edward
01-23-2009, 10:17 AM
State Trust Land Permits
In November we were notified that the State Land Permit fees were raised to a shocking and morally unacceptable level. Group Permits appeared to start at $1440. At that time we spoke to the president of the Wickenburg Horsemen’s Assn (who also is a city councilman). Subsequently, the city of Wickenburg passed a resolution and forwarded a request to other cities to do the same. As a result of the increase in fees Wickenburg felt it was financially harmed due to a loss of revenue from the cancelled ride.
Mid November ASHA wrote a letter to the State Land Department with a cc to the governor. On November 24th ASHA President Chip Wilson met with Jamie Hogue Deputy Land Commissioner of the Arizona State Land Department. The response to that meeting was a letter to President Wilson dated January 9, 2009. What follows are excerpts from that letter that will describe the States’ current position on this issue.
“ASLD will no longer be issuing annual group permits for clubs or groups.”
“ASLD will now focus on issuing permits to groups based on events. Our focus has been on revising our methodology for non-commercial group activities. For groups of 12 or fewer people wanting to recreate on State Trust Lands, they will continue to need only an individual recreational, permit from ASLD. We are asking that groups of between 13 and 50 people obtain a Group Recreational Permit. These permits provide notice to ASLD so that we can appropriately work with our lessees in advance of the proposed activity to ensure that any potential issues can be resolved prior to the event occurring. Groups of more than 50 will still need to obtain a Group Recreational Sp Land Use Permit for their activities and we will be revising the fee schedule to reflect a per person price that we believe will be much more equitable to all groups.”
“Participants that are covered under a Group Recreational or Special Land Use Permit are NOT required to obtain an individual permit to attend the approved event. However if individuals access State Trust Lands for other activities, they should obtain an individual permit for those other activities.”
We are continuing to address the fees now with State Legislators through our Lobbyist and direct contact. We will be pushing to address the major increase at all levels of State Government.
In November we were notified that the State Land Permit fees were raised to a shocking and morally unacceptable level. Group Permits appeared to start at $1440. At that time we spoke to the president of the Wickenburg Horsemen’s Assn (who also is a city councilman). Subsequently, the city of Wickenburg passed a resolution and forwarded a request to other cities to do the same. As a result of the increase in fees Wickenburg felt it was financially harmed due to a loss of revenue from the cancelled ride.
Mid November ASHA wrote a letter to the State Land Department with a cc to the governor. On November 24th ASHA President Chip Wilson met with Jamie Hogue Deputy Land Commissioner of the Arizona State Land Department. The response to that meeting was a letter to President Wilson dated January 9, 2009. What follows are excerpts from that letter that will describe the States’ current position on this issue.
“ASLD will no longer be issuing annual group permits for clubs or groups.”
“ASLD will now focus on issuing permits to groups based on events. Our focus has been on revising our methodology for non-commercial group activities. For groups of 12 or fewer people wanting to recreate on State Trust Lands, they will continue to need only an individual recreational, permit from ASLD. We are asking that groups of between 13 and 50 people obtain a Group Recreational Permit. These permits provide notice to ASLD so that we can appropriately work with our lessees in advance of the proposed activity to ensure that any potential issues can be resolved prior to the event occurring. Groups of more than 50 will still need to obtain a Group Recreational Sp Land Use Permit for their activities and we will be revising the fee schedule to reflect a per person price that we believe will be much more equitable to all groups.”
“Participants that are covered under a Group Recreational or Special Land Use Permit are NOT required to obtain an individual permit to attend the approved event. However if individuals access State Trust Lands for other activities, they should obtain an individual permit for those other activities.”
We are continuing to address the fees now with State Legislators through our Lobbyist and direct contact. We will be pushing to address the major increase at all levels of State Government.