Grand Canyon Update Jan 30, 2004

posted February 3, 2004

by Jason Robertson

Update on the CRMP Planning Process

The Park Service has released the following update at: http://www.nps.gov/grca/crmp/documents/letters/30jan04update.htm. The scheduled completion date in May 2004 is nearly 6 months later than scheduled, and leaves only 7 months to give the public time to review and comment on the alternatives, for the Park to process those responses, and for the Park to draft, review, and publish a final EIS before the court's deadline of December 2004. This will be quite a task.

January 30, 2004

To the many people interested in the Grand Canyon:

The National Park Service (NPS) is planning to release the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Colorado River Management Plan (CRMP) for public review and comment in May 2004. The NPS will seek public comment on the Draft EIS once a notice of availability has been posted in the Federal Register. A schedule of public meetings will be announced following release of the draft.

The Draft EIS will analyze a full range of reasonable alternatives as well as a draft preferred alternative for managing recreational use on the Colorado River from Lees Ferry to Lake Mead.

Issues being addressed in the planning effort include, but are not limited to:

the range of services and opportunities provided to the public,
appropriate levels of visitor use consistent with natural and cultural resource protection and preservation mandates,
allocation of use between commercial and non-commercial groups,
level of motorized versus non-motorized raft use,
non-commercial river permit system, and
continued use of helicopters to transport river passengers from the Colorado River near Whitmore Wash.

Public and stakeholder involvement has been and continues to be very important in this planning process. Information relating to the release of the Draft EIS and how the public can be fully involved in the process will be provided in a variety of ways including postings on the park's website at www.nps.gov/grca/crmp.

The NPS is committed to completing a final NEPA compliance document by December 31, 2004. We appreciate your interest in Grand Canyon National Park and look forward to your continued participation in the revision of the CRMP.

Sincerely,

Rick Ernenwein
CRMP Planning Team Leader

Photo credit: Photo by Tom Okeefe upriver of Grand Canyon, http://www.americanwhitewater.org/photos/?photoid=914

Jason Robertson

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