Commercial Use Authorization Stipulations

Lake Clark NP&P - 2023 - 2025 Fee Changes

Dear Commercial Use Authorization Holders and Applicants:

Beginning in the 2023 season, Lake Clark National Park and Preserve will increase the Commercial Use Authorization (CUA) Monitoring Fee to better reflect the true cost of administering our commercial services program as required by law. We are phasing the increase over several years to give you time to plan for and implement the changes.

This is the park's first increase to its monitoring fee since 2003. 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 fee allows 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. It also applies to day-to-day monitoring to enforce park regulations and to any equipment and materials needed for the management of the CUA program.

An annual review of costs will be implemented to ensure fees are commiserate with costs after the initial three-year fee increase. The monitoring fee schedule is shown below. The monitoring fee is due no later than November 15th for the reporting year.
 

Monitoring Fee	2022 Reporting Season	2023 Reporting Season	2024 Reporting Season	2025 Reporting Season
Per Person, Per Day (excludes guides)	$6	$10	$12	$15

We recognize the strong partnership the park has with commercial operators bringing visitors to the park. We look forward to building on that strength as visitation increases to ensure park resources and visitor safety are protected. If you have any questions about the CUA program or this fee change, please contact our Concessions Management Specialist Alex Maki at [e-mail] or 907-683-9553.

Sincerely,

Susanne Fleek-Green Superintendent

2025 Park Specific Stipulations
Lake Clark National Park & Preserve

General Delivery - Port Alsworth, AK 99653 - 907-781-2218 phone
240 West 5th Avenue, Suite 236 - Anchorage, AK 99501 - 907-644-3361 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):

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 the 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 Lake Clark Chief Ranger (907-644-3647) within 24 hours or as soon as practicable following the incident, and in writing as directed.

3. The CUA holder, guides and other employees of the CUA holder 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 the CUA, applicable laws, regulations, 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 it 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. Group size limitations:

   1. For the purposes of this section, group size is defined as all guides, other employees, clients, and guests of the CUA holder within a ½ mile radius.
   2. Excluding commercial guided camping within ½ mile of the coast of the Cook Inlet, all commercial groups shall be limited to a group size of 15 persons.
   3. Commercially guided camps within ½ mile of Cook Inlet shall be limited to a group size of 8 persons.
   4. In Chinitna Bay, groups occupying or actively transiting to and from the bear viewing platforms shall be deemed ½ mile apart.

Items 7, 8, 9 Apply only to activities within ½ mile of the coast of the Cook Inlet

7. All camping facilities, shelters, structures and equipment (excluding aircraft, vessels, vehicles, and other motorized transportation) must be enclosed within an active and functioning bear resistant electric fence when camping within ½ mile of the Cook Inlet coastline of Lake Clark National Park & Preserve. This regulation does not supersede, modify, or otherwise effect requirements for the use of a bear resistant food container or alternative approved food storage methods.

8. No tent, shelter, tarp or other camp structure may exceed 12 feet in length or width and may not exceed 8 feet in height. Individual components of a camp may not be attached to each other to exceed the above dimensions.

9. Overall camp dimensions shall not exceed 40 feet by 20 feet except that aircraft, vessels and other transportation may be parked outside of the footprint. Structures and equipment erected for the preparation and consumption of food should be placed outside of the footprint in accordance with bear country recommendations however the additional footprint may not exceed 20 feet by 20 feet.

10. After a camp has remained in one location for 14 consecutive calendar days in a given season (whether it is an entire calendar day or only a portion thereof), the same CUA holder may not reestablish a camp in the same location for at least five days. Location is defined as all points within a 2-mile radius of the first night’s campsite. Camps must be documented in the location notes field on the Visitor Use Reporting system (VURn) report by common name (ex. Hope Creek Campsite).

11. Camps shall not remain vacant more than 24 hours. The establishment of a camp, 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.

12. All food and garbage at campsites must be contained in bear resistant containers when it is not being prepared or consumed. See 36 CFR 2.10(d). A list of approved bear resistant containers can be obtained at www.igbconline.org. A bear fence is recommended in conjunction with bear resistant containers in most areas of the park and required under the circumstances described in condition #6.

13. Only dead wood from the ground may be collected for use as fuel for campfires. Live trees, standing dead wood, leaning dead wood or wood associated with historic structures or historic features may not be collected for any reason. The use of chainsaws is prohibited within Lake Clark National Park and Preserve without a permit.

14. All fuel caches must have prior written approval from the Superintendent. A written request to the Chief Ranger must include the exact location of the proposed fuel cache including a map and GPS coordinates (if available), dates of use, and the reason for the cache. If approved, all fuel caches must be removed from the park on or before November 15.

15. No personal or business property of any kind may be stored or left unattended for more than 24 hours without written permission from the Superintendent.

16. Unattended 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 written permission is obtained from the Superintendent.

