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

sound•ing n. an environmental probe an act of measuring the depth of a body of water [often pl.] an exploratory sampling, as of public opinions.

Public Scoping Update

The December 1997 issue of Soundings provided a brief summary of the public scoping workshops held in September, and of written comments received up to December. Since that time, the Planning Team has completed the first phase of the scoping comment analysis; a total of 334 letters were received and 1,023 individual summarized comments were entered into an electronic database.

The primary purposes for developing the database were: 1) to establish a list of the individuals, groups, and organizations who provided comments (written and at the workshops), 2) to determine the major issue categories and areas of concern identified by the public, and 3) to provide for the public a brief summary of issue statements, solution statements, and comments received during the scoping process. The database will serve as the primary tool for referencing specific comments submitted during the scoping process. A document, entitled Summary of Public Comment from the 1997 Colorado Rriver Management Plan Scoping Process will be distributed in April.

Those who attended workshops, submitted comments or specifically requested a copy of the summary were entered into the database and will receive this mailing. If you know of others who would like to receive this newsletter and/or the summary, please contact Linda Jalbert at the address provided.

What's Next? The next step of the CRMP process includes continued public involvement in examining the issues and solutions and developing alternatives. The vacant Public Involvement Liaison position on the Planning Team has resulted in a delay of the next round of workshops. Contact Linda Jalbert with suggestions for workshop venues or locations.

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
	Compile Summary of Public Comment		March 1998
	Distribute Summary of Public Comment		April 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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