rand Canyon River Guides is continually working to protect Grand Canyon and the river experience on many levels. Some endeavors should be readily evident-this very newsletter, the Guides Training Seminar, our Adopt-a-Beach program, and gcrg's advocacy as part of the Adaptive Management Program governing the operations of Glen Canyon Dam. However, while those efforts in and of themselves would seem to be enough to fill our plate to the brim, there are always others that may not be so widely known. Following our big push on the Colorado River Management Plan, gcrg has been involved in several major comment periods that bear mentioning at this juncture. In the past five months, Grand Canyon River Guides has submitted comments to the following processes:

The Draft Programmatic Agreement concerning impacts from the implementation of the Colorado River Management Plan on the cultural resources of Grand Canyon National Park

Deep concern was expressed by gcrg about potential, adverse impacts of the new crmp on the fragile and non-renewable cultural resources in Grand Canyon. We were also desirous of a way to stay involved with the crmp as it moves forward in order to lend our unique perspective to the changes and challenges that the new plan will surely elicit. Grand Canyon National Park invited our organization (among other stakeholders and interested parties) to participate in the development of a cultural programmatic agreement to protect these National Register listed or eligible historic properties.

Draft 2006 National Park Service Management Policies

Grand Canyon River Guides had serious concerns about the rewrite of the 2001 nps Management Policies which could profoundly affect all entities within the National Park System, including Grand Canyon National Park. In our view, the Draft 2006 nps Management Policies represent a fundamental philosophical shift from all previous drafts in their interpretation of the 1916 nps Organic Act, its key language, and subsequent legislation. Accordingly, gcrg called for the 2001 nps Management Policies to be retained, while also providing detailed observations and recommendations about the new draft document.

Development of an Environmental Impact Statement (eis) related to overflights at Grand Canyon National Park

Our historic involvement in the overflights issue was spearheaded years ago by the tireless efforts of gcrg past-president, river guide, and pilot, Jeri Ledbetter. Please take the time to read our comments in this issue outlining our recommendations for the development of an eis on airtours in Grand Canyon. When the eis is finally available for public comment, we will urge all our members to actively participate by weighing in with their own important perspectives.

The comments outlined above, as well as our official crmp statement can be found on the gcrg website, www.gcrg.org. Because timing occasionally precludes using the Boatman's Quarterly Review as a public outreach vehicle, gcrg relies on our guide and outfitter email lists to disseminate information about any public processes that require action. We would like to expand our guide email list as well as begin a more comprehensive general member action list, so that gcrg can easily disseminate time-dependent information and gather input from our membership. If you would like to be included in these email lists, please send us a note to gcrg@infomagic.net. Time is so often 'of the essence' and the ability to quickly communicate can increase our effectiveness as an organization.
Grand Canyon River Guides was formed to provide river guides and river runners a strong, unified voice and an effective means by which to put forth our long-term vision for this special place. From the Grand Canyon Protection Act to the present, it has been the profound responsibility of this organization to 'act whenever a canyon resource is threatened or the quality of the Grand Canyon experience is compromised.' Those words from Grand Canyon River Guides' mission statement should inspire all of us to be passionate and ever-vigilant stewards of Grand Canyon and the Colorado River.

Lynn Hamilton
Executive Director gcrg