Chief (btw, thanks woodsxc for the name correction), I did not know that the military first came up with the wilderness stewardship philosophy that became Leave No Trace (a division of NOLS). That is interesting. I have some AMGA certified guide friends, who worked for NOLS at the time LNT was started and played a large role in the development of that organization.
From the research I have done on the Whitney Trail toilets, they were overflowing because they were being mismanaged due to insufficient funding. I concede that pulling them may have been their only option at the time, but this was the final action that put an end to years of mismanagement.
I am sure that SWS has done their fair share of clean-up in the N Fork of Lone Pine Creek, but so have all of the guide services. Props to SMC who organized a NF clean up day with the Inyo NF last season. And a shout to all of those guides who teach their guests to leave the mountains better than how we find them. Unfortunately, guides are no longer permitted to operate in the the S Fork, where most of the impact is, so it is up to the rangers and the public to manage that. The FS is currently "studying" the effects guiding has had on impacts in the N Fork, and I am sure they will find that guides have a positive effect on the quality of the landscape.
Regarding SWS, I know Dave C. and Tim K. and they are great guys who run an impressive business. I would be more psyched if they would jump on board with the local guide services and embrace AMGA training and certification for all of their guides, but I understand their reluctance to do so from an economic perspective. I know that some of their guides have done some AMGA training on their own. Our guide service pays a significant part of AMGA training and certification programs for our guides. This makes it a lot more affordable for them. The owners are also AMGA Instructors and we do in-house trainings as well. We feel that AMGA guide training is a critical part of our risk management plan. We also feel it is unethical to let guides try to figure out how to guide at the clients' expense. I was one of those guides who started by being thrown into guiding challenges by employers and wasn't ready for it (I thought I was...). I lacked the important guiding skills and awareness that comes from a combination of formalized training and experience. Luckily, I didn't kill anyone, but I came close a couple times. It is great that today's guides have better guide education opportunities than I did and that more and more employers are demanding that their guides be trained and certified.