Want to float one of the West’s most popular rivers? You have roughly a 2% chance of getting a permit.

[Pivo]

Nearly 60,000 people applied to raft the West’s four most popular rivers in 2022. The boating community says the federal government’s process to administer permits is broken.

https://www.summitdaily.com/sports/want ... -a-permit/

[chumley]

In the event this headline catches your eye but you wish to read more than the first few paragraphs of the story, the rest of it is found here:
https://coloradosun.com/2023/03/22/west ... tem-flood/

As the population explodes and more people wish to use the same (or less) available land, water, roads, campgrounds, etc. permits will become more common as a tool to protect those resources from overuse. I've always thought that permits should be "nearly as free as possible" (like Arizona's state universities LOLOLOL), but I understand the problem with cancellations upending the system. The weighted lottery is one option that seems to help, as is the penalty of no new applications allowed for a couple of years after a cancellation.

These places are finite resources. There are no perfect solutions.

[RedRoxx44]

Glad I boated, waded, camped the Dirty Devil when I did.

[azbackpackr]

@RedRoxx44
I think the Dirty Devil is one that doesn't do a lottery for permits. I could be wrong, but somebody was telling me about it recently. Actually, most rivers have big sections that don't require any permit at all. It's only if you are an adrenaline junkie and have to have your whitewater. For the most part, you can float flat water anywhere you want to without a permit. That's what they don't tell you in these news articles. I have a lot of friends who scream and holler about not getting permits.

I have a flat water touring kayak, and I've been having fun while they're still screaming and hollering. For example, I have kayaked almost 600 miles of the Colorado River on sections which do not require lottery permits. (This includes the reservoirs.) In the case of Meander Canyon, (the Colorado River below Moab), a permit is required, but it is not a lottery. It's just a matter of purchasing it from Canyonlands National Park. I've also rafted Grand Canyon a number of times, and that does require a private permit, or that you be on a commercial trip. But that's the only part I've been on that has the lottery.

[RedRoxx44]

@azbackpackr
I was kinda sarcastic about the Dirty Devil. Most don't want to do it because you have to drag your boat for a portion of it most of the time. World class scenery tho IMO. Very limited high water times, then it could be a bit dangerous. I think it has been designated some sort of a wilderness; so not sure if you have to have a permit or not. I am sure there are waterways that are not popular that one can plop down a boat and go about business. The popular places? Reason there are rules, and overuse usually does it.

[azbackpackr]

@RedRoxx44
But it's pretty much always whitewater that is subject to lottery contests.

The lower Green River, (Labyrinth/Stillwater) for example is very, very popular and a permit is required, but they do not limit how many permits are issued. It's just a matter of paying for it and printing it out. It's all flat water.

One section of big rapids that does not require a lottery is Cataract Canyon. I'm not sure why that is.