Re: [Paddlewise] Wild women of the Colorado

On Wed, Dec 19, 2001 at 08:57:51PM -0800, Steven A. Holtzman wrote:
> About 7-8 years ago, I did the Colorado through the Grand Canyon on a
> commercial raft trip. Along the way, we ran into 2 kayakers, a man and his dad
> doing a private trip that they had been waiting for about 10 years for their
> permit to come through. 

One of the unfortunate things about the (mis)management of the permit
system for the Grand Canyon is that it heavily (very heavily) favors
commercial outfitters over private individuals.

Roughly the way it works out is that if you're willing to pay a large
amount of cash and ride on a motor-powered barge that spews pollutants
into the environment, you can go next year.  If you are a private boater
who wants to kayak, canoe, or raft the river, then you should probably
apply for your permit when you buy your first boat, because by the time
you're good enough, you may be lucky enough to get one.

It's a sickening perversion of our national park system for private gain.
(And, as you might guess, any attempt to reform it is met with howls of
protest by the commercial outfitters, whose greed knows no bounds.)

---Rsk

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