CODY - Nearby national forests allow commercial guides for specific recreation activities including rock climbing and mountain biking, but managers on the Shoshone National Forest say further study is needed before new permits can be issued there.

Proponents say that if Cody is to maintain a sustainable tourism industry, it must offer professional guides for the kinds of outdoor recreation that are growing in popularity nationwide, and the Shoshone must change with the times.

The process of issuing new recreation permits is complex, costly and time-consuming, said Terry Root, Wapiti District ranger. But, he added, the next few years could see new permits created for ice climbing and other activities.

"As these activities are becoming more prevalent, and if we can resolve issues such as climbing in wilderness areas, I actually believe - there's no doubt in my mind - that in the next year or two, three at the most, there will probably be an ice-climbing permit issued," Root said.

One key to issuing any new permits will be conducting a capacity study next year to determine how much space there is in each part of the forest to support existing and additional uses of all kinds, he said.

Ice climber Kenny Gasch said the South Fork Valley offers some of the best ice in the country, and he has often heard from Root and previous district rangers that the Forest Service might soon permit guided ice climbs.

"But nothing ever happens," Gasch said.

"Other forests are finding the time, the money and the manpower to get this stuff done. They're finding the resources to work with other outfitters. So why is it such a problem here and not other places? Is it poor management?" Gasch said.

"It's the same old song and dance," said Rick Roach, owner of Absaroka Bicycles.

Roach said he has been working since 2001 to get the Forest Service to permit guided mountain biking tours on existing two-track roads in the Shoshone, "and it's a mystery to me why they can't get this process moving."

"They've said they need to do a needs analysis, then it was budget issues, then it was capacity issues. It's always an elusive reason," he said.

Roach said he was shocked earlier this month when a representative from the Bighorn National Forest walked into his Cody bike shop and handed him a prospectus, asking him to apply to provide guided bike tours there.

"They're courting me to come to them and provide a service there, and we can't do it here? I don't get it. There is something rotten in the Shoshone," Roach said.

Call for proposals

Laura Johnson, recreation specialist for the Medicine Wheel-Paintrock District of the Bighorn National Forest, said the prospectus was part of a call for proposals issued earlier this month following the recent completion of a capacity study.

"That analysis looks at the area, the existing outfitting and guiding use, public use, the landscape and usable acres," Johnson said, adding that the process began in 2004.

The study showed that the Bighorn has "plenty of outfitters and guides providing hunting services, especially with the limited (game tag) draw," but did not have outfitters meeting current and projected needs for ice climbing, mountain biking and other activities, Johnson said.

Loren Poppert, who has worked as a recreation specialist for the Bighorn but now works in the same position for the Shoshone, said a Shoshone capacity study may reach similar conclusions.

"From what I've seen so far on the Shoshone, I think we're at or over capacity for some of those historical uses like hunting outfitters and some of those types of things," he said.

"When we look at it in our area, we may find out we have capacity maybe to do some guided trips on our highways for educational or geological tours or historic tours," Poppert said.

"But even if we had a capacity study done, from the small needs assessment we did pertaining to ice climbing, I'm not sure there's a public need out there," he said.

Poppert and Root both said their preliminary survey showed virtually no requests from the public for guided ice climbing.

Gasch, who operates a Cody hostel for climbers and other outdoor enthusiasts, said he has forwarded to Root several written inquiries from visitors seeking climbing guides.

He also questioned the method of the Forest Service survey, which queried visitor center workers, but not those who specialize in the highly technical sport.

Both Root and Poppert said they did not attend Cody's weeklong Waterfall Ice Festival in February, and Root acknowledged that it "could possibly" be a good venue to help judge public need for guided ice tours.

But calling for proposals was no guarantee that permits would be issued, or that any particular company would get one, Root said.

Under a process known as cost recovery, applicants would be required to pay in advance for much of the required administrative and environmental reviews, Root said, adding that, for ice climbing, that tab could be several thousand dollars.

Gasch and Roach both said they had offered several times in writing to pay for needs assessments and capacity studies, and were aware they might not be awarded any permits that may be issued.

"I understand all that, but I've still pushed over the years for them to issue the permit - to anyone," Roach said.

Human-powered recreation

Brian Sybert, Cody representative for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, said that he had thought a mountain biking permit might be issued two years ago.

"As long as the resource is protected and maintained and the activity doesn't have an adverse effect on wildlife," the GYC supports human-powered recreation in the forest, Sybert said.

Root said an earlier effort by previous district ranger Dave Myers to write a categorical exclusion allowing for a mountain-biking permit was scuttled when two guest lodges also sought bike-guiding permits, triggering a full environmental review.

Such a review would have required a capacity study, which meant that "we aren't even going to discuss it" until the study is complete, Root said.

More than two years later, the north zone of the Shoshone Forest has not issued activity-specific guiding permits for rock climbing, mountain biking, ice climbing or kayaking, and only one permit is issued for whitewater rafting, according to Poppert.

The Bighorn is seeking proposals for those activities, and they are specifically permitted on other forests nearby, such as the Bridger-Teton.

That forest has seven guide permits for mountain biking, four for rock climbing and two for kayak schools, according to figures provided by spokeswoman Mary Cernicek.

But commercial guides can bring too many people, which can ruin the reason people are drawn to the forest, said Dylan Etscorn, a Cody ice climber.

"Ice climbing is the kind of sport that really doesn't need those kinds of things to propel it. I kind of like to see things nice and quiet, not overrun," he said.

Issuing new permits for specific activities is likely to upset existing permitees, Root said.

"That's one of the big controversies that comes up. If you have a permit on forest system land, they're of value, and the more permits that you offer, generally the less valuable the permits are," he said.

Root said his phone would "ring off the hook" with protest calls from existing permit holders if new activities were permitted.

"We want some clarification, and we want it explored further before they go off and issue new permits," said Lee Livingston, president of the Cody Country Outfitters & Guides Association.

Livingston said he didn't speak for the association - a group with many permit holders who lead hunting and pack trips - but that several members share similar views.

Though Forest Service recreation permits can't be sold, only transferred, the practical reality is that outfitting businesses are sold contingent on the permit transferring to the new owner, and the permit is what makes the business valuable, Livingston said.

Big business

Outfitting businesses are largely valued on the number of user days their permits allow, and often sell in the Cody area for $500,000, he said, adding that businesses permitted for fewer days can still fetch $200,000.

Another concern was the possibility of "issuing permits to educational and religious organizations doing the exact same thing outfitters are, like providing summer pack trips on wilderness," he said.

With a limited number of user days to go around, such new permits could mean an eventual reduction in days allocated to existing permitees, Livingston said.

"But in general, I don't have a problem with it as long as it's not encroaching on or affecting existing permits," he said of new permits for specific activities.

Gasch said an activity like ice climbing is unlikely to overlap with most existing uses.

Jackson Hole Mountain Guides, the company Gasch works for, has operated without conflict in the Custer National Forest and even in Dubois, in the south zone of the Shoshone Forest, he said.

He said the company has guided ice climbers out of Dubois since 1999, and it makes no sense that the north zone of the same forest won't permit a similar use.

Poppert said that Jackson Hole Mountain Guides' south zone permit was for winter mountaineering, which is different from ice climbing.

"If you look at the Dubois area, they don't have the frozen waterfalls," Poppert said, adding that a winter mountaineering permit allows for "crossing horizontal ice fields" and "scrambling across boulders," but not vertical ice climbing.