Commercial Use Authorization Stipulations

Katmai NP&P, Alagnak WR, Aniakchak NM&P Fee Changes

Beginning in the 2023 operating and reporting season, Katmai National Park and Preserve is increasing the Commercial Use Authorization (CUA) Monitoring Fees to better reflect the true cost of administering our commercial services program, as required by law. The increase will impact the Monitoring Fees for those commercial activities that take place in the Brooks Camp Developed Area (BCDA) portion of Katmai National Park as well as the Monitoring Fees for all other areas of Katmai National Park and Preserve (KATM), Alagnak Wild River (ALAG), and Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve (ANIA). The BCDA is defined as a 1.5-mile radius from the Brooks Falls Platform. A map of the area that is defined as the BCDA can be found at www.nps.gov/katm/planyourvisit/campingbcdv.htm.

Public Law 105-391 and NPS policy require the Superintendent to charge a reasonable fee “to recover associated management and administrative costs” for CUAs and review the fee every two years. The fees allow the park to recover the actual costs incurred in support of the CUA program, monitoring, clean up, and restoration to resources following the CUA activities. These funds can also be utilized for the day-to-day monitoring that occurs to enforce park regulations and for any equipment and materials needed for the management of the CUA program.

This is the park's first increase to its Monitoring Fees since 2003 and will bring fees in line with the current staffing and material costs that support the commercial services program. The increases to Monitoring Fees will be phased in over two years with the first increases to go into effect for the 2023 operating and reporting season. Following the implementation of the new fee structure, Monitoring Fees will be reviewed every other year to remain in compliance with law and policy.

Monitoring Fees are calculated using a per person, per day methodology. CUA staff included within the group are excluded when calculating Monitoring Fees. If the same client visits both the BCDA and any other locations within KATM on the same day with the same CUA holder, only the BCDA Monitoring Fee will be collected. Monitoring Fees are due no later than November 15th for the reporting year. Below is the phased fee structure that will be implemented:
 

CUA Monitoring Fee	Brooks Camp Developed Area (within KATM)	All Other Areas of KATM, ALAG, and ANIA
2022 Reporting Season	$14.00	$6.00
2023 Reporting Season	$23.00	$10.00
2024 Reporting Season	$30.00	$15.00

We recognize the strong partnership the park has with its commercial operators and look forward to building on that strength as visitation increases to ensure park resources and visitor safety are protected. Questions about the CUA program or this fee change should be directed to Commercial Services Program Manager, Alex Maki, at e-mail us or 907-644-3362.

2025 Park Specific Stipulations
Katmai National Park & Preserve
Alagnak Wild River

P.O. Box 7 – King Salmon, AK 99613 – [phone]

The following specific provisions (in addition to the National and Regional Conditions of the Authorization), are applicable to those commercial activities and areas authorized through a Commercial Use Authorization (CUA):

Park Wide Stipulations

1. Self-report any state, federal or local law or regulation violation made by the CUA holder, guides, or other employees of the CUA holder, as CUA holder becomes aware, during the term of your CUA. Self-reporting includes disclosing detailed information such as charges, fines/tickets, convictions, forfeiting collateral, etc. related to any state, federal or local law/regulation violations (warnings and minor traffic violations excluded).

2. Notification of any violations mentioned above must be made to the Katmai Chief Ranger (907-246-2127) within 24 hours or as soon as practicable following the incident, and in writing as directed.

3. The CUA holder and its employees must comply with any direction from a uniformed NPS employee. The NPS employee will have the authority to make all decisions to assure compliance with this authorization, applicable laws, regulation and policy.

4. The CUA Holder and their staff are required to exercise courtesy and consideration in their relations with the public and with NPS employees, volunteers or other park agents. The NPS will notify the CUA holder of conduct concerns in writing. The CUA holder must review the conduct of any of its employees whose actions or activities are considered by the NPS to be inconsistent with the experience, enjoyment, protection of visitors, and stewardship of the public land and must provide the permitted services according to industry standards and best practices for the activity. The CUA holder must take corrective action and send a written corrective action plan to the park within five business days of receiving NPS notice.

5. The Park will forward to the CUA holder complaints the Park receives regarding the provision of services under their CUA permit. The CUA holder must investigate and respond in writing to the park concerning the complainant within two weeks of receipt.

6. Any commercial trip shall be limited to a group size of 15 persons except as otherwise specified. Group size is defined as all employees, clients, and guests of a CUA holder within a quarter mile radius for day trips and a one-half mile radius for overnight trips.

7. The use of Public Use Cabins in support of commercial activities is prohibited. Fure’s Cabin is the only designated public use cabin in Katmai National Park & Preserve. Structures found at Swikshak, Nonvianuk, and Amalik Bay in Katmai National Park are for administrative use only.

