[Awclist] [Fwd: RRFW Riverwire - MAN ARRESTED FOR PERMIT FRAUD]

[Thomas Robey]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	RRFW Riverwire - MAN ARRESTED FOR PERMIT FRAUD
Date: 	Wed, 21 Jun 2006 23:31:23 -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 – MAN ARRESTED FOR PERMIT FRAUD

June 21, 2006

A California man was arrested Sunday, June 18, 2006, at Lee's Ferry, 
Arizona, accused of illegally obtaining river permits to raft the 
Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park. He was taken into 
custody without incident at the River Trip Orientation Center.

According to information released by the U.S. Attorney's Office in 
Phoenix, Stephen E. Savage, 61, of Diamond Bar, Calif., was charged with 
11 criminal counts relating to fraudulently obtaining noncommercial 
river permits to raft the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park. 
Also sought was co-defendant Timothy J. O'Shaughnessy, 45, of 
Whitewater, Calif., who was apprehended Tuesday and turned over to the 
U.S. Marshall’s Service.

Apparently, Savage used false identification in the name of a deceased 
person who had been on the waiting list for a permit. The charges are 
all misdemeanors. A conviction for giving false or fictitious 
information on an application for a noncommercial river permit for the 
Colorado River through the Grand Canyon carries a maximum penalty of 
five years in prison, a $5,000 fine and/or five years probation. A 
conviction for knowingly and intentionally conspiring to violate the 
terms and conditions to obtain a noncommercial river permit carries the 
same penalty.

Joe Alston, Superintendent of Grand Canyon National Park, notes "Over 
7,000 people are on a waiting list for private river permits. Those who 
abuse the system do so at the expense of those who have gone through the 
process and have waited for many years to take a trip. We have a 
responsibility to boaters who go through the process to investigate 
charges of abuse."

However, arrests for fraud of this type are extremely rare, says Tom 
Martin, co-director of the wilderness rafting advocacy group River 
Runners for Wilderness. "I haven't heard of anything like this happening 
in the last fifteen years" noted Martin, who also observed, "The Park 
procedures for assuring valid permit issuance are strict and not easily 
circumvented."

Martin worries this type of illegal activity may spill over into the 
commercial sector in the coming years, given the new rule in place for 
all visitors, commercial passengers and noncommercial river runners 
alike, which only allows one trip per year. The concessionaires will be 
monitoring and administering the rule for their customers, while the 
Park will police noncommercial rafters.

According to Park Service figures, about 2% of those on the waiting list 
die before winning a permit. Also according to the Park, those who 
succeed in getting a noncommercial river permit wait between 10 to 15 
years or more, although this year the park has instituted a weighted 
lottery system to distribute permits in lieu of the waiting list. The 
Park admits many individuals on the waiting list and in the new lottery 
will not get a permit at all, prompting speculation by Martin that 
frustration with the system, and resulting attempts to circumvent it, 
may be on the increase.

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