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Climbing permit denied - By Mark Heinz
This document was published online on Wednesday, March 14, 2007
A request for a commercial permit to guide ice climbing on the South Fork has been denied by the Shoshone Forest.
The agency turned down a request by Jackson Hole Mountain Guides to take paying clients on the upper South Fork's array of frozen waterfalls for up to 50 user days per season.
The ice climbing season typically lasts from late October to April.
A “user day” is the equivalent of a full day's activity for one person.
The USFS concluded there is not sufficient public need to start the complicated process of issuing permits, Wapiti District Ranger Terry Root said.
But that doesn't mean the door is shut forever, he added.
“We know ice climbing on the South Fork is growing in popularity,” Root said. “The demonstrated public need could change, at which time, we will go forward with the process.”
There is no change in the Shoshone Forest's open door policy for private ice climbers, he added.
“It is totally open to the public,” Root said. “We do not shun ice climbers. We just said no to one proponent who wanted to start a commercial venture on the South Fork.”
JHMG's Cody representative Kenny Gasch said his company plans to keep pushing for the permit.
“I'm not giving up. We believe in this and that the need is there for guides, if (the Forest Service) would just look in the right places,” Gasch said.
The company's follow-up efforts might include a letter-writing campaign to demonstrate there is indeed wide interest for guided ice climbs, he said.
Gasch and JHMG president and owner Dan Heilig on Dec. 7, 2006, sent a letter outlining their request to Shoshone Forest headquarters. They offered to pay the costs of studying their request.
In response, Root said he did some canvassing to see if there has been any interest in guided ice climbing.
Trying to establish public interest and need is the first step in the complicated process of issuing a permit such as JHMG requested, Root said.
The public interest must be unsolicited.
“It can't come from the recruitment or advertising by the proponent of a commercial venture,” Root said.
If enough interest is found, the Forest Service will proceed with a series of actions - including environmental studies and calls for public comment - that can take 6-12 months, he said.
A needs assessment done last year by former Wapiti ranger Dave Myers found “some, but limited” need for ice climbing guides, Root added.
To follow up on that, Root said he checked with people at forest headquarters, the Cody chamber and Buffalo Bill Historical Center.
A few ice climbers on the South Fork also were questioned.
Root said his canvassing revealed almost no interest in guides.
“One of the ladies at the chamber I talked to said she has worked there 11 years,” he said. “She said she's talked to many climbers, but none of them have ever asked where they could find a guide.”
Results at the BBHC were similar, with one 15-year veteran saying it was only this year that two people on separate occasions inquired about ice climbing guides, Root said.
The ice climbers who were questioned also expressed no interest in guides, he added.
Root also pointed out JHMG during the last two annual ice climbing festivals gatherings in Cody has been issued temporary, nine-day permits to guide clients on the South Fork.
They had one client in 2006 and none in '07, Root said.
Root said he, Shoshone Forest Supervisor Becky Aus and forest land use specialist Daniel Aklufi met on March 12 with Gasch and Heilig to discuss the canvassing results and tell them the request was denied.
Gasch said he thinks the Forest Service assessment was “flawed.”
Root looked in the wrong places, he said.
“What climber in their right mind is going to go to the BBHC asking for a guide?” he said. “They should have canvassed people in the industry.”
The permits issued during the ice festivals weren't on a level playing field, he added.
During the festivals, numerous free climbing clinics are offered, Gasch said.
“What would be your choice - to take one for free - even if it isn't top of the line or exactly what you wanted - or buy one for $195?” he said.
Gasch says he questions whether a thorough cross-section of ice climbers was interviewed.
Still, Root said he stands by the effectiveness of the Forest Service's work.
If nothing else, forest headquarters are generally an excellent clearinghouse for inquiries about outdoor activities, he said.
Had there been great interest in ice climbing guides, requests should be coming into Shoshone Forest headquarters, Root said.
Forest headquarters Web sites often are linked to outdoor adventure sport sites, he added.
“It's logical that someone would call the Forest Service or local chamber to make an inquiry about guide services before coming out here,” he said.
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