Gettysburg guides plan to challenge rules for tours

The group said the issue isn’t money.

GETTYSBURG, Pa. (AP) — Guides at Gettysburg Battlefield are vowing to fight new rules that would change the way tours are run at the historic Civil War site.

People taking tours of Gettysburg National Military Park have paid guides directly since 1915, according to Rick Hohmann, president of the Association of Licensed Battlefield Guides.

But officials are planning to pay guides twice a month, instead of per tour. The park also wants tours to be scheduled in advance, while the guides prefer to choose when they work.

“We’re trying to bring this up to industry standards,” said Katie Lawhon, a park spokeswoman. “Industry standards are advanced payments and advanced reservations.”

The 125-person guide group conducted a secret mail ballot to gauge interest from its members. It makes up 80 percent of the park’s licensed guides; nonmembers also participated, Hohmann said.

“A clear majority of the guides reject anything other than continued payment by the visitor at the time of the tour, or payment within 48 hours,” Hohmann wrote in an Oct. 23 letter to John A. Latschar, the park’s superintendent. “A clear majority of guides voted not to accept anything other than efficient scheduling.”

The group says money is not the issue. Guides currently get $45 for a carload of up to six people, $65 for a group of 7-15, $100 for up to 49 individuals, and $135 for a group of 50 or more.

“We’re not asking for more money,” Hohmann said. “All we’re trying to do is preserve guiding around here the way it’s been since 1915.”

Some guides also are not happy with new scheduling equipment at the park.

“There are buses showing up, and guides aren’t there, and there are guides in places, with no buses,” Hohmann said. “It’s very confusing.”

Park leaders said there have been some bumps in the road with the new system.

“These things tend to work themselves out over the long run,” Lawhon said.