Colorado River Management Plan www.nps.gov/grca/colorado/

sound•ing n.

1. an environmental probe
2. an act of measuring the depth of a body of water
3. [often pl.] an exploratory sampling, as of public opinions.

Contents

Public Scoping Update
Planning Process and Timeline
Public Scoping Statistics
Sounding Board
Picking Up Cancellations
Tribal Consultation
Vision Statement

Public Scoping Update

Thanks to all those who attended the public workshops or sent comments by letter, E-Mail, and FAX. The deadline for comments has been extended to December 31, 1997. The best way to submit comments is through U.S. mail.

The Planning Team was on the road in September. For three consecutive weekends we travelled to Portland (Oregon), Salt Lake City, and Phoenix to conduct Public Scoping Workshops. Total attendance at the three workshops was 390 people. The primary purpose of the workshops was to listen to the public's views on current management of the Colorado River, and to identify concerns, issues, and potential solutions for future management.

The workshops were cosponsored and facilitated by the River Management Society (RMS), a national professional organization of river managers, educators, and researchers. Bob Ratcliffe, BLM Outdoor Recreation Planner in Salem, Oregon, served as the facilitator for the Portland workshop, and Barbara Sharrow, BLM Outdoor Recreation Planner for the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah, served as facilitator for the Salt Lake City and Phoenix workshops. Caroline Tan, RMS Program Director, served as logistics coordinator and facilitator at all three workshops.

The workshop format was designed to allow participants to identify issues and concerns, exchange information, and develop potential solutions. The opening brainstorming sessions provided the forum for issue identification. On Saturday participants detailed concerns, and drafted alternative solutions.

The issues identified by participants fell into four broad categories: 1) access and allocation of recreational use, 2) the noncommercial permit system, 3) resource protection and stewardship, and 4) visitor experience. Examples of some of the issues identified are listed here.

Access and Allocation of Recreational Use

• Does current allocation of commercial and noncommercial use reflect demand?
• How do we measure use? By the number of people? User days? Number of launches?
• Who gets counted? Guides? Researchers? Administrative use?

The Noncommercial Permit System

• The current system is ineffective
• The cancellation policy is flawed
• The wait is too long

Resource Protection and Stewardship

• Impacts at heavily visited attraction sites (multiple trailing, soil compaction, disturbance to archeological sites)
• Effects of group size on the Canyon environment
• Invasion of nonnative plants in camps and attraction sites

Visitor Experience

• Crowding and congestion at popular attraction sites
• Effects of helicopter use at Whitmore
• Effects of wilderness management

The Planning Team is engaged in the comment-analysis process which involves reviewing, categorizing, and weighing the comments against management objectives. A summary of all comments will be distributed with the February issue of Soundings.

Public Scoping Statistics

• 314 sheets of flip chart paper were used to collect comments at the three public scoping workshops.
• 390 people participated in the three public scoping workshops.
• To date, 300 comment letters have been received. 72% were received by mail, E-mail, or FAX, and 28% were submitted at the workshops.
• $31,000 was spent to hold the three public meetings (travel and per diem for park staff, salary, facility rental, and incidental costs). This was paid for by the Grand Canyon's regular yearly appropriation from Washington.

The Planning Process and Timeline

Phase One
Identify Planning Team		August 1997
Develop Public involvement Plan		August 1997
Conduct Public Workshops		September 1997
Conduct Comment Analysis		October 1997-January 1998
Report to Public on Workshops/Scoping		December 1997
Summary of Public Comments Distributed		February 1998
Phase Two
Involve Public in Developing Alternatives		March 1998 - September 1998
Draft Plan and Environmental Assessment(EA)Distributed		March 1999
Public Involvement on Draft Plan		April 1999
Phase Three
Release Final Plan		January 2000

Soundings is published by Grand Canyon National Park. To get on or off the Soundings mailing list or for information on the Colorado River Management Plan process please contact: Grand Canyon National Park, PO Box 129, Grand Canyon, Arizona 86029.

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