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Rules About Special
Recreation Permits-SRP
Ric Foster
Public Lands Assistant
BlueRibbon Coalition
208-237-1008 ext 107
brrichard@sharetrails.org
Dear Utah Recreationists,
A few weeks back, an email began to circulate
indicating the BLM had implemented a six-vehicle
limit on all group activities in one of the
field offices. As a result, both Mike Swenson
from Utah Shared Access Alliance (USA-ALL) and I
received several emails and calls from concerned
citizens worried that their club rides and
annual camp outs would now require some sort of
permit.
Off-Highway Vehicle recreation is a social
experience where folks enjoy recreating in
groups. Land managing agencies depend on
partnerships with OHV clubs and organizations to
leverage funds and volunteer labor for managing
trails. In addition to all that, the OHV
community is a surprisingly generous bunch,
raising millions of dollars (we're not
exaggerating!) for charity. It is impossible to
overstate the importance of the regulations
governing group recreational activities.
I asked one of BLM's recreation planners to
help clarify their rules about Special
Recreation Permits (SRP), and, like most
governmental regulations, the response we
received was about as clear as mud! (we've
posted a link to parts of his response below)
So... Mike and I thought we'd make an attempt
to clear up some of the mud. For now, we're
going to focus on BLM, but similar regulations
exist on U.S. Forest Service and State lands as
well.
But first, a word to you agency-types on our
action alert lists:
You folks have got to figure out a way to
streamline the SRP process. The public needs to
be able to determine if a permit is required by
visiting your website and it needs to be as easy
as possible.
Here are some rules of thumb that might clear
up some of the Mud:
- Permits are at the discretion of the BLM Field
Office Manager. Just because you "trip" one of
the requirements listed here doesn't necessarily
mean you need a permit. Conversely, some
Managers require permits even if the activity
didn't "trip" one of these requirements. Check
the website for the District Office your
activity is in to be sure.
- The rules apply for any activity, not just OHV use. So you Scout Masters, equestrians,
hikers and mountain bikers need to pay
attention.
- In general, if you have more than 50
vehicles (horses, mountain bikes etc) you
probably need to apply for a permit. (FS allows
75 vehicles/horses/hikers etc) Although there is
no longer a 50 vehicle threshold for BLM, each
District Office sets the threshold for
permitting requirements via the Land Use
Planning process. Most BLM offices are in the
process of updating their management plans and
as these new plans are finalized the 50 vehicle
rule of thumb will no longer apply.
- If you charge a fee, you MUST apply for a
permit. National regulations require permits for
all commercial and competitive use, and one of
the defining factors for both competitive and
commercial is if any fee is charged. Sadly, the
federal government makes no distinction between
charity fundraisers and commercial operations.
Any and all fundraising activity is considered
commercial and must be under permit.
- If the event is advertised with the intent
of drawing participants from outside a club or
group, that would trigger the permit
requirement. If the advertisement is simply in a
club newsletter or on a club website, and is
intended to simply notify members of the event,
that in itself would not necessarily trigger the
permit requirement. Of course the event itself
may trigger a permit requirement for other
reasons.....
- If your event is competitive in nature,
you'll definitely need a permit.
As we mentioned above, just because you've
'tripped' one of those rules of thumb, it
doesn't necessarily mean you'll need a permit.
In most cases it probably will. You will need to
at least fill out an application along with an
operating plan and pay the minimum permit fee
and/or a permit processing fee (if such a
processing fee is set by the District Office).
National regulations have set a minimum permit
fee of $90. This minimum fee is applied to use
fees, which means that if the total use fees for
an event were $50, you would still pay $90.00
total; if the use fees were $100, you would pay
the minimum fee of $90 plus $10.00, not $90 plus
$100.00. Applications must be filed at least 180
days in advance. BLM is supposed to respond
within 30 days, but doesn't have to let you know
if a permit will be granted until 30 days before
the event. Each District Office does SRP's
differently so the best thing to do is to
contact your local Outdoor Recreation
Specialist.
Clear as mud, right!?!?!
