[Awclist] [Fwd: RRFW Riverwire - TRIBE BATTLES PARK OVER RIVER RUNNING]

[Thomas Robey]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	RRFW Riverwire - TRIBE BATTLES PARK OVER RIVER RUNNING
Date: 	Fri, 14 Oct 2005 14:35:15 -0600
From: 	Riverwire <riverwire at rrfw.org>
Reply-To: 	<Riverwire at rrfw.org>
Organization: 	River Runners for Wilderness
To: 	Riverwire at rrfw.org



RRFW Riverwire: TRIBE BATTLES PARK OVER RIVER RUNNING

*TRIBE BATTLES PROPOSED LIMIT ON CANYON TOURIST TRIPS*

*PARK SERVICE, HUALAPAI INDIANS AT ODDS*

By Mark Shaffer, Republic Flagstaff Bureau, Arizona Daily Star

Oct. 13, 2005 12:00 AM

GRAND CANYON WEST - Deep in the bowels of the far western part of the 
Grand Canyon, where the mighty Colorado River turns from roiling rapids 
into steady stream, it's like a big lake party.

Speedboat operators rev up to 50 mph before doing sharp 180-degree turns 
in the river's channels as joyful tourists shriek in delight. A steady 
stream of helicopters ferrying tourists from the Hualapai Tribe's Grand 
Canyon West airport sink stomachs by surging out beyond the rim into the 
open air above the deep gorge.

But lost in all the hair-raising thrills for tourists is a bitter battle 
between the Hualapai Tribe and National Park Service as to who controls 
the river along the 108-mile northern boundary of the reservation.

The decision has huge implications for the river-tour industry, which 
transports nearly 25,000 people annually through the Grand Canyon. The 
Hualapais claim the federal government created a northern boundary for 
its reservation on the river with an executive order signed by President 
Arthur in 1883. Meanwhile, a federal solicitor opined in 1999 during a 
water rights case that the tribal boundary was actually at an 
undetermined high-water mark, which would mean that in normal flow 
periods, the tribe would have no access to the river.

All the claims and counterclaims are coming to a head now, as the Park 
Service tries to complete its long-awaited Colorado River Management 
Plan, which will regulate, among many other things, the number of people 
on river trips passing through the Grand Canyon.

"The Park Service is trying to manage the resource, and they don't know 
where the freaking boundary is for sure," said Mark Grisham, executive 
director of the Grand Canyon River Outfitters Association in Flagstaff, 
a consortium of river-tour operators. "This is a very explosive 
situation." Officials from Grand Canyon National Park and the regional 
office of the Park Service in Denver declined requests for interviews.

Angry tribe members have walked out of recent meetings concerning 
attempts to negotiate an agreement for the boundary. They also have 
threatened to charge those ending their river trips on Hualapai land 
hundreds of dollars unless the issue is resolved.

Most river travelers now pay a nominal fee to the tribe if they choose 
to end their trip either at Whitmore Wash with a helicopter flight or at 
Diamond Creek, where they bus through the Hualapai Reservation. One of 
the most thrilling rapids on the Colorado, Lava Falls, is on the 
Hualapai boundary. The tribe operates a five-hour, $280 river trip over 
36 miles of the best white water adjoining the reservation. About 12,000 
tourists take the trip annually, said Steve Beattie, chief financial 
officer of the tribe. None of the proceeds goes to the Park Service.

"The Park Service is using (the river management plan) to throttle our 
tribal economic development," Hualapai Chairman Charlie Vaughn said. "We 
could hold up the management plan for years (with a lawsuit) if we want 
to, but we're trying to go through mediation on this." According to Park 
Service planning documents, the agency wants to cap the number of 
Hualapai river-runner pontoon-boat passengers at 150 a day. The 
Hualapais want a cap of 960 a day. The Grand Canyon's general management 
plan notes that the objective for the river is to protect it "in a wild 
and primitive condition."

Vaughn said that the tribe began curtailing its motorized-boat 
activities in the far western part of the Canyon on Oct. 5 as a goodwill 
gesture, hoping to try to strike an accord in the dispute.

The Hualapais' Grand Canyon Resort Corp. attracts about 300,000 tourists 
annually to the reservation to take helicopter flights and boat rides 
near the Quartermaster View Point area, south of the Colorado River. The 
Park Service manages the land north of the river.

Grisham said he doesn't think the Park Service will back away from 
trying to manage the entire river through the Grand Canyon. "We 
certainly feel like we've been caught in the middle of all this and just 
want to get along with everybody," Grisham said.

Grisham said that the river-tour groups would likely take the tribe to 
court if it attempted to "assert management authority over us." "They 
(Hualapais) won't work with us directly because we aren't a government," 
Grisham said. "It would be a real risky thing for them to take this to 
court because they could end up with no rights to the river."

Reach the reporter at mark.shaffer at arizonare public.com or (602) 444-8057.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

RIVERWIRE is a free service to the community of river lovers from River 
Runners for Wilderness. Membership is FREE! Send your e-mail address to 
riverwire at rrfw.org and we'll add you to the RRFW RIVERWIRE e-mail list. 
To join, visit our website at www.rrfw.org and click on the “membership” 
link. Donate at RRFW Store. RRFW is a project of Living Rivers. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~