[Federal Register: January 26, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 16)]
[Notices]               
[Page 3967-3968]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr26ja99-110]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management
[UT-090-1220-00]

 
Grand Gulch/Cedar Mesa, UT

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of recreation fee structure, allocation system and 
prohibitions for Grand Gulch/Cedar Mesa in San Juan County, Utah.

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SUMMARY: Beginning March 1, 1999, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 
will implement provisions of the 1993 Grand Gulch Plateau Cultural and 
Recreation Area Management Plan concerning an advanced reservation 
system, use limits, and permit fees. The permit area involves 
recreation use of the following canyons on Cedar Mesa including Grand 
Gulch Primitive Area, Fish, Owl, McCloyd, Road, Lime and Slickhorn 
Canyons. Use on the mesa tops of Cedar Mesa will not be regulated at 
this time. Permits will be required and fees charged from March 1 to 
November 30 of each year. The advanced reservation portion of the 
permit system will be in effect during the primary visitation season 
only, from March 1 to June 15, but may be extended in the future as 
need dictates. Advanced reservations will be accepted, for this time 
period, by phone or mail to the Monticello BLM office starting January 
1, 1999. Day use of the canyons will require a day use pass or multi-
day use pass (7 days), for which a fee is charged, from March 1 to 
November 30.
    The permit requirement, because it is based on an allocation of the 
number of people per trailhead (Grand Gulch) or per canyon (other Cedar 
Mesa canyons), will help to decrease in-canyon use during the primary 
visitation season, and to monitor use at other times of the year.
    Fees collected from individual, non-commercial visitors will be 
used to augment protection of Cedar Mesa's outstanding cultural and 
primitive recreation values. Notice is also given that campfires will 
be prohibited within any canyon on Cedar Mesa.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Cedar Mesa has long been identified with 
world class Ancestral Puebloan cultural remains and excellent day 
hiking and backpacking opportunities. Grand Gulch itself has been 
managed to protect these values since 1970 when the Secretary of the 
Interior designated it as a Primitive Area. The other canyons were 
protected within the Cedar Mesa Area of Critical Environmental Concern 
in the 1991 San Juan Resource Management Plan (RMP). In recognition of 
increasing recreational visitation and declining resource conditions, 
the BLM developed the Grand Gulch Plateau Cultural and Recreation Area 
Management Plan in 1993. In 1991, individual self-serve permits, 
advanced reservations for pack stock and larger foot parties, and fees 
were first established for Grand Gulch. The actions outlined in this 
Federal Register Notice are a continuation and implementation of 
direction established in the Grand Gulch Plateau Plan.
    The fee for either day use or overnight non-commercial recreation 
use of the Cedar Mesa Canyons must be paid before entering. The day use 
fee ($2/person/day) can be paid at the Kane Gulch Ranger Station or at 
fee tubes placed at the trailheads. A multi-day use pass ($5/person for 
a 7 day pass) may be obtained at Kane Gulch or through the Monticello 
BLM office. Advanced overnight reservations ($8/person/trip) may be 
made through the Monticello

[[Page 3968]]

BLM office, and may be paid for by credit card, personal check or money 
order. Overnight walk-in permits are available only at Kane Gulch for 
$5/person/trip. Groups of 8-12 and pack and saddle stock supported 
visitors still require an advance reservation permit during the permit 
season, obtainable from the Monticello BLM office.
    Due to concerns for public safety, resource damage and cultural 
resources protection, campfires will be prohibited within any canyon on 
Cedar Mesa. Campfires may still be used on the mesa tops of Cedar Mesa.
    Failure to pay any fee, failure to obtain a permit, or operating 
with an expired permit on Cedar Mesa will make that person responsible 
under resource and land damages identified in 43 CFR 9268.3 and is 
punishable under 43 CFR 8372.0-7 pursuant to the Federal Land Policy 
and Management Act of 1976, and other laws when applicable.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Philip Gezon, Outdoor Recreation 
Planner, Bureau of Land Management, Monticello Field Office, P.O. Box 
7, Monticello, Utah 84535 (435) 587-1519.

    Dated: January 15, 1999.
G. William Lamb,
Utah State Director.
[FR Doc. 99-1693 Filed 1-25-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-DQ-P