97-15857. Tongass and Chugach National Forests Special Use Permit Fee Schedule Implementation, Alaska Region

[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 116 (Tuesday, June 17, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32751-32752]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-15857]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Tongass and Chugach National Forests Special Use Permit Fee 
Schedule Implementation, Alaska Region

AGENCY: Forest Service.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare a Fee Schedule to be applied to 
selected Special Use Permits located throughout the Tongass and Chugach 
National Forests.

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SUMMARY: The Alaska Region is preparing a fee schedule to be applied to 
various special use authorizations located throughout the region. It 
will include recreation residences covered under the Federal Register 
notice of June 2, 1994 (59 FR 28714), as well as cabins listed under 
ANILCA and other uses and occupancy of the public lands. Additional 
relevant authorities are the

[[Page 32752]]

Federal Land Policy and Management Act, 36 CFR sub-parts 216.6 and 
251.57.

DATES: Written comments should be received by August 1, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Written comments pertaining to the proposed fee schedule 
should be sent to to Rich Goossens, Regional Appraiser, Public Services 
Staff, USDA Forest Service, P.O. Box 21628, Juneau, AK 99801.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The USDA Forest Service is required to levy 
and collect fees from permits authorizing uses. Typically, fees are 
based upon fair market value (fair market rent) or other sound business 
practices, which more often than not involve an appraisal. An appraisal 
would take into consideration the rights that are granted as well as 
what others are paying in the private sector.
    The National Forests in Alaska administer over 1,000 Special Use 
Permits (SUP) which may fall in as many as many as fifty categories. It 
would be preferable to conduct site specific appraisals on a frequent 
basis to ensure that the public is receiving fair rent for these uses. 
However, with the vastness of Alaska, the scattered nature of these 
uses and the prohibitive cost of conducting site specific appraisals, 
it is deemed nearly impossible to complete that task under the strict 
narrative appraisal guidelines. However, another option utilized 
elsewhere which has demonstrated efficiency, diminished cost, ease of 
application and incorporates the sound business premise, is the 
development of a fee schedule based upon a market survey.
    A market survey was conducted, and concluded that fees should be 
mid-range to the low end of the fee spectrum, as seen in the private 
sector. In some instances the rents for these uses will increase and in 
other cases they will go down. By using a fee schedule a significant 
amount of time and effort by both the agency and the permittee will be 
saved in administration, and fees will be predictable for first-time 
permittees.

    Dated: June 10, 1997.
Phil Janik,
Regional Forester.
[FR Doc. 97-15857 Filed 6-16-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M