> I guess this is all about whether you count days or launches or both. If
> you increase the number of private launches to reflect their percentage
of
> all people who want to go, don't you have to decrease the average trip
> length to something closer to the average commercial trip length, if you
> don't want to increase total use? Or are you suggesting just looking at
> launches and allowing the total number of user days to increase freely?
> Then there will be more impact on the Canyon. I thought we were working
> with the boundary condition of no increase in total use.
Given a user day cieling, count bodies and launches within that cieling.
Don't use it as a driver to decrease trip length. This may drive the system
to smaller trips though, say 8 as an average instead of current 15. This
may "half" the wait, but what size do private boaters want? Is the current
15 representative of a long wait so lets all go, or of an ideal size? And
we still don't address allocation. Sigh...
>
> >Only if a new plan said they would. Otherwise, outfitters would guide
trips
> >in the Canyon just like guides lead backpacks in the Canyon now.
>
> What is that system? No outfitter licenses? Or free licences but with
> limited number of trips?
There are premits issued to outside of Park comcessionaires to lead
backpacking trips. Currently, the NPS has a cap on river concessionaires,
and they operate as IN the Park concessionaires, though actually all of
their property is outside the Park, they start and end their trips outside
the Park as well.
> This is true. By the way, I wrote to both my senators (Boxer and
> Feisntein), my congresman, Clinton, Gore, Babbitt, and McCain. Got a
couple
> of "thank you for your letter - period"'s. Feinstein's office sent a
letter
> that said, in response to my concern about an increase in private river
> fees in Grand Canyon from about $100 to about $1000 bucks, "fees to go to
> King's Canyon only increased from $10 to $20 per car; this is cheaper
than
> going to Disneyland or taking a carload of people to the movies." Like
any
> of that was remotely relevant. I was so ticked off, I called the office.
> They didn't care. I have lost faith in the tool of writing my senators.
It
> was also clear to me that Feinstein is not interested in any 3-year
> demonstration - she has already decided in favor of fee increases
> regardless of what the demo period shows.
>
I'd rather stay active in an injust system then inactive. Goodonya for your
letters.
cheers, t
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