Grand
Canyon River Groups Achieve Historic Breakthrough Settlement
and Offer Joint Proposal on Key Colorado River Management
Issues
January
25, 2005
GROUPS FORMERLY AT ODDS SETTLE DIFFERENCES
Flagstaff, AZ – Today, leading Grand
Canyon boater groups that represent both professionally-outfitted
and self-outfitted recreational users of the Colorado River
in Grand Canyon National Park announced an historic agreement
to work together to resolve long-standing river management
controversies at the Grand Canyon.
The
coalition of participating groups, including the Grand Canyon
River Outfitters Association, the Grand Canyon Private Boaters
Association, American Whitewater and the Grand Canyon River
Runners Association, has filed a set of joint management recommendations
with the National Park Service regarding how best to revise
and update the Colorado River Management Plan.
"A
lot of people have worked very hard for many years to achieve
this historic breakthrough,” said Richard Martin of
the Grand Canyon Private Boaters Association. “This
is a major achievement that we hope will help bring about
real and lasting solutions to some very difficult problems
that Grand Canyon river lovers on all sides have wrestled
with for years."
The
groups' core recommendations are for a small number of important
modifications of the National Park Service river management
proposal currently open for public review and comment. The
groups are building on the NPS proposal, not proposing an
entirely new plan or concept. The recommendations include
equal annual allocations of commercial and non-commercial
use, support for the park's proposal to continue with an appropriate
type and level of motorized use, seasonal adjustments that
would result in fewer river trips happening at one time, and
improvements to the non-commercial river trip permitting system.
"This
effort succeeded because people on all sides wanted to move
past endless controversy and divisiveness to find real solutions
to real problems. It's time to heal and reunite the Grand
Canyon boating community," said Jason Robertson of American
Whitewater. "To do that, each of the groups has been
willing to compromise and look at issues in new ways. There's
still a long way to go, but we're excited because we think
we're off to a good start."
The
groups' joint recommendations filed with the NPS state in
part: "The joint recommendations are the product of what
we regard as a major and historic achievement, the coming
together of Grand Canyon river user groups that traditionally
have been embroiled in deep conflict regarding core Colorado
River management issues. We have worked very hard to move
beyond past differences. Our united purposes are to constructively
participate in and support the NPS in its effort to advance
Grand Canyon river management and, most importantly, to meaningfully
resolve major outstanding controversies. Our shared focus
is on problem solving and the implementation of sound, responsible
and lasting solutions to outstanding issues."
"We
hope very much that the NPS will take a good hard look at
our proposal," said Pam Whitney of the Grand Canyon River
Runners Association. "We've worked hard to respond not
only to the issues but to all of the NPS laws and policies
that govern how the river in Grand Canyon National Park is
managed. We’ve taken these matters very seriously, and
we believe we’ve come up with a very responsible set
of recommendations."
The groups' joint Colorado River management recommendations
document is available on each of the participating groups'
websites. The website addresses for each are listed below.
The
Grand Canyon River Outfitters Association (www.gcroa.org)
is a non profit trade association whose membership consists
of the sixteen independent river-running concessionaires who
make available to the public professionally-outfitted and
guided Grand Canyon whitewater rafting trips, while working
in partnership with the NPS to help conserve and protect the
resources of the Park. Each year, the Association’s
member companies assist roughly 19,000 people experience the
Grand Canyon by river.
The
Grand Canyon Private Boaters Association (www.gcpba.org)
is a non-profit public interest group formed in 1996. Its
purpose is to represent and advocate for the interests of
recreational river runners in regards to management issues
surrounding the Grand Canyon. More than one thousand river
runners have joined the all-volunteer organization, which
played a key role in NPS decisions to resume river management
planning after the effort was first cancelled in 2000.
American
Whitewater (www.americanwhitewater.org)
is a non-profit public interest group that works to conserve
and restore America’s whitewater resources and to enhance
opportunities to use and enjoy them safely. American Whitewater
represents nearly 8,000 members worldwide and an additional
80,000 boaters through its 115 local or regional affiliate
canoe and kayak clubs. Many of its members have visited or
seek to visit the Colorado River within the Park and are currently
on the non-commercial permit “waiting-list.”
The
Grand Canyon River Runners Association (www.gcriverrunners.org)
is a non-profit public interest group committed to the protection
of the Colorado River corridor within the Grand Canyon in
an unimpaired condition while preserving public access to
the Grand Canyon river experience for those who rely on professional
river services. Because both are necessary to appropriately
respond to the public’s diverse needs, this all-volunteer
organization with 1,800 members supports both motorized and
non-motorized Colorado River trip opportunities.
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