It seems that the “outlaw” of the jeep tour companies, A Day in the West, has won its fight.
With a new administration in the U.S. Forest Service for the Red Rock District the local permit passes for tour companies have been modified to allow access to trails previoausly considered “exclusive” to Pink Jeep Tours.
The Red Rock District administration in 2001 responded to a ruling from federal court that the district’s implementation process of trail regulation for local jeep companies was flawed and so began issuing permits specifying which trails could be used by which specific companies.
by Greg Nix
Larson Newspapers
It seems that the “outlaw” of the jeep tour companies, A Day in the West, has won its fight.
With a new administration in the U.S. Forest Service for the Red Rock District the local permit passes for tour companies have been modified to allow access to trails previoausly considered “exclusive” to Pink Jeep Tours.
The Red Rock District administration in 2001 responded to a ruling from federal court that the district’s implementation process of trail regulation for local jeep companies was flawed and so began issuing permits specifying which trails could be used by which specific companies.
John Bradshaw, owner of A Day in the West, said when the permit rules came in to effect he lost half his business.
When Bradshaw came to the conclusion that the lawsuit was dragging out and hurting the local tour companies he approached Pink Jeep and hammered out a working compromise that USFS could agree to.
He said that his company got back most of the tours lost with a couple of new ones.
“There is a new feeling of cooperation now that the hatchet is buried which allows [local jeep tour companies] to move on,” Bradshaw said.
The new National Enviornmental Policies Act process is going by the book as the new USFS administration in the Red Rock district recognized that the previous arrangement was unfair to the various tour companies in the area, Bradshaw said.
A Day in the West Marketing Director Rob DeMayo said a lot of the Pink Jeep guides were not aware of the permit restrictions and this fostered a negative relationship between guides of different companies.
Mario Blackwolf, an American Indian guide for A Day in the West, told a story about a rival jeep tour guide making a scene on a trail in front of her customers and his. He said that as she was driving by, she made sure she stated real loud to her customers and to his customers that her company has “exclusive rights.” She said it wasn’t “fair” others felt they could come in and take over.
“Young lady,” Mario reported saying, “I know exactly how you feel because that’s what my people have felt for the last five hundred years.”
Tour Guide Lynn Graham was a guide for Pink Jeep for five years as well as being a guide for A Day in the West for the last five years. She said that she could see both sides of the fight and always felt it was unfair that Pink Jeep had exclusivity on the trails.
It was not a secret that there was strife and tension with the USFS before, DeMayo said.
USFS Ranger Rudy Bowen came with the new administration in 2007 and is the individual who works with the tour companies on permits and use. Due to the fact that he was not a part of the previous administration, Bowen could only refer to the documentation and records for comment on what the difficulty was between the district and local tour companies.
“When the new regulation came down [permit for use] some outfits had a tough time just getting them it appears,” Bowen said.
He said the permit policy is where the lawsuit came from as some outfitters felt they had been discriminated against in the permit issuance.
The fact that Pink Jeep has been in the area so much longer than the other tour companies and had long standing access to specific trails that any “exclusivity” rights may have been hold overs from their history and relationship with prior USFS administrations, Bowen said.
The new NEPA is more about the local community and the social environment, Bowen said, as it relates to the Red Rock District and an equitable way in which to manage it, which will allow other companies who come to the area to have access and use ability.
“There’s a good relationship between USFS, the outfitters and the community,” he said.
Pink Jeep owner Shawn Wendell said he welcomed the additional use of the trails by other companies and he has always been supportive of USFS in making and maintaining the rules.
“This is a good thing,” he said, “because we can focus on having a good relationship with the USFS and the public.”
Greg Nix can be reached at 282-7795, Ext. 122, or e-mail to gnix@larsonnewspapers.com
