Colorado River Management Plan

Grand Canyon National Park 2006
“The Colorado River Management Plan is primarily a visitor use 

management plan that specifies actions to conserve park resources and 

visitor experience while enhancing recreational opportunities on the 

Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park”
Colorado River Management Vision Statement

• The Colorado River corridor in Grand 

Canyon National Park will be managed to provide a wilderness river 

experience in which visitors can 

intimately relate to the majesty of the 

Grand Canyon and its natural and 

cultural resources. Visitors traveling 

through the canyon on the Colorado 

River will have the opportunity for a 

variety of personal outdoor 

experiences, ranging from solitary to 

social, with as little influence from the 

modern world as possible.

• The Colorado River corridor will be 

protected and preserved in a wild and primitive condition
Management Zones

• Zone 1: Lees Ferry to Diamond 

Creek (RM 0 to RM 226)

• Zone 2: Diamond Creek to 

Quartermaster Canyon (RM 226 

to RM 260)

• Zone 3: Quartermaster Canyon 

to Lake Mead NRA boundary 

(RM 260 to RM 277)

• Zone 4: GRCA boundary to Lake 

Mead take-out areas (RM 277 

on) managed by Lake Mead NRA
CRMP User Capacity Framework

Changes in levels of use were based on 

a carrying capacity strategy that looked 

at the number and size of camps, the 

condition and threats to resources, and 

the wilderness experience parameters 

including number of on-river and 

attraction site encounters. 

Acknowledgement that no one standard 

could be used to determine a carrying 

capacity

• Physical resources: Number, size, 

distribution of camping beaches 

• Social conditions and wilderness 

experience variables including onriver, campsite, and attraction site 

encounters

• Natural/Cultural Resource conditions
Administrative River Trip Types

• Resource Management

• Visitor Protection

• Maintenance

• Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive 

Management Program

• Scientific Research- external

• Tribal

• Partners and Volunteers

• Education
Integrated Resource Monitoring ProgramWhat are the effects of Colorado River users on:

• Natural Resources?

• Cultural Resources?

• Visitor Experience?

• Wilderness Character?

Effects are evaluated through Monitoring and Assessment. 

Mitigations can be made using Management Actions.
Colorado River Resources Monitoring Program

How do administrative activities and river users affect park 

resources in the Colorado River Corridor?

(Stressors) Effects

• Resource Damage

• Site Disturbance

• Quality Degradation

• Crowding & Congestion

Natural Resources

• Water Quality

• Wildlife

• Vegetation

• Air Quality

• Soils

Visitor Experience

• Quality of Recreation

• Range of Services

Cultural Resources

Historic Sites

Prehistoric Sites

Traditional Cultural Properties

Wilderness 

Character

Primitive & Unconfined 

Recreation

Non-Mechanized Use

Solitude
CRMP Mitigation & Management

• Interdisciplinary approach: Recreation, Vegetation, Trails, Cultural 

Resources, and Rangers

• Site assessments: Evaluate camps and attraction sites for adverse 

impacts

• Work projects: Base work on cyclic assessments of sites throughout 

the corridor 
Management Actions can take a variety of forms:

• Education

• Trail delineation and repair

• Revegetation of social trails and OHWZ campsites

• Archaeological site mitigations

• Adjustment of launch calendar
Natural Resource Condition Assessments

• Impacts include: campsite 

proliferation in OHWZ, social 

trailing, vegetation damage, trail 

erosion, archeological site 

damage, etc.

• Treatments include: trail 

delineation & repair, 

revegetation of social trails and 

OHWZ campsites, archeological 

site mitigations, etc.
Visitor Experience Monitoring Program 

• Quality of visitor experience 

(temporal & spatial)

• On site impacts: River encounters, 

attraction site encounters, 

campsite competition, hiking 

exchanges, launch/take-out 

congestion, safety

• Off-site impacts: permit system, 

use statistics, etc

• Help determine management 

actions needed to address 

unacceptable social conditions
Monitoring Wilderness Character

• Involves a collective assessment 

of resource conditions (affects of 

human use)

• Quality of visitor experience –

opportunities for solitude or an 

unconfined type of recreation

• Considers impacts of 

administrative use and activities
Accomplishments

• Completed 115 campsite and 

attraction sites assessed 

• Installed multiple long term 

monitoring photo points at 36 

sites

• Completed mitigation actions at 

39 sites including: Trail 

maintenance & realignment, 

Campsite delineation, Pruning, 

Social trail obliteration, OHWZ 

Campsite obliteration, Planting 
A few projects....
Results: Lower Gorge GTS- April 2009

In coordination w/ Hualapai Resources & River Runners Staff, NPS, Western River 

Expeditions and GCRG

Campsite improvement techniques involved moving rocks to establish campable sites and 

some minor vegetation trimming
Results: Soap Creek Camp (RM 11.3R)

In 2008, completed Phase I

• Collected native plant cuttings and seed

• Established new campsites near river

• Obliterated vast network of social trails

• Obliterated log constructed staircase

In 2009, completed Phase II

• Began 125 square meter campsite closure 

with active planting 

• Planted 65 native nursery and salvage plants 

• Installed 8 experimental ollas

• Began watering experiments between 

traditional berms and olla irrigation

In 2010, started Phase III

• Planted another 265 native nursery 

and salvage plants

• Installed 22 new ollas

• Replaced mortality from original 

planting and continued watering 

experiments 
Owl Eyes Project: March 2009

• Issues: Trailing up steep slope 

causing unnecessary damage to 

native vegetation and 

accelerated erosion of landscape

• Solution: Restore landscape to 

prevent further degradation 

with people who care that have 

strong backs and big hearts.
Owl Eyes Project: Before and After
Colorado River & Tributaries Research & 

Monitoring

• Trails Monitoring & Rehabilitation

• Vegetation Research, Monitoring, 

& Removal/Re-vegetation

• Campsite Monitoring

• Wildlife Research & Monitoring

• Cultural Resources Research, 

Inventory, Protection & 

Preservation (historic and 

prehistoric)

• Visitor Experience Research & 

Monitoring
Campsite Monitoring -- Lower Tapeats Camp RM 133.7 

Top- Bottom: 1952, 1995, 2006, 2008 (after a high flow 

experiment)
Invasive Tamarisk Management Project Summary

• Tamarisk control in side canyons began in 

2002

• Tamarisk removed from over 130 project 

areas using hand tools and herbicide

• 287,281 tamarisk trees removed from 

side canyons along 217 miles of river

• Over 45,000 volunteer hours ($911,250) 

donated

• Provided hands-on stewardship 

opportunities

• Botanists documented 15 new plant 

species

• Project received international recognition
Questions?