River guides are forced back to school

If you're looking for a fishing or hunting guide on the St. Croix, Mississippi or Minnesota rivers, look again. And again. Chances are you won't find one. Most, it turns out, have been sidelined -- temporarily, if not permanently -- by the U.S. Coast Guard and its decision to enforce federal licensing requirements on those waters.

The Coast Guard's efforts in recent weeks have sidelined some of the state's biggest names in guiding, including Dick (Griz) Grzywinski of St. Paul. Griz is among the best and most experienced multi-species guides in the state. In recent years, due to his advancing age and the resurgence of walleye populations in metro regions of the Mississippi and St. Croix, he has concentrated more on these waters and less on lakes up north.

Griz is one of as many as 30 guides who have been contacted as far south as Iowa by Twin Cities-based Coast Guard representatives. Virtually none have the "Six Pack'' license the Coast Guard requires of anyone carrying passengers for pay on these waters.

Griz, who supports himself guiding, has lost more than a month's work since the Coast Guard contacted him. "I guess I have to take the course to get the license,'' he said. "I make my living off those rivers. I haven't gone to school in a long time and hardly read anymore. But I'm going to have to take the course if I want to work.''

To attain a license, guides must attend a course given by independent contractors -- community colleges, in some instances -- lasting about 60 hours. Additionally, prospective licensed guides must know CPR and must agree to submit to random drug tests. A special work permit intended, basically, to screen terroristic fishing and hunting guides also must be obtained.

Total cost: about $1,000.

"They say if you don't have a license and you get caught guiding, the penalty is $10,000 a day,'' Griz said.

Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer John Nay said Thursday the effort -- some call it a crackdown -- became a priority this summer for the six Coast Guard officers stationed at Fort Snelling. Nay's office reports to one in St. Louis, and apparently the guide-compliance directive came from there.

"The waters we're concerned with in Minnesota are the Minnesota, the Mississippi to its headwaters, and the St. Croix River to Taylors Falls,'' Nay said.

Nay said he and others in his office, along with members of the local Coast Guard Auxiliary, have used the Internet and other means this summer to locate guides working on these rivers. They've also visited bait shops and marinas in an attempt to find guides.

"Because ours is a small office, we haven't enforced this requirement in the past,'' Nay said. "Basically, since 9/11 we've been involved with more security issues. Now we've been trying to educate guides about the requirement and notify them that if they don't comply and they are caught on the water or we learn of their operations, an enforcement action can be taken.''

Griz said the Coast Guard representative who called his house was abrupt, if not rude, when informing him that he needed to be licensed. Another guide who asked not to be named said he received a call instructing him to "Get off the river immediately.''

Nay said that to his knowledge, no Coast Guard auxiliary member has contacted guides personally. Most auxiliary members are retirees, or nearly so, who own their own boats and want to participate in Coast Guard work as volunteers.

In June the Coast Guard began training auxiliary members, who then joined with active duty officers in identifying guides to contact.

When a guide was contacted, he or she was asked if they wanted to "submit to an inspection,'' Nay said.

Most said no once they realized they could pass the inspection only if they held a Six Pack license.

Taking a course isn't a prerequisite to submitting to the Coast Guard exam, Nay said. But the test would be difficult to pass without formal preparation. A CPR course also is recommended in advance of the test, say some who have taken it and become licensed.

"Grandfathering in'' experienced guides isn't possible, Nay said.

Also, licensed guides are welcome to -- if not encouraged to -- snitch on unlicensed guides to the Coast Guard, Nay conceded. Some guides who have lost business and income in recent weeks since the Coast Guard's effort began say that's what has occurred in this case.

Whether that's true is beside the point, Nay suggested.

"If someone hires a guide to go on one of these rivers, there is a level of professionalism that is expected on behalf of the client,'' he said. "The client is expecting the guide to have a level of expertise.'' For that to happen, licensing of guides is necessary, Nay said.

Maybe. But making a living also is necessary, and many of the guides involved -- Griz is one -- have been working for decades with little to show for it in terms of money. But their clienteles are happy. And I can't remember an incident involving a fishing guide anywhere in Minnesota in which a client was hurt.

The Coast Guard could have implemented its new program and enforcement effort more gradually, it seems, allowing guides to finish out their summers in advance of taking the first Six Pack course, which isn't available until later this fall.

As Griz said, "They sure threw a wrench into my summer, I'll tell you that.''

Dennis Anderson danderson@startribune.com