A once-in-a-decade event is happening in the Coconino National Forest this fall, but it’s not a mass migration of bats, a moonlight gathering of toads or any other natural phenomenon.
Instead, more than a dozen 10-year outfitter guide permits are expiring at the end of the year and are up renewal for another 10 years.
On Sept. 23, the Red Rock Ranger District announced that it plans to reissue 17 guiding permits at the same levels of permitted usage they have had during the past 10 years — with the exception of a fly fishing permit, which is receiving additional annual trips.
The permits up for renewal include Jeep, ATV, trolly and van tours, hot air ballooning, hiking-based tours, mountain biking, horseback riding, fly fishing, and metaphysical tours.
The 10-year permits expiring this year were the result of a big effort on the part of the Red Rock Ranger District in 2010 to “clean up” the commercial permit program by converting many temporary permits to longer-term permits with additional rules and regulations designed to protect natural and cultural resources in the forest.
Before these longer term permits were issued, some tour businesses had operated under temporary permits issued annually for as long as 20 years.
While there will be virtually no increases in permitted usage in the proposed renewal, “there may be minor adjustments to individual trail or road authorizations,” the scoping letter for the permit reissuance stated.
The most significant permits up for renewal in terms of the number of trips allowed and revenue generated are the Jeep tours, followed by balloon and ATV tours in a distant second and third.
The Jeep tour permits up for renewal include all the familiar Sedona outfits, except for Pink Jeep Tours, which is on a 10-year permit that comes up for renewal in 2024
All Jeep tours, those up for renewal this year and Pink Jeeps, generated about $1 million in commercial permits fees for Red Rock Ranger District in 2019 — about 15 times more than ballooning, the next-highest category.
As part of the reissuance process, the Red Rock Ranger District is accepting public comments on the plan to renew the permits until Wednesday, Oct. 7. Mark Goshorn, recreation permit administrator for Coconino National Forest, said he is aiming to release a decision memo by Friday, Oct. 23.
While now is the time for members of the public to voice questions or concerns about the current commercial permit programs, it’s not an opportunity to apply for new permits.
Earlier this year, Julie Rowe, recreation special uses permit manager for the Red Rock Ranger District, said the district is at capacity for motorized guiding. She also said hiking-based guiding in the core areas of the red rock country is at capacity.
“The Red Rock Ranger District will not issue additional commercial use. We are, for lack of a better word, ‘full.’ The only increase one may see is [when] current operators begin to use all of their allocations. Currently no one uses their full allocation,” Rowe wrote.
USFS is not conducting a formal Environmental Assessment process for the renewals under the National Environmental Policy Act because an EA is not required for permit renewals if “there are not changes to the authorized facilities or increases in the scope or intensity of authorized activities, and the applicant or holder is in full compliance with the terms and conditions of the special use authorization,” according to the NEPA Handbook.
For more information on the permit renewals and instructions on how to submit comments, visit fs.usda. gov/project/?project=58853.
