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Sawtooth National Forest Sawtooth National Recreation Area Outfitter and Guide Management Plan Scoping Proposed Action

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Sawtooth National Forest Sawtooth National Recreation Area Outfitter and Guide Management Plan Scoping Proposed Action USDA - United States Department of Agriculture Sawtooth National Forest Sawtooth National Recreation Area Outfitter and Guide Management Plan Scoping Proposed Action Forest Service Sawtooth National Forest April 2021 For More Information Contact: Susan James Recreation Program Manager Sawtooth National Recreation Area Email: [email protected] Cover Image: Mark Lisk Sawtooth National Recreation Area Outfitter and Guide Management Plan Introduction Providing recreational opportunities and facilities is central to the mission of the US Forest Service (Forest Service). For a variety of reasons, Forest visitors may desire, or need, facilitation to fully experience the array of recreation opportunities available. A recreational commercial service, also known as an outfitter and guide service, can help further the agency’s mission by providing escorted recreational experiences, specialized equipment, or both, to Forest visitors. While recreational commercial services constitute a relatively small segment of overall visitor days to National Forests, these services can achieve an important purpose for the visitor, the agency, the resources, and the economy. To be authorized to provide their services, federal regulations require that commercial outfitters and guides on National Forest lands obtain a Special Use Permit (SUP) (36 CFR 251.50). In 2020, the Sawtooth National Recreation Area (NRA) completed an outfitter and guide needs assessment to assess the level of public and agency need for authorized outfitting or guiding activities. The needs assessment provides a framework for managers to prioritize expansion and authorization of outfitting and guiding where there is competitive interest and high demand. This prioritization ensures that both public and agency need are being met while continuing to provide a quality experience for guided and unguided visitors. Elements of public and agency need include the range of recreation opportunities for the area, resource conditions and resource management concerns, current outfitting and guiding activities, requests by proponents for new guided activities, non-commercial recreation use and opportunities, and agency management objectives. This proposal is the next step in determining the appropriate level of recreational commercial services, in consideration with outfitter requests, public need, and resource concerns. This document describes the need for the project and the initial proposed action for the Sawtooth NRA Outfitter and Guide Management Plan. Purpose of the Project Objective This Outfitter & Guide Management Plan (the Plan) is intended to guide future decisions concerning the authorization of land-based commercial outfitter and guide on the Sawtooth NRA. Due to extensive historical analysis and existing mitigations for anadromous fish, changes to river-based outfitter/guide activities will be considered through an independent process. The Plan would provide the authorized officer with specific guidance for making decisions pertaining to outfitter and guide services. This will include: 1. Identifying the type, amount, and extent of commercial use within specific geographic compartments, including any applicable exceptions. 2. Identifying limitations (i.e. mitigations, terms, and conditions) that apply to specific activities within each geographic compartment. 3. Identifying indicators and thresholds for monitoring change. 4. Identifying monitoring protocols for assessing change. 1 Sawtooth National Recreation Area Outfitter and Guide Management Plan 5. Developing direction for authorizing changes to existing activities. Such as proposals to increase service days and/or expand an operating area. 6. Developing direction for authorizing new activities. This project will address the requirements of existing direction and provide a means to systematically review and respond to proposals in a timely manner. It will provide programmatic direction, replacing and consolidating existing direction, for outfitter and guide proposals across the Sawtooth NRA. The proposed action provides the implementation and management direction that prioritizes how the Sawtooth NRA will respond to requests for new or additional outfitter and guide services. This project is needed to provide clear and consistent direction for administration of the outfitter and guide program, as an aid in making decisions related to outfitter/guide services, to better facilitate timely responses to outfitter and guide requests, and to be compliant with national and forest plan direction. Existing Condition In 2019, an environmental analysis was completed for land-based outfitter and guide special use permit renewals. The decision memo, signed July 9, 2019, identified a total allocation of service days for land-based outfitter and guides in the Sawtooth NRA of 20,369 service days. Table 1 shows the amount of services days allocated by season, as indicated in the 2019 decision, as well as authorized use administered by the Ketchum Ranger District. Table 1: Total Seasonal Allocations for Outfitter and Guides on the Sawtooth NRA Season Total Allocated Days* Summer 15,816 Winter 7,835 *The sum of the seasonal allocations does not represent the total approved allocation, as some service days are counted in both summer and winter seasons. The Sawtooth NRA completed an outfitter and guide needs assessment in 2020; the needs assessment provides a framework to prioritize the expansion and authorization of outfitting and guiding. Using the information from the supply and demand analysis, actual use analysis, need evaluation criteria, and recreational trend data, an overall needs assessment was made for wilderness and non-wilderness activities across the Sawtooth NRA. As part of the needs assessment, the public and outfitters had the opportunity to respond to a series of questions, focused on the need for commercial services, concerns related to overall recreation including guiding, and the desire for new or more commercial services. Below is a condensed summary of the public comments: • All respondents thought some level of recreational commercial services was necessary; though some said there is no capacity for additional outfitted use in the more popular recreation areas and seasons. • The majority of respondents indicated there was some level of crowding in specific locations within the Area. Most often mentioned were locations in the wilderness including Redfish, 4th of July, and Pettit Trailheads; Alice-Toxaway-Pettit loop; Sawtooth, Alice, and Redfish Lakes; and Galena Summit. 2 Sawtooth National Recreation Area Outfitter and Guide Management Plan • Additionally, respondents indicated that they had seen some level of impacts due to general recreation use at alpine lake campsites including human waste, trash, expansion of sites, bare ground, and excessive fire rings. It is important to note that crowding and impacts were not indicated to be excessive, nor directly related to commercial outfitter and guide services. Need for the Project Currently, the Sawtooth NRA responds to new requests for outfitting and guiding on a case by case basis. Since 2019, a temporary use pool and policy has been in place for the Sawtooth NRA to respond to and streamline requests for temporary outfitter and guide use. However, the lack of a comprehensive plan for existing priority use outfitter and guides has resulted in the inconsistent application and approval of use on an annual basis. Actual use has been steadily increasing in the last ten years, with a 115% increase in actual use from 2009 to 2018. Utilization rates (actual use reported compared to total authorized use) have also been increasing, from 45% utilization in 2009, to 96% utilization in 2018. Four activities have recorded utilization rates at or above 75% since 2016: boating, horseback riding, skiing, and snowmobiling. Data specific to the Sawtooth NRA from the National Visitor Use Monitoring survey, reported participation in “cross-country skiing,” which includes backcountry ski touring, increased from 20% in 2010, to 44% in 2015. The lack of programmatic direction and managerial capacity has resulted in the inability to respond to requests in a timely manner; inconsistent approval of requests results in variability and perceived bias; the inability to process requests as a result of forest management direction (both wilderness plans in the Sawtooth NRA specify that no new permits may be issued without additional analysis); the lack of an integrated plan for desired recreation experience and provision of services across the Area; and lastly, the continued approval of service days well above authorized amounts without considering social or environmental effects. There is a need on the Sawtooth NRA to provide clear and consistent direction for administration of the outfitter and guide program, plan for potential future growth to meet public need while being responsive to the recreation needs of the non-guided public and address resource concerns, and to better facilitate timely responses to outfitter and guide requests. The continuation of authorizing use well above that which has been allocated to existing outfitters, without analyzing and mitigating effects to the social and environmental resource conditions, may result in long term and irrevocable social and resource damage and is not in compliance with forest and area management direction. Desired Condition The Sawtooth NRA Act, Public Law 92-400, was passed “...to assure the preservation and protection of the natural, scenic,
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