It was nice to meet Tom Martin of GCPBA.
It was very reassuring to hear the National Park Service admit that "the
private permit system in Grand Canyon is broken".
I personally talked at length to the owners of 3 different commercial
companies (David MacKay owner of CRATE-the smallest company; Lynn Keller
owner of Western RE-the largest company; Richard Quist of Moki Mac-on the
smaller side) and heard nearly the same thing: privates do need and should
have more access to the river.
Only group not wanting increased usage is the GCRGA (commercial guides).
Best and most workable idea that I heard is to increase private use
during the secondary season (October 16 through April 15).
As for me, I've been on 9 private trips through the Grand and only 3 of
them were during "primary" season. I prefer to go in the early spring.
Carl Anderson
====================================================================
To subscribe, send email to majordomo@songbird.com, with "subscribe
gcboaters" as the only line in the message body. To unsubscribe send
"unsubscribe gcboaters". For further information send "info
gcboaters", or see http://www.songbird.com/gcboaters
====================================================================