- PLEASE “LIKE” ENN’s new Facebook page!
-
<!–
–>
The U.S. Forest Service finalized policy guidelines that will open
opportunities for ski areas to promote year-round recreation activities that
are natural resource-based and that will create additional jobs for communities
with ski areas on the National Forests. ”The new directives will help usher in a wider
spectrum of developed recreation opportunities that will encourage more people
to enjoy the national forests,” said U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell.
“This change will allow ski areas to offer expanded recreation choices that
will benefit local communities and recreationists.”
ADVERTISEMENT
The guidelines — referred to as directives — will be published in the
Federal Register this week and take effect immediately. They will be used by
agency administrators to determine which summer recreation activities and
associated facilities will be allowed on ski areas operating on national
forests. There are 122 ski areas on nearly 180,000 acres of public land
administered by the Forest Service.
Early estimates by the agency indicate that expanding ski area
recreation activities will increase by 600,000 the number of summer visits on
national forests; ski areas now average 23 million visits annually. Also
expected are an additional 600 full- or part-time jobs and almost $40 million
infused in local mountain communities.
The revised directives were spurred by the Ski Area Recreational
Opportunity Enhancement Act of 2011, which amended the National Forest Ski Area
Permit Act of 1986 that limited recreation to Nordic and alpine skiing. The
2011 act specifically includes such activities as zip lines, mountain bike
terrain parks and trails, disc golf courses and rope courses. These types of
activities are natural resource-based and encourage further exploration of
Forest Service lands in contrast to theme or amusement parks.
The agency received more than 300 comments to the proposed directive,
which helped to formulate the final guidelines. The guidelines require that new
activities are natural resource-based, encourage outdoor recreation and
enjoyment of nature, and are consistent with the intent of the act. The
guidelines also will address the types of facilities that will be permitted.
The guidelines also address management of other recreational uses
within the operational boundary of ski areas by the non-paying public, such as
snowshoeing and hiking.
“This is more than just a policy change,” Tidwell said. “This opens up
new opportunities to bring people onto national forests to enjoy the great
outdoors, become more physically active and recreate in new ways.”
The
mission of the U.S. Forest Service is to sustain the health, diversity and
productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of
present and future generations.
Read
more at U.S.
Forest Service.
Bromley Mountain Ski Resort
image via Bromley Mountain.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
2014©. Copyright Environmental News Network