Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
about the Colorado River Management Plan (March 2006)

1. Where are you in the process?

The National Park Service (NPS) has just announced the availability of the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Colorado River Management Plan (CRMP) for Grand Canyon National Park. On March 23, 2006, Mike Snyder, the Director of the Intermountain Region of the NPS, approved the Record of Decision for the project.

The following is a list of accomplishments
And what is currently being worked on	:

Phase 1: (Spring - Fall 2002)
		Assembled planning team, identified project's scope and issues, analyzed data and customized planning process (March - May, 2002)
		Issued Notice of Intent (June 13, 2002)
		Interviewed Stakeholders (June, 2002)
		Gathered public input via electronic outreach and written comments (June - November, 2002)
		Held public meetings in seven cities across the United States. (August - October, 2002)
Phase 2: (Fall 2002 - Winter 2004)
		Analyzed public input and developed range of alternatives (Fall 2002 - Fall 2003)
		Held Expert Panel Series (January, 2003)
		Held Stakeholder Group and Public Workshops (January 2003; June 2003)
		Analyzed natural, cultural, and socio-economic effects/impacts of draft alternatives (Fall 2003 – Spring 2004)
		Issued Draft EIS to the public for review (October 2004)
		Gathered public comments and conducted public meetings in seven cities across country (October 2004 – February 2005)
Phase 3: (Winter 2004 – Winter 2006)
		Coded and analyzed public comments (February – August 2005)
		Prepared Final EIS with responses to substantive comments (May – October 2005)
		Issued FEIS to the public (November 2005)
		30-day No-Action period (December 2005)
		Prepare Record of Decision (ROD) for signature (January 2006)
		Announce the availability of the ROD in the Federal Register (Winter 2006)
		Develop the CRMP Implementation Plan (Winter - Summer 2006)

2. What is a Record of Decision?

The Record of Decision (ROD) is the formal decision document which is recorded for the public. It has been announced in a Notice of Availability (NOA) in the Federal Register and will be printed and made available to the public on the CRMP website (http://www.nps.gov/grca/crmp).

3. When will the park implement the plan? Can some actions be implemented sooner than others?

Since the Record of Decision (ROD) has been announced in the Federal Register, the development of the Implementation Plan for the Colorado River Management Plan can begin. An Implementation Plan is expected to take at least six months to complete. The park will also update the commercial operating requirements and noncommercial river trip regulations based on actions specified in the ROD. This update will include new and revised environmental regulations and site restrictions consistent with the ROD.

4. Will access to noncommercial trips increase when the plan is implemented?

Noncommercial launches will increase by 56 in summer, 102 in the combined spring and fall shoulder season, and 92 in winter, providing more opportunities for noncommercial users to obtain a river trip. This is accomplished by increasing summer use by 2%, shortening trip lengths, and spreading out some commercial use into the spring and fall shoulder seasons.

5. Will commercial use change?

Commercial use has historically been allocated by user days. A user day is one person on the river for one day. Commercial allocation will remain at the existing level of 115,500 user-days per year.

6. In what seasons will the increased, noncommercial use be distributed?

Overall user days will increase, but by only 2% in summer. The increase is due to the addition of one launch every other day of new eight-person noncommercial trips.

The rest of the increase occurs in shoulder and winter seasons. Shoulder season use will increase to 57% of summer levels (from 35%) and winter season use will increase to 27% of summer levels (from 5%). The proposed winter launch schedule allows one trip per day. Thus, shoulder and winter use remains much lower than summer use. The following graph illustrates when, and by how much, use levels increase.

7. How will natural and cultural resources be protected?

Natural and cultural resource impacts will be minimized by:

• Reducing the number of river trips in the canyon at one time from 70 to 60 and the maximum daily launches from nine to six will help spread out use, decrease congestion, reduce campsite impacts, and allow trips to utilize appropriate-sized campsites. This will help protect sensitive resources, such as native vegetation, biological soil crusts, and special status species in the Old High Water Zone and at attraction sites.
• Decreasing the maximum commercial group size reduces the spread of passengers into fragile areas.
• Reducing maximum trip lengths will help lower the number of layover days, thus decreasing access and corresponding impacts to sensitive sites and vulnerable resources.
• Developing an Implementation Plan that will describe and initiate a multi-resource monitoring and mitigation program will address possible natural and cultural impacts from increased use.

• Reducing the number of river trips in the canyon at one time from 70 to 60 and the maximum daily launches from nine to six will help spread out use, thus reduce crowding and congestion at launch and take-out sites, on-river and attraction site encounters, and campsite competition.
• Decreasing the maximum commercial group size responds to visitor preferences for smaller trip sizes, reduces crowding and congestion, and increases opportunities for solitude.
• Reducing maximum trip lengths will result in less user days used per trip type and allow more people to experience the canyon.
• Developing an Implementation Plan will include a social science monitoring and mitigation program that will address possible social impacts from increased use.

Please check this website (http://www.nps.gov/grca/crmp) for periodic updates.