8. Only dead and down wood may be collected for use as fuel for campfires within the NPS boundaries. Standing dead wood, leaning dead wood or any wood associated with historic structures or historic features, or those cabins identified in #5 above may not be collected. The use of chainsaws is not permitted in Katmai National Park and Preserve.

9. No personal or business property of any kind may be stored or left unattended for more than 48 hours without written permission from the park superintendent. Fuel caches, stored for any length of time, must have prior written approval. All requests must be submitted to the Commercial Services Office for superintendent review/approval. Requests must include the reason for storage, a map showing the exact location of the proposed storage site with GPS coordinates (if available), and dates of use. If approved, all property must be removed from the park on or before November 15. Notification that the property was removed must be sent to the Commercial Services Office.

10. Any bear encounter where bear(s) contact camps or gear or approach humans in an aggressive manner, must be reported to the Commercial Services Office within 24 hours of the incident. The report must include date of incident, location, number, and if possible, sex/age of bear(s), type of bear action (destroy gear, obtain food, charge people, etc.), the human response (bear spray, move camp, kill bear, etc.), people involved and contact phone numbers/email. The Commercial Services Office can be reached at [phone] or 3362. If the Commercial Services Office cannot be reached contact the Chief Ranger at [phone] or the Alaska Region Communication Center (ARCC) [phone] (available 24/7 during the summer months). If you are unable to reach someone immediately, please leave a voice message at one of the above numbers.

11. Any discharge of firearms, bear spray, signal flares or any other device/substances intended to frighten/repel wildlife in response to an encounter with a bear or other wildlife must be reported to the Commercial Services Office within 24 hours of the incident.

12. At Hallo Bay, Swikshak, Amalik Bay/Geographic Harbor and Crosswind Lake area including the area defined as no camping along Moraine/Funnel Creeks in the compendium, commercial operators and their clients must remove all solid human waste and toilet paper. Wagbag, CleanWaste and other commercial privy systems are acceptable. In all other locations within Katmai National Park and Preserve and the Alagnak Wild River, all human waste, toilet paper, and sanitary items must be disposed of or packed out as outlined in the Compendium 2.14 (a) (9), (b) Sanitation: disposal, carrying out of human waste.

13. The formation known as “Nursery Rock” at Hallo Bay is off limits to CUA operators and their clients.

14. CUA holders shall ensure that all clients have read the Bear and Aviation Safety handout provided by the NPS.

15. CUA holders are REQUIRED to attend an annual business partner meeting either in person or via telephone. Operators unable to attend due to extenuating circumstances must notify the NPS and submit a certification report, available from the park, acknowledging that they and their staff have reviewed the required park information prior to beginning operations. Holders will be notified in advance of online postings, requirements, and/or meeting locations.

16. Further to Interior Region 11 Condition #15, in VURn, CUA holders are required to report accurate group sizes. CUA holders must report each visit to the park separately. CUA holders must not combine or consolidate multiple visits into one and report them as one trip.

17. CUA Monitoring Fees are due on or before November 15th annually. Fees are as follows: Brooks Camp Developed Area is $30.00 per person, per day (excludes guides), all other areas of Katmai National Park and Preserve and Alagnak Wild River are $15.00 per person, per day (excludes guides).

Backpacking/Campsites

1. Campsites shall be established in any one location for no more than 14 calendar days. Once that location has been utilized for 14 calendar days (whether it is an entire calendar day or only a portion thereof), the permittee is required to move at least two miles and may not re-establish a campsite in the same location for at least five days. Location is defined as all points within a two-mile radius of the first night’s campsite. Extensions may be requested through the Commercial Services Office and authorized by the Superintendent. Campsites must be documented in the location notes field on the Visitor Use Reporting system (VURn) activity report by common name (ex. Hallo Bay campsite).

2. Campsites shall not remain vacant for more than 24 hours. The establishment of a campsite, camping or staging area without clients physically in camp is limited to one day prior to the arrival of the clients and one day after the departure of the clients. The initial setup day and the departure day count toward the total of 14 calendar days.

3. All food and garbage at the campsite must be contained in hard-sided containers when it is not being prepared or consumed. See 36 CFR 2.10(d). A list of approved hard-sided containers can be obtained at www.igbconline.org. The use of a bear fence in conjunction with hard-sided containers is recommended.

4. Katmai National Park and Preserve and Alagnak Wild River contain private lands within its boundary. This CUA does not bestow any privilege for the use of those lands. It is the responsibility of the CUA holder to learn the locations of these lands and obtain permission before use.

