The United States Forest Service recently issued a proposed rule governing special uses cost recovery. Comments were welcome on this proposal through May 8th, and was later extended through June 20th.

Last week we reported on this issue on the HPRS podcast and again here on our blog, and how this proposed rule change could ultimately affect permit fees for trail and ultramarathon running events on USFS lands, and how that will ultimately affect runners through an increase in registration fees.

Yesterday the Coalition for Outdoor Access submitted its comments on the proposed rule. The submitted comment is the most comprehensive and thorough comment ever submitted by COA in its history. The near 18-page comment was co-signed by all COA Steering Committee member organizations, some of COA’s member organizations include HPRS, and 7 different allied organizations (18 outdoor organizations in total).

We wanted our community to see the comment issued by COA, and to once again encourage you to submit your own comment by the end of the day today, June 20th, 2023 to SM.FS.WO_LandStaff@usda.gov

CLICK HERE to read the full comment submitted by COA. If you want to focus on specific language presented in the letter, we would recommend reading pages 4 and 5, as well as page 12 section f. Recreation Events.