17. Commercial bear viewing and photography activities in Chinitna Bay:

    1. Limited to the outer beach or the existing designated bear viewing sites (NPS 1, NPS 2, NPS 3) as indicated on the Chinitna Bay site map (attached).
    2. A maximum of 20 persons may occupy each bear viewing site at any one time. When the designated bear viewing sites in Chinitna Bay are at capacity, occupants of the site must rotate out of the site within thirty minutes after maximum capacity is reached. Guides are encouraged to work cooperatively to allow equitable access among user groups.
    3. Access to the existing designated bear viewing sites is an established trail from the beach to the site. Travel is prohibited north of the tidal slough, through the grasslands between the slough and the beach, and through the grasslands between the viewing sites.
    4. From May 1 through August 31, the meadow north of the viewing areas and the slough in Chinitna Bay is closed.

18. Picnicking (i.e eating outdoors) is prohibited from May 1 through October 1 at the following locations:

    1. Chinitna Bay- from Glacier Spit to the NPS Ranger Cabin, 2 miles east.
    2. Silver Salmon Creek- Silver Salmon Creek meadow as indicated on the Silver Salmon Creek site map.

19. Without explicit permission obtained from NPS staff in advance, CUA holders, staff and clients are prohibited from entering the private residence area at the historic Proenneke area.

20. Lake Clark National Park and Preserve contains private lands within its boundary. Further to Interior Region 11 Condition # 11, 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.

21. Any bear encounter where bear(s) contact camps or gear or approach humans in an aggressive manner, must be reported to Commercial Services Office within 24 hours or as soon as practicable following 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). If you are unable to reach someone immediately, please leave a voice message at one of the above numbers.

22. 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 Lake Clark Chief Ranger within 24 hours or as soon as practicable following the incident.

23. NPS lands within the Kijik National Historic Landmark are restricted from commercial operations. With an approved CUA, use of the banks of the Kijik and Little Kijik Rivers to engage in approved commercial activities is permitted within 100 feet of the waterline. River access via existing routes is encouraged. See Kijik NHL map for details and follow the Compendium 2.14 (a)(9) human waste requirements as outlined.

24. Within ½ mile of the mouth of Shelter Creek and within ½ mile of the shoreline of Crescent Lake, commercial operators and their clients must carry out all solid human waste and toilet paper from Lake Clark National Park & Preserve or dispose of solid human waste and toilet paper at the public outhouse located at Crescent Lake. Cleanwaste, Restop and other commercial privy systems approved for landfill disposal are appropriate.

25. CUA holders and their clients must use the vault toilet for the disposal of all human waste (liquids and solids) and toilet paper when within 100 yards of all structures and viewing platforms at Chinitna Bay.

26. CUA holders must confirm their clients have viewed the film, A Day on the Lake Clark National Park Coastline, prior to visits to Silver Salmon Creek, Chinitna Bay, Shelter Creek or Tuxedni Bay or A Trip to Crescent Lake for visits to Crescent Lake. CUA holders may do this by either showing the film and a representative of the CUA holder certifying their clients have seen the film, or CUA holders may provide visitors with access to the film before the trip and provide verification from their clients that they have viewed the film. The NPS may request written viewing certification any time during the operating year.

    • The 11-minute Coastline film is available on DVD, portable external drive, at www.nps.gov/lacl/planyourvisit/bear-viewing.htm, on YouTube at https://youtu.be/9vECVDeQ3po, and audio described at https://youtu.be/2zKttEhgtOA.

    • The 11-minute Crescent Lake film is available at https://www.nps.gov/lacl/planyourvisit/crescent-lake.htm, on YouTube at https://youtu.be/Jn7azYMa8GM, and audio described at https://youtu.be/B5DA1ZKcPIM. Both films are appropriate for viewing in any format including mobile devices.

27. CUA holders operating on the Cook Inlet Coast must distribute the “Coastal Guide for Guides” document, provided by the National Park Service, to their guides at the beginning of the operating season. The CUA holder must review the document with their staff at the beginning of the operating season and at least once midseason. The NPS may request written certification of this requirement having been met from the CUA holder at any time during the operating year.

28. CUA holders operating at the historic Proenneke area must distribute the “Twin Lakes Guide for Guides” document, provided by the National Park Service, to their guides at the beginning of the operating season. The CUA holder must review the document with their staff at the beginning of the operating season and at least once midseason. The NPS may request written certification of this requirement having been met from the CUA holder at any time during the operating year.

29. 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 sedge meadows at Silver Salmon Creek and Chinitna Bay, except as may be required for take-off and landing.

30. Except as may be required by FAA regulations or other applicable law, CUA-operated aircraft must maintain 1000’AGL or higher in the Chulitna River corridor during the federal and state moose hunting season, except as may be required for take-off and landing. The Chulitna River corridor lies within Game Management Unit 9B, information on seasons can be found here: https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildliferegulations.hunting.

31. The use of the Priest Rock and Joe Thompson Public Use Cabins in support of commercial activities is prohibited. Camping on the Hansen Property in support of commercial activities is prohibited.

32. 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.

33. 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.

34. The Lake Clark National Park & Preserve CUA Monitoring Fee of $15.00 per person, per day (excludes guides), is due on or before November 15th annually.

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