Grand Canyon National Park Pleased With Progress of Public Participation in Revision of Colorado River Management Plan

More than 55,000 individual comments received

Response to the initial public involvement effort to update the Colorado River Management Plan (CRMP) for Grand Canyon National Park has been overwhelming, with approximately 15,000 submittals containing more than 55,000 individual comments. This response is part of the public scoping effort as the Park prepares an environmental impact statement (EIS) to update the CRMP. The National Park Service (NPS) is preparing the EIS for the Plan under the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.

Joseph F. Alston, Grand Canyon National Park superintendent, said, "We are very pleased that the process to update the Colorado River Management Plan has been going well, and that the public has been so engaged. One of our primary objectives is to conduct a very open and thorough process, to hear and understand the opinions of river users and other constituents, and to afford the public every opportunity to provide input."

A wide variety of outreach strategies have been used to inform the public about the process to update the CRMP and solicit input. Strategies have included public meetings, an expert panel series, and extensive electronic information dissemination. In addition, stakeholder workshops were held in late January to hear from stakeholders about their values and preferences regarding the range of recreational opportunities to be provided to the public, and private river trip permit distribution systems. A summary of the scoping comments and results of the stakeholder workshops will be posted in the near future on the Internet at www.nps.gov/grca/crmp.

Given the complexity of this plan and the extensive level of public comment, the NPS is shifting the next phase of public outreach from the summer to the fall of 2003. This will provide the NPS planning team and environmental consultants adequate time to thoroughly incorporate the public input into the development and analysis of alternatives, which is the next step in the EIS process.

Rick Ernenwein, NPS planning team leader, said, "A great deal of work has already been accomplished by the public, the NPS planning team, and our environmental consultant, SWCA, but there is still much more in-depth analysis that must be done. We always knew we were on an aggressive timetable, but we want to produce the best product possible and are working hard to meet our original December 2004 goal to complete the planning process."

Last summer, the NPS hosted initial public scoping meetings in Flagstaff, Arizona; Phoenix, Arizona; Salt Lake City, Utah; Las Vegas, Nevada and Denver, Colorado. Two additional meetings were held in Baltimore, Maryland and Oakland, California. More than 1,000 people attended all these meetings.

The NPS also contracted with The Mary Orton Company LLC to host an expert panel series, also in late January, which brought together experts in various fields to share the latest research and other information that would help the CRMP planning team further assess impacts as well as develop alternatives for management of recreational use on the Colorado River.

In addition, the National Park System Advisory Board, an independent twelve-member board appointed by the National Park Service Director, is considering a process to help facilitate stakeholder involvement on two core issues - use of motors on the river, and allocation of recreational river use among user groups. This Board routinely advises the Director of the National Park Service and Secretary of the Interior on matters relating to the National Park System.

For further information on this planning process, please contact Rick Ernenwein at 928-779-6279.

Editors Note: To be placed on the park's CRMP Newsletter mailing list, please send your request along with your email address to: grca_crmp@nps.gov.

Background on the CRMP Environmental Impact Statement Process

The purpose of this EIS is to update management guidelines for the Colorado River corridor through Grand Canyon National Park. Current guidelines can be found in the 1989 CRMP. A copy of this plan as well as background information and public comments received from past CRMP discussions can be found on the Internet at www.nps.gov/grca/crmp/.

During this process, the NPS will develop and evaluate alternatives to address resource protection issues, potential resource impacts, user capacities, and mitigation measures necessary or desirable to achieve the NPS mission. The NPS will review some key resource issues outside of the park's boundaries that affect the integrity of the Grand Canyon and will consider alternatives that include no-action (the status quo), no motorized use, and varying levels of motorized and non-motorized watercraft use.

Issues to be addressed in the EIS will include, but are not limited to:

Appropriate levels of visitor use consistent with natural and cultural resource protection and preservation mandates;
Allocation of use between commercial and non-commercial groups;
Non-commercial permitting system;
Level of motorized versus non-motorized raft use;
The range of services and opportunities provided to the public; and,
In consultation with the Hualapai Indian Tribe and other appropriate parties, the continued use of helicopters to transport river passengers from the Colorado River near Whitmore Wash.

Information about this planning effort and how the public can be involved throughout the process will be provided in periodic newsletters, which are available on the Internet at www.nps.gov/grca/crmp/.