A Selection of Comments on GCRG’s Doings

Best Things

• Trying to defuse volatile situations.
• Watching out for the health/welfare of guides.
• Insightful articles, well written articles and stories, timely associated news items
• Checking into health benefits and retirement for boatmen
• Turning out a high quality newsletter and keeping the interested guiding community informed as to how to be better guides.
• All around you get an A+
• providing info & addresses (in a timely fashion) about mgmnt. Issues in GC. Editorial on “Policies” was good
• Helping protect the Canyon Experience like no other organization can.
• Remaining open to all opinions
• Enhancing the sense of connection among guides–old–current–future
• Providing an extremely professional launch pad for what has become a career. Be proud.
• Representing guides’ opinions at meetings.
• A forum for the diverse opinions of boatmen
• keeping pressure on DC over downstream flows in Canyon.
• Excellent communication with members who live outside Flagstaff
• Keeping focussed on being professionals, and bringing more communication to the river.
• Running this rag: Existing: Good first aid classes (and cheap too!)
• Not giving out the mailing list
• Growing!
• Raising the ante on what it means to work for the Grand Canyon
• Noise control over the Canyon–keeping river guides unified and aware
• Cards on the table
• The News, which provides a forum for people who share many interests but whose paths may not cross
• Sponsoring the WAFA/WFR courses
• Disseminating information intelligently
• Giving us an identity as Grand Canyon River Guides rather than employees of an outfitter
• Being
• Fish pull-outs, yearly rendezvous, oldtimers history
• GTS
• Grand Canyon archives, history of river running
• Organizing our voice and publishing the newsletter! Excellent!
• Incredible political outreach & newsletter
• Asking my opinions!

Worst Things

• Inviting criticism!
• Not checking into health benefits and retirement for boatmen sooner
• Don’t let me forget that the client is king, that without the “peep” (what a horrid word) there would be no GCRG
• Not addressing life after Grand Canyon and where do 20 year veteran river guides go from here? No benefits/retirement, etc!
• Getting too involved in company internal policy.
• Ignoring the need to act as a leverage for better wages & treatment of boatmen by outfitters.
• Sometimes smacks of attempted unionization of guides
• promoting profit sharing plans as enough planning for retirement. How about 401k plans.
• Not paying enough attention to the guides’ needs! The industry sucks for a river guide
• A union?
• Forgetting about guides’ issues like pay, benefits, health, etc. Is GCRG just another environmental advocacy group?
• As an organization are we aggressive enough? I know this has been discussed in the past.
• Taking on more issues; losing sight of our original mission
• Not standing up for issues that affect the Grand Canyon as a whole. This organization can be a great influence.
• Too involved; lost the back to basics reality.
• Keep your eye on the river–don’t branch out too much to some other issue–ie air, crowding on Rim, Fish & Game…
• Newsletter gets a little late sometimes.
• Not enough notice before GTS
• Not referring to guiding as “real jobs” –I don’t think it can get any more real. You do it all. Not many can.
• Becoming inbred; brown nosing the Park Service.
• Keep working on a better relationship and mutual respect with the NPS.
• We should have come out against the tides in the EIS
• Not enough of early ‘60s and ‘70s history
• Not pushing Grand Canyon NP & NPS to get a new superintendent in place and keep him there.
• Not making enough noise about the new bridge at Marble Canyon before it was too late.
• Need more stories, more info on actual outfitters, more guide talk hints
• No personal vendettas in the newsletter–needs to be both sides of the story. Be more professional—no swear words.
• Not involved enough with concessions mess in congress.
• Supporting the “Preferred Alternative” in the Glen Canyon EIS over the “Best Alternative” of Seasonally Adjusted Steady Flows!!!!
• You guys might be working too hard. Thanks!
• Not expanding their base/membership by appealing to more passengers.
• Making me constantly miss Grand Canyon!

