Diane Greer
Member
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2013
- Messages
- 67
The forest service, under its new NEPA rules, is issuing a special permit to delegate its management responsibilities for the Maroon Bells Scenic Area - the gateway to the Maroon Bells Wilderness Area. This promises to be the first of many such permits the agencies intends to issue. The reason is a lack of forest service personnel to manage the area.
This permit, on the surface, sounds ok since the management authority would be delegated to Pitkin County (home to Aspen), which already provides a lot of services and volunteers to the area. According to an article in High Country News, a forest service official told a Pitkin County commissioner that the forest service would look for a private concessionaire to take the permit if the county was not interested.
See: https://www.hcn.org/articles/the-fo...-off-one-of-the-wests-most-visited-landscapes
The question becomes what if the next permit is for a resource that is not in a wealth enclave with a county willing to assume responsible management and instead gets awarded to a concessionaire? I think we all have had experiences with National Park concessionaires to know the possible issues with pricing, maintenance, availability, etc.
The actualy ability of the Forest Service to delgate its management authority -- mandated by Congress -- is yet another question.
Thought members of this community would be interested in knowing what is happening in our public lands.
This permit, on the surface, sounds ok since the management authority would be delegated to Pitkin County (home to Aspen), which already provides a lot of services and volunteers to the area. According to an article in High Country News, a forest service official told a Pitkin County commissioner that the forest service would look for a private concessionaire to take the permit if the county was not interested.
See: https://www.hcn.org/articles/the-fo...-off-one-of-the-wests-most-visited-landscapes
The question becomes what if the next permit is for a resource that is not in a wealth enclave with a county willing to assume responsible management and instead gets awarded to a concessionaire? I think we all have had experiences with National Park concessionaires to know the possible issues with pricing, maintenance, availability, etc.
The actualy ability of the Forest Service to delgate its management authority -- mandated by Congress -- is yet another question.
Thought members of this community would be interested in knowing what is happening in our public lands.