Courier August/September Courier | Page 16

NATIONAL PARKS

Update : NPS commercial use authorization program

TOUR OPERATORS have been asking questions about the U . S . National Park Service ’ s widely varying processes and the inconsistent fees associated with its commercial use authorization program . Tour companies that operate in more than one park unit expressed frustration and confusion over inconsistencies in CUA fees and a lack of standard requirements .
Hoping to eliminate the confusion , NPS has proposed standardized CUA requirements and an agency-wide fee structure . Courier gathered details of the program ’ s history and future in a discussion with Samantha Towery , who coordinates the CUA program for NPS .
Courier : What exactly is a CUA ? Towery : A CUA allows an individual , group , company or other for-profit entity to conduct commercial activities and provide specific visitor services within a national park unit . The National Park Service issues CUAs to manage a wide range of commercial visitor services in addition to roadbased commercial tours . Depending on the park , this can include guided mountaineering and backpacking , bike tours , kayak trips , photography workshops , scuba diving classes and fishing trips .
Courier : Why does NPS require CUAs ? Towery : It is illegal to conduct business in a park area without a permit , contract or other written agreement . The National Parks Omnibus Management Act , passed by Congress in 1998 , provides NPS the authority to issue CUAs to allow business operations and requires NPS to collect a reasonable fee for CUA administration and management .*
Courier : How does NPS define road-based commercial tours ? Towery : We define road-based commercial tours as one or more persons traveling on an improved roadway on an itinerary that a company or individual has packaged , priced or sold for leisure / recreational purposes . Road-based commercial tours provide no other visitor
services except those incidental to roadbased travel in an NPS unit ( on-board interpretation and information , and incidental stops at visitor centers , restaurants , wayside exhibits , etc .).
Courier : What are some of the challenges tour operators face ? Towery : NPS has no centralized policies governing the issuance and fee calculation for road-based commercial tour CUAs . We are developing standardized requirements and fees for road-based commercial tours , and we have proposed to implement the standardized process in January 2019 . Until the national policy is implemented , parks may continue charging different CUA fees ( or no fees at all ).
Courier : What lies ahead for the CUA process ? Towery : The National Park Service has already standardized our CUA applications and required reports . And our proposal for standardized road-based commercial tour CUA requirements and fees will be made available at parkplanning . nps . gov / commercialtourrequirements at about the time this issue publishes . The public comment period will end 30 days after the proposal is posted .
SOUTH DAKOTA TOURISM
Courier : How do tour operators comment on the proposed standards ? Towery : Anyone can review the standards and provide comments at bit . ly / 2tVGQTs . Keep in mind that as policy evolves , we will work to ensure that information is up-to-date and accurate . We are committed to keeping open communication channels throughout the process .
Courier : Who needs to acquire the authorization — the tour operator or the motorcoach company ? Towery : One or the other , but not both . The responsibility for obtaining a CUA will fall on the company that packaged , priced and sold the tour . A transportation company would need a CUA only if it also packaged , priced and sold tours directly to consumers . There will likely be exceptions to this rule . For example , it may be impractical to enforce CUA requirements on foreign-based tour companies , and the domestic transportation company may need to obtain a CUA .
Courier : Will parks limit the number of CUAs they approve ? Towery : That depends entirely on each park and the category of CUA . Many parks already establish defined application periods . It is incumbent on tour operators to engage with the park to understand all requirements and deadlines . Operators should visit the NPS CUA webpage ( nps . gov / aboutus / commercial-use-authorizations . htm ) to access information about the CUA program at specific parks . It ’ s important to note that some parks , including Zion , Arches and Acadia , face intense visitation pressure and have launched visitor use management or transportation planning processes , which may result in new CUA and other visitation limitations . The planning processes provide opportunities for public and stakeholder comment .
* The federal requirement is in 36 CFR 5.3 . Also see Public Law 105-391 Section 418 .
14 August / September 2017