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Show SOUTHERN UTAH NEWS WEDNESDAY AUGUST 18, 1829 3 roup events on public lands The Bureau of Land Management announced recently that it is raising the minimum fee for special recreation permits from $2 per user day to $4 per person per day. The fee increase, the first of its kind since 1984, affects competitive and organized group d events on lands. In a noticed published in the Federal Register, the BLM said the increase takes effect October 1, with future fee adjustments, if needed under an formula, to occur every three years. Our agencys recreation permit fees have not changed in 15 years, said BLM Acting Director Tom Fry. Inflation has devalued the current fees, and its necessary to raise them so that the BLM can recover more of its recreation-relate- d administrative costs. Our agency must also ensure that taxpayers get a fair return for the use of their Feder ally managed public lands. Fry noted that both the Interior Departments Inspector General and the General Accounting Office have found that the BLM needs to do a better job of collecting user fees from those who participate in outdoor recreation activities on the nations public Council ment. BLM-manage- inflation-adjustme- Continued from Page nt lands. All of the special recreation permit fees collected by the BLM will be used at the site of collection to improve the quality of the publics recreation experience. The BLM estimates that it . will collect an additional $200,000 to $400,000 ayear with the higher minimum fees, which will enable the BLM to improve the interpretive services and signing, refurbish sites, upgrade restroom facilities, and improve access for the disabled. Under the existing fee structure established by the BLM in 1984, the agency charges $2 per The city received four bids to drill new wells. Cedar Valley of Enoch was awarded the bid for $154,550 subject to contract review by the city attorney and 1 range land programs, recreational opportunities and main- engineer. Talbot Surveying was taining a healthy forest. Wagner is based in Cedar City and is awarded the bid to survey Kanab looking forward to, ... meeting City Airport for a GPS system. with local government and resi- There were four bids received. dents. Western Legends requested Economic Development coor- Kanab City purchase liability dinator Jim Matson requested insurance for the upcoming approval from council members event. Council members felt if for the Energy Board to enter they purchased special events into an agreement with Utah liability coverage for a particuAssociated Municipal Power lar function, it would set a preSystems (UAMPS). The agree- cedent they were uncomfortable ment which was approved will with. They did however donate allow Kanab City to . . . pur- $500 from the mayors donation chase firm power and energy fund to Legends to use as the from certain sources as provided. board sees fit. . Because UAMPS is a collecKanab City was awarded two tive, it is able to purchase and Certificates ofAchievement from resell power at a greater savings the Utah Risk Management than an individual entity. Mutual Association. The first Council member Wright re- was awarded for, least dollars quested Roger Carter be spent for liability claims in to the Energy Board. 1998. The second was awarded who chairs the Energy for, least number of reported Carter, board, was awarded the appoint claims in 1998. It pays to advertise in the SUM A OQOO fnrlhnl Hnii A4 v-- i w' v i ir Qjy cleaning & -8- off-highw- ay nt New Rates for U.S. Department of the Interior, manages more land 264 million surface acres than any other federal agency. Most of this public land is located in 12 western states, including Alaska. The Bureau, which has a budget of $1.2 billion and a workforce of about 9,000 employees, also administers more than 560 million acres of subsurface mineral estates throughout the nation. The BLM preserves open space by managing the public lands for multiple uses, such as outdoor recreat ion, livestock grazing, and mining, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources found on the public lands. Internet Color-Count- ry Color Country Internet now offers unmetered service for only $24.95month. As a bonus you also get: n. t-w- tt Local dial-u- p and support 56 K modems Free personal web page storage T1 router connection to the Internet We also have web page design and set-u- p Internet provides enough modems so you have no busy signals. Get your fast connection to the Internet today! Color-Countr- y Centra SEJ3'Si3 Pick-u- p 03-200-5556. ed extension 244 yon Laundry Service and Deliver every Wednesday & Friday afternoon at Glazier's FoodTown in Kanab and Terrys Food & Drug in Orderviile Call Toll Free 1 (Panguiich) Now Open with tion-adjust- CALL TODAY TO SIGN-U- P Dial 611, toll free from our serving area, r 11Red. C 1 fee to the nearest for competitive whole dollar. vesuch as events, forThe inflation-adjustmehicle races, and for organized mula is also used every three group activities, such as hot-ai- r balloon events, reunion gather- years by the U.S. Forest Service ings, and large encampments by and the BLM to update miniBoy Scouts, Girl Scouts and mum fees for commercial and use. Future notices Campfire Girls. (A user day, assigned-sit- e of the term used by the ELMS 1984 any adjustments in the spespecial recreation permit regu- cial recreation permit fee will be lations, means the same as per published in conjunction with person per day.) The BLM is these commercial and assigned-sit- e fees, which are next schedraising its special recreation permit fee to $4 per person per uled for adjustment in March day under a formula based on 2002. Based on recent trends of changes in the Implicit Price the deflator index, the BLM anDeflator Index (IPDI), which is ticipates that the special recrepublished every February as ation permit fee will likely not part of the Presidents economic increase for at least the next 10 report to Congress. The BLM years. The BLM, an agency of the has rounded up the new infla user day uii . . , I 4 I) u 1) 1 .8 b |