> >I don't relish the thought of standing elbow to elbow with someone to admire a
> >redwood or making a reservation 5 years in advance.
> >Michael Brown

Both those scenarios are, at least at the Grand Canyon National Park,
realities today. Much of the south rim is "elbow to elbow," much of the
year. As for the waiting list nightmare, try this:

I entered my name onto the waiting list to (privately) boat the Colorado
River throught the Grand Canyon in 1986. I was just this fall assigned a
launch date - fall 1997. In this case, I blame mismanagement more than
limited natural resources. Access to the Canyon is (and should be)
limited. But the allocation of that access is manifestly unfair. The
term "privately" boat is important. If I had a spare two grand, I could
buy my way onto a commercial "baloney boat" trip, and be led down the
canyon tomorrow. But so few spots are allocated to private boaters, that
paddlers who invest the time and energy to acquire the skills to do it on
their own must wait a decade.

In my own case, my relatively carefree 20s are gone, I haven't been
actively kayaking for a year and a half, and I will probably not be able
to use my launch date next year. My chance to do it may have died.

So I'm all in favor of setting aside more land, but I think the way those
lands are managed can make a huge difference, too.

Chris (yes I'm bitter about it) Hill
Everett, WA
cehill at u.washington.edu