January 17, 2002
Maureen Oltrogge 928-638-7779

Statement of Joseph F. Alston Superintendent, Grand Canyon National Park Regarding Court Settlement

It was announced today that parties in a lawsuit most recently styled Grand Canyon Private Boaters Ass'n v. Alston, No. CIV 00-1277 PCT-PGR-TSZ (D. Ariz.), filed an agreement in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona to dismiss the July 2000 lawsuit in which the Plaintiffs alleged that the National Park Service (NPS) had violated various federal laws and policies related to the management of the Colorado River and the backcountry within Grand Canyon National Park. The Grand Canyon River Outfitters Association intervened in the lawsuit to represent and protect the interests of commercial outfitters operating on the Colorado River within the park under NPS concession contracts.

The lawsuit challenged a February 2000 decision by former Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent Robert L. Arnberger to cease work to combine the park's Colorado River Management Plan (CRMP) and draft Wilderness Management Plan into a single document and to halt further progress on the Wilderness Management Plan until the NPS could analyze the feasibility of successfully completing that plan. The Superintendent's decision was based on the difficulty of resolving several issues prior to formal action on the park's wilderness recommendation and the lack of available fiscal and human resources to complete the comprehensive planning effort. Among the unresolved issues were allocation of use between commercial and noncommercial river users and the use of motors on the river.

Today's announcement is the result of a negotiated settlement among the Plaintiffs, Federal Defendants, and Intervenor. As a result, within 120 days the NPS will initiate a process to update the park's 1989 CRMP. In connection with that process, the NPS has agreed to issue a document complying with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) no later than December 31, 2004. The settlement also commits the NPS to restart a process to review and revise the park's 1988 Backcountry Management Plan subsequent to the completion of the CRMP.

During the process of updating the park's 1989 CRMP, the NPS will actively seek out and consult with all interested members of the public, including but not limited to those who have already expressed an interest in this planning process, existing and potential visitors, neighbors, federally recognized Native American tribes with ties to park lands, scientists and scholars, concessioners, cooperating associations, gateway communities, other partners, and government agencies. The NPS will host at least one public scoping meeting and one public meeting to receive comments of the draft revised river management plan in, at a minimum, each of the following four cities: Flagstaff, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, and Denver. Because NEPA requires a systematic analysis of "all reasonable alternatives," the NPS intends to consider an alternative in the planning process wherein motorized watercraft are not permitted on the Colorado River within Grand Canyon National Park. To accomplish the CRMP planning process, the NPS has committed the use of funds that have been deposited by the commercial outfitters into a concessions franchise fee account in the United States Treasury.

The NPS believes the Agreement is an equitable resolution and is in the best interest of the public, and we are pleased to be resuming the CRMP planning process. We recognize the issues presented in the CRMP will be potentially contentious and hope the parties and other interested public will work constructively to meet the intent of the CRMP, which is to address and resolve major issues surrounding the management of recreational use activities within the Colorado River corridor of Grand Canyon National Park and to mitigate the environmental impacts associated with those activities. The plan is intended to supplement existing management guidelines and directives.

The NPS has maintained an extensive mailing list of those who participated in earlier planning efforts and those who have expressed an interest in the CRMP. Those individuals will be notified and invited to participate once the planning process resumes. The public will also be notified through procedures required by NEPA, including but not limited to news releases, the park's website, and the Federal Register.

A copy of the settlement agreement will be posted on the park's website at www.nps.gov/grca/crmp/ once DOI Internet has been restored. Until that time, faxed copies can be obtained by calling 928-638-7779.