Local policy

There is a local Group Policy but you don't have an MMC made for it. You just have to add it. Check around and you'll figure it out. You might also want to check the Start->Help (much, much informative than the NT one)

To open Group Policy:
+Open Microsoft Management Console.
+On the MMC console's menu bar, click Console, and then click Add/Remove Snap-in.
+On the Standalone tab, click Add.
+In the Add Standalone Snap-in dialog box, click Group Policy, and then click Add.
+In the Select Group Policy object dialog box, click Local Computer to edit the local Group Policy object, or browse to find the Group Policy object you want.
+Click Finish, and then click OK. The Group Policy snap-in now opens the specified Group Policy object for editing.
Note
To open an MMC console, click Start, click Run, type mmc, and then press ENTER.

Bill,
If you deny access to c:\winnt\system32\grouppolicy directory, then the policy will not be applied.
i.e. Configure another user/group to have access, which will be affected by the policy, but has permissions to amend the policy as well(just so you don't lock yourself out). Then apply a deny to the local administrator or group via NTFS and this should restrict the policy from being applied.
Try it and let me know how you get on
Allen