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Water - Recreational Use
History and Growth of River Recreation in Grand Canyon
Following Powell's pioneering exploration, people began to run the 280 mile whitewater stretch of the Colorado River from Lees Ferry through Grand Canyon for adventure and enjoyment. Only a few hundred adventurers ran the river during the first half of the 20th century. In the 1950s, commercially guided river trips in Grand Canyon, lasting from one to three weeks in length, became available to the public. The rapid growth of river rafting as a national pastime in the 1980s caused an increase in private (self-outfitted) trips. In addition, the popular one-day, smooth water float trip through Glen Canyon from the dam to Lees Ferry continues to grow in popularity.
- With completion of Glen Canyon Dam in 1963, water flows became more consistent throughout the year creating conditions more favorable for river running in Grand Canyon. Demand for river trips grew rapidly in the following decade.
- By 1972, surging popularity of river running caused the National Park Service to begin regulating visitor use to protect the river environment and the quality of the river experience.
Year Visitors Per Year
1955 150 people
1963 1,100 people
1972 16,500 people
2004 22,460 people
2007 (projected) 26,317 people
Explosive growth in the number of recreational river runners in Grand Canyon indicates that there are more people who desire to run the Colorado River than the environment can potentially sustain. In 2006, the National Park Service completed an Environmental Impact Statement for revision of the Colorado River Management Plan (CRMP). The CRMP is a visitor use plan that allocates recreational use of the river, which has grown significantly over the past 50 years.
Socioeconomic Benefits of River Recreation:
Whitewater and smooth water river rafting generate about $83 million* annually in the regional economy. Rafting also:
Generates about 600 jobs in river guiding and support services in local communities.
Returns about 12 percent of the gross revenues earned by river outfitters to the National Park Service and Grand Canyon National Park.
Generates significant revenue for the Hualapai Tribe river runners. This tribe manages most of the land south of the Colorado River in lower Grand Canyon.
In addition to dollars spent for recreation in the local economy, there is an incalculable value to millions of people worldwide, simply knowing that the Grand Canyon river environment is still there, preserved and accessible for future generations.
*Gloss, S.P., Lovich, J.E., and Melis, T.S., eds., 2005, The state of the Colorado River ecosystem in Grand Canyon (SCORE), U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1282, pp. 153-164. [From Glen Canyon Dam, Adaptive Management Program]
In its early years, the BLM lacked legislative authority to provide recreational. In some areas, district personnel built facilities for camping and picnics, even thought they lacked the authority to do so.
The Public Works Acceleration Act of 1962 provided federal assistance to areas hard hit by recession and gave the Bureau its first major recreation funding, mainly for campgrounds and picnic sites. In 1964 the Land & Water Conservation Fund Act authorized funds for the BLM to acquire recreation areas.
Originally, user fees were supposed to supply the bulk of these funds. However, revenues were negligible because federal land managers were reluctant to charge for recreation, particularly since they didn't get to keep any of the receipts. So in 1968 Congress provided direct appropriations from outer continental shelf revenues to the Land & Water Conservation Fund.
In 1965 the agency received its first regular recreation appropriation. Others, like the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968, the National Trails System of 1968, and the National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978 all added to the BLM's recreation program budget. By the mid-1970s, the agency's annual recreation budget was $9 million.
Today, the BLM spends over $30 million per year on recreation. A recreation fee demonstration project was implemented in 1997, giving the BLM authority to start up new pilot projects for user fee collection at select sites. Managers get to keep revenues from these projects, which should give the BLM a new look at recreation.
[From the Bureau of Land Management website]
For more information on Recreation go to WWDL Search
