Advisory Board to Hear Public Comments on OHV Fee Proposal

Rapid City, SD – The Black Hills National Forest Advisory Board is meeting October 15 in its capacity as the Black Hills Recreation Resource advisory Committee (RRAC) to listen to public comments and take written comments on a proposal to charge special recreation permit fees to use a designated motorized off-highway vehicle trail system.

The recommendation is the result of a business plan prepared by a subcommittee of the Board working over the past year. Subcommittee meetings have been open to the public and announced at Board meetings.

The subcommittee - called a working group - would advise the Board to recommend charging special recreation permit fees per vehicle; $20 for a weekly permit, $40 for an annual permit, and $100 for a commercial permit for off-highway rental vehicles. The recommendation is the result of business plan projections and a compromise between subcommittee members. Fees would not go into effect until six (6) months after final approval and publication of the official motorized vehicle use map.

The Board will take public oral comments – limited to three minutes each– and written comments (through November 3) in its capacity as the Recreation Resource Advisory Committee (RRAC) for the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming, authorized under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act of 2005.

The Act authorizes the Forest Service to charge fees for special recreation permits to use things such as a designated OHV trail system now being considered and prepared for public comment under the National Environmental Policy Act process. A draft environmental impact statement for the designated system will be released later this year.

The meeting will take place at Rushmore Civic Center in the LaCroix Hall C and D at 444 Mount Rushmore Road in Rapid City.

Sign up begins at Noon. People wanting to comment should sign up before 1 PM. The Board will take written comments at the meeting and until November 3. Comments may be sent to “Travel Planning” at r2_blackhills_webinfo@fs.fed.us or Travel Planning, 1019 N. 5th St., Custer, SD 57730. The Board expects to make its recommendation to the Forest Service at the November 19 Board Meeting, location to be announced.

The business plan, subcommittee recommendations, and other background documents will be available with this press release and on the web at www.fs.fed.us/r2/blackhills beginning Tuesday, October 14. Hard copies will be handed out at the meeting October 15.

The Board’s October 15 meeting was announced in the Federal Register at the beginning of 2008 and again last week.

For more information visit our website at www.fs.fed.us/r2/blackhills.


Frank Carroll
Planning & Public Affairs Staff
Black Hills National Forest
1019 N. 5th Street
Custer, SD 57701
(605) 673-9216