Cost Recovery:
A discussion of Special Recreation Permits is
not complete without a mention of "Cost
Recovery." Cost Recovery is the way the Forest
Service and BLM recovers the cost of processing
permits and any needed environmental analysis.
If the agency conducts over 50 hours of work to
process a permit, it is supposed to recover the
costs. Cost Recovery is a HUGE issue and can
make the cost of obtaining a permit
astronomical.
Is there any good news?
Yes. Agency regulations now allow for;
Long term permits:
If you are contemplating an event big enough to
require a permit, regulations allow for the
agencies to issue up to 10-year permit. Most
offices are issuing 5-year permits for large OHV
events. If a permit is required for your event,
consider applying for a multi-year permit.
Letter of Understanding between clubs and the
agency:
Club rides that exceed 50 vehicles, don't charge
a fee and aren't advertised outside the club
membership may also be permitted via Letter of
Understanding. It is important to make a
distinction here--a letter of understanding does
not authorize any activity; rather, it states
that BLM has analyzed the proposed activity and
has determined that a permit is not required.
Within the letter of understanding, BLM may
specify certain "rules of conduct", or
facilities which the applicant should supply,
but those are recommendations only, and are not
enforceable--they are more of a handshake
agreement.
"Programmatic permitting"
The agency now has supplemental guidance that
instructs them to attempt to address recreation
permits in programmatic land use planning
process. That's bureau-speak for designating
routes and areas available for permitted events
in the Land Use Plan, thereby making permits a
relatively easy process and almost totally
eliminating the requirement for Cost Recovery.
This is the reason it is so very important
that the OHV community, especially clubs that do
large OHV events or competitive race promoters,
pay close attention to the land use planning
process. The desert racing community and even
clubs that regularly have rides approaching 50
people, MUST pay attention and do as much as
possible to ensure the agency provides for their
activities within the local Land Use Plans.
Final Word from Mike and Brian:
BLM's regulations cautions individual Field
Offices that the SRP process is not to be used
for prohibiting, or severely restricting,
activities that would normally be allowed...
such as OHV recreation. Regulations are clear:
Recreation permits must serve the public
interest, and support the goals and objectives
of land use plans.
Agency regulations encourages individual
Field Offices to incorporate SRP policy with
land use plans and states that it is imperative
that areas which will have restrictions on
users, (i.e., numbers, season of use, location,
group size or other conditions that limit the
user) be identified and quantified during the
Resource Management Plan (RMP) process.
Those kinds of recreation management
decisions are to be made via the planning
process, which is made with full public
involvement, and not through application of the
recreation permit policy.
As always, if you have any questions please
call.
Brian Hawthorne
BlueRibbon Coalition
208-237-1008 ext 102
brbrian@sharetrails.org
Mike Swenson
Utah Shared Access Alliance
801-465-1145
mike@usaall.org
MORE INFO ON THE WEB:
LINK TO SRP REGULATIONS
http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_05/43cfr2930_05.html
LINK TO BLM RECREATION PERMIT HANDBOOK:
http://www.blm.gov/nhp/efoia/wo/handbook/handbook.html
(Scroll down to "H-2930-1)
LINK TO SUPPLEMENTAL GUIDANCE ON SRP's
http://www.blm.gov/nhp/efoia/wo/fy05/wo-im-05.htm
(Scroll down to "Jan 23 2004 Policy Guidance
Implementing and Clarifying Final and
Supplementary Rules for "Permits for Recreation
on Public Lands")
LINK TO BLM LETTER REFERENCED ABOVE:
http://www.sharetrails.org/uploads/PL/BLM/BLM_letter_to_BRC_re_SRP_
problem 5.26.06.pdf
Note: We've redacted all reference to the person
who originally applied for the permit.
NEW REGULATIONS PUT PRESSURE ON OHV CLUBS
http://www.sharetrails.org/index.cfm?page=42&story=439
BLM MODIFIES SPECIAL RECREATION PERMIT
PROGRAM
http://www.sharetrails.org/index.cfm?page=42&story=564
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