Floaty,
Here's the pertinent section of the NPS FAQ on this topic, which can be found at:
http://www.nps.gov/grca/crmp/documents/6faq.htm
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7. What will happen to the Colorado River Permit Waitlist now that a preferred option has been chosen in the Final EIS?
The preferred option for transitioning from the current, frozen waitlist to the preferred permit system (hybrid weighted lottery) is the Three-Stage Expedited Transition Option. The three stages of this expedited transition would take place during the first four to six months after the Record of Decision (ROD) is signed.
Stage 1 - During the 1st stage, members of the waitlist will be given one final two-month chance to schedule launch dates through the existing waitlist. A total of 600 launch dates (from the 2007 through 2011 seasons) will be made available for this purpose. People who are not successful in this stage would transition to stage 2.
Stage 2 - The 2nd stage will be a two-month, modified waitlist stage, in which waitlist members will be allowed to band together and advance up the list based on their combined waits. For example, if Pat had been on the waitlist for five years and Robin for nine years, their combined wait would be 14 years, so they would receive one number and be ahead of all those who had waited 13 years or less. After this two-month stage, 600 additional launches (from the 2007 through 2011 seasons) will be made available to those combined waitlist members with the greatest wait totals. People who are not successful in this stage would transition to stage 3.
Stage 3 In this final transition stage, everyone left on the waitlist would need to give up their old waitlist spot and the existing waitlist would no longer exist. People will be given two basic choices:
* Trade their spot on the waitlist for one extra chance in the new hybrid lottery for each year they had been on the existing waitlist (in addition to the total chances they would normally have had); or
* Accept a refund for the price they paid to join the waitlist.
The NPS estimates that approximately 33% of current waitlist members will succeed in getting a launch through stage 1 and stage 2 and the majority of the rest will succeed in obtaining launches within ten years through the hybrid lottery system. (See section 4.4.8 titled "Permit System Options Analysis" in the Final EIS for detailed information.)
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Hope this helps.
Richp