Ely Outfitters Association talks BWCAW 
Stauber continues to help BWCAW outfitters; LOTTERY Act could take effect next year 
Posted Thursday, May 2, 2019 11:00 am
......
ELY – With a light snowfall hitting the streets of Ely last Friday and most area lakes still gripped in ice, the Ely Outfitters Association, Ely Tourism Bureau, and the Ely Chamber of Commerce met with federal officials here in another attempt to address concerns over the new entry permit reservation system for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
“These issues have a huge effect on tourism in the Ely area,” said Bob LaTourell, a member of the Ely Outfitters’ Association. “We have concerns that need to be clarified,” he told Rep. Pete Stauber, field representative, Spencer Igo, Pete Makowski, outreach director for Sen. Tina Smith, and Ida Rukavina, representative of Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
As many as 15 Ely-area outfitters and tourism officials attended the meeting.
“When I was here with you all last February,” Stauber said, “I heard something that still sticks with me,
the U.S. Forest Service just doesn’t listen. 
They are supposed to represent and support us. Together, we must come up with the best possible plan to make (the reservation system) work.”
Shortly after that meeting in February, Rep. Stauber introduced legislation to return the BWCA reservation system, for non-motorized and motorized boats, back to the lottery system in place prior to the USFS changing it to a first-come, first-serve basis. The Letting Outdoor Tourism Thrive for Every Recreation Year, or LOTTERY, Act would require the USFS to switch the current first-come, first-serve reservation system back to a lottery system by 2020.
.....
“Many people were concerned when the Forest Service made the ill-advised decision to forego the successful lottery system for a first-come, first-serve online system, and rightfully so,” Stauber said. “When the new reservation system crashed, my office was inundated with calls from constituents who were worried about the severe impact on their small businesses and the local economy, which is heavily dependent on tourism. The small businesses in and around Ely also expressed frustration that the Forest Service didn’t listen to their initial concerns and weren’t taking the users seriously.”
With Sens. Klobuchar and Smith introducing a similar bill in the Senate, Stauber said he is working to get both chambers to agree on a like-minded bill. “My job is to get this legislation passed that works for our outfitters right here. The haphazard change to the BWCA reservation system is yet another example of unelected government bureaucrats making decisions that hinder rather than help small businesses and our way of life.”
Some of the outfitters described ongoing problems with the new system put in place for 2019. Ginny Nelson, of Spirit of the Wilderness Outfitters, was one of them. “When the new system crashed, we were brought together and had a productive session and we felt like we were listened to. But the system is not user-friendly. The problems that we described were just not listened to.”
......
Nelson also voiced her frustrations with the simplistic training procedures by the USFS and website vendor. “We start issuing permits on May 1 and they had a training last week. I got so frustrated that I gave up. They weren’t prepared,” she said. “They just wanted to get through it and not take any comments from us. And there were a lot of comments because there were a lot of issues.”
Jason Zabokrstsky, of Ely Outfitting Co., expressed his concerns with a commercial needs assessment being conducted by the Forest Service. “We currently have no information on the process and worry that by the time we do, it will be too late to comment,” he said. The Forest Service has suspended the process for obtaining recreational permits for new businesses to legally operate on the Superior National Forest while they are conducting the assessment, Zabokrtsky added.
....
The Forest Service will use the needs assessment as the basis for potential changes to its management of recreational commercial services on the national forest. “These potential changes could be sweeping and
economically devastating for current and potential outfitters, guides, and towboat operators, who provide services on the forest,” Zabokrtsky said.
...
The suspension of new permitting is not just preventing new businesses that serve users of the Boundary Waters from opening, noted Zabokrtsky. “It also prevented the opportunity for existing outfitters and guide service businesses to expand to new recreational uses, for example, a summer guide service business could not expand to new winter guide services,” Zabokrstky said.
The needs assessment is the result of a settlement agreement in a lawsuit filed against the Forest Service by Wilderness Watch related to commercial towboat activity in the Wilderness.
....
“The Forest Service has promised but failed to deliver updates on the status of the needs assessment, and has operated in an insular and opaque manner on this issue,” said Zabokrtsky.
Nelson also voiced her frustration with the newly implemented first-come-first-served day-use motor permit system in the Chain of Lakes area. “If the day-use motor (reservation system) was put into a lottery, that would ease a ton of stress in this area,” she said.
LaTourell agreed. “The way the new system was set up, we have been taken out of the equation. We need to be able to serve our customers,” he said. “We are going to get (potential customers) leave our area. With just two groups that have already cancelled, I
lost $15,000, plus I could lose a lot more than that.”
Stauber was taken aback by the potential monetary loss for Ely-area outfitters because of the new reservation system. “That’s real money,” he said. “If I take nothing else from this meeting, that monetary loss is real.”
The outfitters and tourism officials attending the meeting agreed with Stauber that any changes are not coming for the current season’s reservation system, and they all supported a return to the lottery system starting in 2020. “We have one chance to get this right,” he said. “We need a way to move forward with no mixed messages. I will work on a solution for 2020 with this LOTTERY Act. I will go back and fine tune this.”
Check Out Our Forum Tab!
Topic: Stauber to help BWCA outfitters (Read 2499 times)
