health Fair. Prerequisite: Nada-this event is open to the public.

Gts River Session

Dates for upper section: March 28 through April 3— LeesFerry to Phantom Ranch. Dates for lower section: April 3 through April 11— Phantom Ranch to Diamond Creek. Cost: $175 for the upper half and $ 195 for the lower half. Focus: Same as above, but on the water with excellent speakers in the best classroom in the world! Deadline for signups: March 9th! All guides, whether freelance or sponsored must be signed up before this date.

Prerequisite: You must be a working guide or trainee in Grand Canyon to be eligible (with work for the 2006 season). You can be sponsored by an outfitter (who will pay your way), or you can apply as a freelance participant and pay for yourself.

Freelance requirements:
1) must have all your medical requirements and other guide certifications fulfilled as specified by gcnp, or
a guide
2) you must be a licensed guide on another river, actively working towards becoming a guide in Grand Canyon. If you’re not sponsored by an outfitter, send us a check (which we will hold until we determine if you can go) and send us a letter or resume with your background telling us who you are and why you should go. This will help with our selection process.

Sign ups: a postcard will be mailed to guides around the first of the year, but it’s ok to sign up beforehand if you like, as long as you meet our requirements.

You’ll notice that the firm deadline for the gts river trip sign ups will be March 9th!! That’s very early, we know, but it’s logistically necessary. Arizona River Runners will be providing the motor rig and handling the food purchase for the gts river trip next year-they are packing out for their own training trip on the 11th and will all be gone after that until just prior to the gts launch. So, we need to have firm numbers before they leave. This means that if you’re interested, you should talk to your outfitter now, get things firmed up, make those plans, and let us know before the deadline. The 2006 gts land and river sessions will be amazing. Even before speaker invitations have been mailed out, we’ve been getting requests from top speakers who want to come and present their latest work. So, start your planning now! It will be gts time before you know it.