Roughly 15,000 commercial guides and outfitters draw permits to lead hiking, climbing, horseback riding and rafting adventures on public lands and waters. But many of these businesses are struggling to plan for the year ahead as federal agencies lose key staff.
“There's a reason that national parks are designated,” saidBen Coryell, a co-owner of Golden Mountain Guides. “They're awesome and incredible–and that's where people want to climb.”
Coryell's company offers guided rock and ice climbing, backcountry skiing and avalanche education, often on federal land managed by the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management.
Companies like Coryell's depend on relationships with permit administrators at local park units or ranger districts to issue and renew permits. But recently Golden Mountain Guides hit a snag. A client was scheduled for a climbing trip in March at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. The administrator assured the guides that an entry road would be open, but when they arrived, it was closed. Coryell learned the administrator had left the park between the conversation and the trip. The trip went forward after the guide scrambled to rent bikes to access the climb.
More recently, Coryell’s primary contact at Clear Creek Ranger District in Idaho Springs, Colo., left his post. Now, he doesn’t know how many outings his company will be granted to lead next year.
“It can literally shut down an entire revenue stream for our company if we cannot secure those permits that we've come to build our company on,” he said.
The U.S. Forest Service and National Park service offices that manage Clear Creek and Black Canyon of the Gunnison did not respond to questions for this story.
The American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA), which trains and certifies climbing and backcountry skiing guides, said Coryell’s experiences are not isolated; permit administrators for other forests and parks have been fired or taken early retirements as part of the Trump Administration’s cuts to federal agencies.
“It makes guide services nervous about their permits being issued on time, or whether or not they will be able to apply for and get permits in new areas that they would like to operate,” said Matt Wade, AMGA’s executive director.
In response, he said, some companies are hiring fewer staff or delaying new programs, which could impact rural economies near public lands where many guide services are based.
Frustration among outfitters and guides over federal permitting is not new. Recreation-focused staff and budgets at national forests in particular have gone down as demand has gone up, resulting in at times lengthy delays in responses to applications.
That’s why the industry was thrilled that Congress passed a fix as part of the EXPLORE Act package last year. Included were measures requiring agencies to revamp the permitting systems, and reduce costs and processing times. But Wade said implementation has been slow due to staff shortages.
In the meantime, Coryell said he’s exploring the possibility of leading more trips on state-managed lands. The real test for how the system is functioning, he said, will come in August and September when many permits are up for renewal or lottery draw.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
