Cities, Counties and Special Use Permits for Improved Recreation Management

Aspen Public Radio had an interesting pivot in this story from Forest Service budget and recreation, to restructuring…my bold.

Amid restructuring talk, Forest Service says it can no longer manage popular Maroon Bells recreation area

Based on what the FS tells us, the point of restructuring is to get more funding to the field. My bold.. it sounds as if it is a budget problem, not a restructuring problem.

The U.S. Forest Service says it can no longer manage a popular recreation area near Aspen in Western Colorado. The agency is hoping that Pitkin County will take over management of the Maroon Bells Scenic Area for five years under a special use permit.

The Maroon Bells Scenic Area draws over 100,000 visitors to the White River National Forest each year.

In a meeting with the Pitkin Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday, May 12, representatives from the Forest Service said there was an almost $300,000 gap between what it costs to manage the Bells and the revenue the agency brings in, and it’s not sustainable for the agency.

Kendra Head, the developed and dispersed recreation manager for the White River National Forest, explained the situation to the commissioners.

“The White River National Forest has been subsidizing the Bells for years from other programs across the Forest,” she said. “Budgets are tight across the Forest and we need to change management strategies. Deferred maintenance needs have accumulated and it’s difficult to hire staff with the cost of living and various hiring freezes.”

As a federal agency, she said, the Forest Service is limited in how much it can raise fees for these recreation areas. She said the county will have a lot more leeway to set prices through the special use permit.

Gary Tennenbaum, the director of Pitkin County Open Space and Trails, said that under the current operations plan from the White River, about 18% of the fee revenue would go back to the U.S. Forest Service.

“Since we’re a nonprofit, we’re not looking to profit on the management of the Bells,” he explained. “We would use all of that for deferred maintenance. So if it’s $300,000, we’ll plan for $300,000 worth of deferred maintenance. If it’s more, everything that we get from the Bells, goes back into the Bells.”

“Imagine this place came up for sale tomorrow,” he said. We would do everything in our power to buy it, because it is such a special resource.”

Tennenbaum emphasized that the land would remain under Forest Service ownership, and the agency would approve management plans, fee structures, and would continue to be responsible for capital improvements. However, the ongoing federal situation with public land management hung over the conversation.

“I know a lot of people are talking about, ‘oh, the Forest Service is getting cut, cut, cut,’” Tennenbaum said. “But one day, maybe, they’ll magically get some money and they’ll be able to do this. Well, if the county does this, we can give it back.”

Then it goes into a quote from The Wilderness Society.. currently D talking points.. going directly to “dismantling” “chaos” and the ever-popular “selling of public lands.” It might be relevant that the Prez of the Wilderness Society worked as BLM Director in the Biden Admin, but then again…

“Once you dismantle the agency, you introduce chaos,” said Josh Hicks, conservation director at the Wilderness Society in April. “The Forest Service is not able to do its job and serve the public as well, and that can foment frustration and lead to selling off and selling out our public lands.”

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And finally back to the acting Forest Supe:

During the Pitkin County meeting, White River National Forest officials told commissioners that they were able to hire seasonal workers for this summer season, both through normal channels and interns through the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps, and estimated that they had about two-thirds of their seasonal positions filled. They did not provide numbers on permanent staff

“Although we are not fully staffed, we have more boots on the ground this year than we did last year,” said Kendra Head.

In response to questions from the commissioners, Brian Glasgow, the acting supervisor of the White River National Forest, said that the White River and other forests are planning for the restructuring of the agency to go ahead as has been outlined in documents released by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.

The biggest change, he said, is that instead of Colorado being grouped in with Nebraska, Wyoming, Kansas, and South Dakota in one big region, there will be a Colorado state director at the Forest Service, meant to oversee the agency’s work in the state.

“That might actually be to our net benefit: a little closer tie to our local politicians and all the rest,” he said. “Beyond that, there’s not a lot of near-term immediate impact to the White River National Forest.”

“It’s going to be difficult for a lot of people in the Forest Service,” he added. “There are regional offices and research stations that are closing altogether. A lot of people are going to get directed (to) reassignments.We expect that we will probably receive some of those refugees as new employees on the Forest. But beyond that, for the foreseeable future, we’re not expecting net change on the Forest.”

Now some of you might be wondering, “how unusual is it for counties or cities to take over management of an area under a special use permit, where the entity gets to charge for access?”  I don’t know and hopefully others can add examples. It seems like it would depend on “one road for vehicle access” which might be unusual.

But another Colorado place, Pike’s Peak, has apparently had the same kind of thing, since 1948.

In 1915, the U.S. Forest Service allowed Spencer Penrose to complete the road to the summit. However, when the agreement ended 20 years later, the road responsibility returned to the federal government and the $2 toll was lifted. People could drive up the mountain free of charge. Unfortunately, without the maintenance afforded by the toll, the road surface deteriorated greatly.  In 1948 the U.S. Forest Service issued a special-use permit to the City of Colorado Springs, which then became responsible for maintaining the road to the top. The City of Colorado Springs continues to maintain the road to this day.

And here is how it works:

The management of Pikes Peak is a complicated affair. Here’s a quick summary.

• The U.S. Forest Service has over-arching responsibility of the mountain, as it is part of the Pike National Forest.

• Through a special use permit issued by the Forest Service, the City of Colorado is responsible for administering and managing the Pikes Peak Highway and the concessions.

• The concessions on Pikes Peak are outsourced by the City of Colorado Springs to Aramark.

• The Pikes Peak Cog Rail (now owned by the Broadmoor Hotel), has a permanent lease to the right-of-way for the Cog Railway tracks from Manitou to the Summit.  This permanent lease was granted after Spencer Penrose deeded the entire summit of Pikes Peak to the U.S. Forest Service.

• The U.S. Army owns the High Altitude Research Laboratory on the Summit.

• Colorado Springs Utilities also has an interest, as their radio transmission equipment is located on the Summit.

I looked in Grok for other examples and it came up with these..

Here are some documented cases:

• Pitkin County, Colorado — Exploring/negotiating a Special Use Permit with the USFS to oversee day-to-day operations and management of the Maroon Bells Scenic Area (White River National Forest), starting potentially in 2027. The county would handle visitor services while USFS retains ownership.
• City and County of Denver / Winter Park Recreational Association, Colorado — Holds a long-term ski area term special use permit for Winter Park Resort on Arapaho National Forest lands.
• Various counties and municipalities partner for trail systems, shuttle operations (e.g., Hanging Lake in Colorado), or local recreation management through cooperative agreements that may include SUPs.

Other forests (e.g., Ozark-St. Francis in Arkansas) list “Access Special Use Permit Applications” and “State Parks Special Use Permit Applications,” indicating counties or local entities apply for road access or facility management.

I think the answer was Colorado-focused because Grok knows I live in Colorado. It would be interesting to see what results from AI queries using other chatbots from people in other locations.