Things GCRG Should Do

• Continue to bring the sense of wonder back to river trips. Help de-emphasize the food and other distractions on river trips in the Canyon.
• Perhaps become a quasi-union; protection of boatmen (women) in regards to health, wages, working condition (in relation to outfitters-guides) It’s political but so is life
• Colorado River Management Plan: How does this affect guides, the Canyon, job security? This could be very important as far as increased private use goes.
• Open up a dialogue with outfitters to provide input into improper personnel decisions.
• Be more innovative with guide members re: planning for the future
• Offer programs to improve river guiding skills
• Do more hands-on projects that help restore the health of the Canyon. Let’s face the fact that no matter how careful we are we cause significant impacts on areas that we use.
• Helping concessionaires fight pending bill on bid process.
• Encouraging less policy making with Park Service and Outfitters.
• Quit paternalistic and patronizing attitude toward oldtimers/rookies, motorboatmen/hickoryheads... No more Etiquette Guides
• Courtesy Flier: Eddy Etiquette-- Us privates have been getting slammed by arriving & leaving pontoons at Matkat eddy. Sloppy, discourteous guides have damaged our boats and scratched our dories at Matkat and Havasu.
• Follow Grand Canyon Trust lead in taking more aggressive political stand on the Colorado Plateau/GC.
• Better and more information on the Canyon (flora, fauna, history, arch., geo) in each issue.
• Best AND worst: Interpretive pullouts. Informative but discouraged individual research and encouraged generic teaching. Thanks but no thanks.
• Send info packets on natural/cultural history (Condensed versions)
• Produce video/audio tapes available to members so we can enhance our canyon knowledge. (funding?)
• Help outfitters fight the Park–they are too afraid to deal with them. Stir them up so they can’t get on us.
• Working to establish a better image for boatmen
• Giving Brad & Jeri and significant others BIG, enormous, ENORMOUS hugs and pats on the back! Thank you!
• Limit numbers of air tours
• Have more meetings and longer meetings. 1 every 2 days.
• Spend more time on guides’ needs (Medical, Retirement, Rights they have, More pay) After all, what is the name of your organization!
• Expand onto other rivers: Salt, Verde, San Juan, Upper Colorado
• Need to take a stronger stance in initiating (or continuing) relationships, dialogues with outfitters about guide treatment (pay, job security, what the hell our jobs are all about, etc.) I’m not talking a union–just helping the guides gain respect for themselves by standing up for ourselves.
• Working on group health care.
• Putting pressure on NPS to provide high quality river rangers.
• We should be testifying at the congressional hearing on the concessionaires meetings.
• Questioning the involvement of outfitters IN GCRG [editors note: Tom Vail and John Vail are not related]
• Much more involvement in the WAPA Power and Dam Operations EIS. It is critical to the Canyon’s future.
• Let’s help to take guiding in the Canyon to the next level of professionalism. This is the only way the guides will have a chance to earn ($) what they deserve.
• Let’s discuss 800,000 people flying over the G.C.–The future of airspace over the Park, and silence–its value.
• Organize more educational events–speakers and scientists to train us during the fall and winter; not just spring.
• Provide a comprehensive update of regulations and practices…
• Any way to recertify first aid in less than 5 weekdays? Us old farts with kids and real desk jobs who only get 2 - 3 weeks off a year…
• Health Dept. Regs. are unreasonable. Trips are not restaurants. What can GCRG do to address this? This is potentially a very serious problem in the near future. Please help! It will impact all trips. It is dangerous!!!
• We need more written statements from Marleen at County Health. Rumors are rampant!
• Write a grant for environmental education; use $ for teachers (boatmen?) and scholarships.
• Some outfitters are under represented–can we reach out?
• Making available political postcard packets for people to send in.
• Somehow get guides to go on trips with other guides/companies to get different perspectives, solutions to problems, menus, stories, procedures, etc. in order to enhance quality of experience for passenger.