Bob Marley
private boater
Problem: Campsite and Attraction Site Crowding
Statement: The NPS knows what primarily causes crowding problems on the Colorado but refuses to do anything. It appears commercial operators are terrified that demand for their trips might suffer if they were forced to launch equal numbers of passengers on each day of the week as the private sector has done for the past 17 years. The NPS panders to this position in the face of volumes of collected data showing crowding at campsites and attraction sites which is directly attributable to weekend launch clustering of commercial users.
Solution: Move as quickly as possible towards uniform 7 day motorized and 13 day oar-powered commercial trips with equal numbers of passengers launched on each day of the week. Compress the allowed trip length of privates from the current regulation of less than or equal to 18 days to 13-16 days. Decreasing the private users trip length to 16 days maximum would allow more trips to be on the river each year since each trip will use less user days. This would accelerate waitlist turn-over.
Problem: Trip Layover Days
Statement: The NPS encourages Colorado River users to implement their trips in a manner which minimizes inter-group conflicts. On-river communication with both commercial and private trips to establish each day's campsites is encouraged. However, layover days frequently defeat these attempts since there is no way an upstream group can know that a downstream group has laid their trip over for a day. The group whose agreed camp is taken then takes a different camp causing another group to change its plans who then cause another group . . . . Each of these group interactions have the potential to be conflictive, especially after a long hard day in a section of the canyon which has few campsites. Layovers are also environmentally unsound since they encourage people to delay beach cleanup for a day and substantially increase beach use time.
Solution: Eliminate layovers at 5-10 high use campsites during the summer, high use season. Suggestions are: North Canyon, South Canyon, Buck Farm Canyon, Saddle Canyon, Nankoweap, Clear Creek, Granite Rapid, Hermit Rapid, North Bass, Stone Creek, Tapeats Creek, Deer Creek (across river), and National Canyon.
Problem: Commercial-Private Allocation
Statement: The current allocation is about as much out of synchronization with the reality of access demand as it was in 1980 when the CRMP was last reviewed.
Solution: Determine the true demand for commercial and private access under uniform launching regulations and adjust the user days accordingly. User days should be transferred to the private users until the demand for both types of activities is equalized. The measurement could be number of years booked. To insure that the numbers are real, the NPS may want to collect a booking fee of $50.00-100.00 per user. Transfer 10% of commercial use each year until the commercial bookings are as high as the private bookings.
Problem: Whitmore Wash Helicopters
Statement: The Whitmore Wash helicopter situation is an abomination and seriously undermines any credibility the Grand Canyon River Guides, commercial rafting company owners, and even the NPS have on helicopter issues at Grand Canyon.
Solution: Totally eliminate helicopter traffic associated with river running except for emergencies. I realize this is a complex issue which involves a sovereign Indian Nation and the inscrutable FAA but they are flying those helicopters within and over the Grand Canyon when they use North Rim landing strips to put their customers on fixed wing aircraft. The NPS has the responsibility to determine what is appropriate use within Grand Canyon and the right to enforce commercial rafting use consistent with their directives.
