Colorado River Project: River Report Summer 2003

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user days should also include extending the primary season. Grisham said his group advocates "smoothing the summer use peak of May -July over more of the existing summer season of May to September to help with congestion." "Historically, the shoulder months to the primary season, including April, October, and November, haven't been used that much," he said. Grisham said if negative impacts can be averted, that increasing the number of private use trips to those shoulder months could help with access problems on the river. Also tied into the equation of use is the motor vs. non -motor debate. Currently, motors are allowed on the Colorado River and, in fact, are the Puebloan ruins can be found throughout the Grand Canyon region. reason some commercial outfitters can do the business they do. Motors allow boats to carry upward of 20 people at a time and can reduce the time it takes to cover the stretch of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon versus those taking an oar trip. Those in favor of motor use on the river say it allows greater public access and that eliminat- ing motors from the Grand Canyon would reduce public access to the river by 50 percent or more. However, there are advocates of designating the Grand Canyon, and the portion of the Colorado River that runs through it, as a wilderness area under the 1964 Wilderness Act. Areas protected under the Wilderness Act are "untrammeled by man," have no roads, buildings, power lines, etc. and must contain at least 5,000 contiguous acres, something wilderness advocates say the Grand Canyon river corridor has. "We recognize that National Parks ought to be there for the value they give us as a society and to do that requires a certain level of protection," said Tom Martin, co- director for River Runners for Wilderness, an organization dedi- cated to making the Grand Canyon a wilderness. Martin said he and others feel that motors on the river degrade the "charac- ter" of the Colorado River — something he says NPS should be preserving. "The federal agencies have done a very poor job educating the public about wilderness character. It is not wilderness character to have mostly high- income earning passengers whizzed through the Grand Canyon in five days on a motorized raft and then helicoptered out at river's edge," Martin said. However, some rafting outfitters say motors are an essential ingredient to their success. The Hualapai Indian Reservation abuts 108 miles of the Colorado River within the Grand Canyon. For over 20 years, a large portion of the Tribe's income has been derived from giving river tours of the Grand Canyon from the only drivable, inland access point to the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon at Diamond Creek, the so- called "Diamond Down" route. For around $300, a person can get a one -day motorized raft tour of the lower Grand Canyon followed by a helicopter ride out of the Canyon. The Hualapai's Diamond Creek road also is heavily used by a number of commercial boating companies and non - commercial trips as a take -out point for their boats for 8 • COLORADO RIVER PROJECT • RIVER REPORT • SUMMER 2003 which the Hualapai charge $30 a person. "Banning motors on the river would have a huge impact on our river opera- tions and is one of our biggest concerns," said Steve Beattie, general manager of "Grand Canyon River Runners," the Hualapai rafting operation. Beattie said the Tribe is paying close attention to the manage- ment plan as it takes form since all ten of the rafts the tribe uses to guide its trips are motorized. During a public scoping period in early 2003, the NPS received over 55,000 comments from about 18,000 individuals regarding the plan, including a large segment of the river running community, and is currently creating an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the river management plan. Ernenwein said the NPS expects to have the draft EIS out this fall. Otherworldly And so it went that I spent the following seven days on the river, hopping from oar boat to paddle raft to motor raft and back again. Like nearly everyone on the excur- sion, especially those rowing the oar boats, the constant contact with the water, the dry desert winds, and baking sun all took a toll on my hands. After about the third day, in spite of using lotion (when I remembered), they cracked, peeled, and refused to heal. Likewise to the wounds on my feet from wearing open -toed water sandals all day, which took weeks to heal after my return. The daily patterns were nearly the same, and it was easy to fall into a routine on the river. Up at dawn (before daylight if it was your turn for breakfast detail) to the delightful yell from the breakfast crew of, "COFFEE'S READY!!" Following breakfast, there was generally at least a 20- minute wait for the groover (I must confess, always with a great view), and then it was time