American Creek

1. The use of vessels (boats and rafts with or without motors) is prohibited on American Creek, except non-motorized float trips that originate on Hammersly Lake and end at Lake Coville.

Watercraft

1. All watercraft utilized under this CUA must be identified on the CUA application and are considered commercial watercraft at all times. Watercraft must be legibly marked with the company name or service-marked logo of the CUA holder on the outside of the boat.

2. Watercraft utilized by the CUA may be used for access to and from NPS lands and waters to support CUA operations; however, watercraft may not be left unattended on NPS lands except as may be necessary for limited periods while the CUA holder is guiding clients in the field. Watercraft must be made as bear-resistant as possible – hard-sided food containers are required for food storage in unattended watercraft.

3. Unattended long-term boat storage is prohibited. At the conclusion of each guided trip, watercraft must be retrieved and removed from the field with the clients unless prior permission is obtained from the Superintendent.

4. The use of motorized watercraft (boats and rafts with motors) for activities authorized under a CUA is prohibited from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Moraine Creek.

Aviation

1. Radio frequency 122.9 must be utilized to announce intentions for landing and taking off.

2. All aircraft and pilots operating under this CUA must be identified on the CUA application. Any changes must be transmitted to the Commercial Services Office prior to affected aircraft and/or pilots operating within park boundaries.

3. Landing, taking off or taxiing within 50 yards of a bear is prohibited.

4. Except as may be required by FAA regulations or other applicable law, CUA operated aircraft must maintain 1000’AGL or higher in the vicinity of the Swikshak Meadows and the Hallo Bay Meadows except as required for take-off and landing.

Brooks Camp Developed Area

1. When in operation, the CUA holder must escort all clients to the Brooks Camp Visitor Center (or Brooks Lake food cache on East wind days) immediately upon arrival for the required bear orientation unless the guide is a current Brooks River Guide participant. Dates and hours of operation for the Brooks Camp Visitor Center can be found at https://www.nps.gov/katm/planyourvisit/basicinfo.htm and may change seasonally due to staffing. If arriving at the Brooks Camp Visitor Center outside of the operational season, CUA holders are strongly encouraged to provide clients with the opportunity to watch the bear orientation at https://www.nps.gov/katm/learn/photosmultimedia/bear-school-video.htm prior to arrival.

2. Aircraft must maintain 1000’AGL in the vicinity of Brooks Camp as per the requirement in the Alaska Supplement for Katmai National Park, Lake Brooks Seaplane.

3. Aircraft surface operations are limited to idle maneuvers within 200 yards of Brooks Beach on Naknek Lake. Step-taxi operations, initiations of takeoff and landings within this zone are prohibited.

4. Power-on, negative pitch beaching operations of turbine powered craft are prohibited.

5. Loading or unloading passengers or cargo from aircraft must be done only when the engine or engines are completely shut down. “Hot loading” or “hot unloading” of passengers or cargo is prohibited.

6. CUA holders and their clients must use the flush or vault toilets for the disposal of all human waste (liquid and solid) in the following area: on the north side of the Brooks River along Naknek Lake’s beach in the vicinity of the Lodge north to the Brooks Camp Campground, including all areas where graveled trails are maintained.

7. In the Brooks River Corridor, any commercial trip shall be limited to a group size of 6 persons. The Brooks River Corridor is defined as the area within the Brooks Camp Developed Area upriver from the bridge to the outlet of Brooks Lake to include lands within 50 yards of the ordinary high-water mark on each side of the Brooks River. Group size is defined as all employees, clients, and guests of a CUA holder.

8. Other than during the loading or unloading of passengers or cargo, aircraft or watercraft may not be parked in the following area:

   1. On Naknek Lake between the mouth of the Brooks River and the NPS flagpole.
   2. On Brooks Lake within 60 feet either side of the cleared ramp area adjacent to the picnic tables.

Brooks Camp Campground

1. Only the CUA holder may make reservations for the commercial use of the Brooks Camp campground.

2. CUA holders must request login credentials from the Katmai National Park & Preserve’s Commercial Services Office to reserve campground space. CUA holders must utilize these government provided login credentials to make reservations on http://www.recreation.gov for any commercial trip.

3. A maximum of twelve (12) reservations (persons) per night are available for commercial use each day.

4. Each CUA holder is limited to 14 days per calendar year with a maximum of 7 days in July. This limitation includes guides as well as clients.

5. Except as provided above, the campground at Brooks Camp and/or any of its related facilities shall not be used for, or in support of, commercial activities.

Lake Camp

1. Except for the shuttle and water taxi service provided under a limited CUA, using Lake Camp as a primary launching off point for commercial activities is prohibited.