Sponsors (14)
Introduced February 6, 2025 by John A. Barrasso · Last progress February 6, 2025
The bill gives local ski areas faster, more predictable local funding and support for operations and safety in exchange for limits on how fees can be used (no wildfire suppression or land acquisition), a large administrative allocation, and reduced congressional appropriation oversight.
Local governments, rural communities, and ski-area visitors will keep most ski-area rental fees locally (up to 80%), creating predictable funding for operations, staffing, visitor services, permitting, signage, and safety programs (including avalanche response and search-and-rescue).
The Forest Service can spend collected ski-area fees without further annual appropriation for up to four years, speeding project funding, maintenance, and on-the-ground work at affected ski areas.
Retained fee revenues are required to supplement — not replace — appropriated operations & maintenance funding, which helps protect baseline Forest Service budgets and taxpayer-funded services.
State governments and rural communities cannot use these fees for wildfire suppression or land acquisition, limiting flexibility to cover major wildfire costs or to expand protected lands.
A large portion of the local share (75%) may be directed to administrative costs, leaving less funding available for on-the-ground facility upgrades and visitor improvements that users prefer.
The Secretary may reduce the local share below the stated maximum if the Secretary determines funds exceed local needs, which could shrink expected local funding for projects.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Allows the Forest Service to retain ski-area permit rental charges in a Treasury account and spend them (80% local, 20% agency-wide; local split 75% admin/25% facility).
Creates a Treasury account to hold ski-area permit rental charges collected by the Forest Service and lets the agency spend those fees without further appropriation for up to four fiscal years after deposit. For each forest unit that collects charges, 80% of its deposits must be spent at that unit (can be reduced to no less than 60% if the Secretary finds excess funds); of the local share, 75% is for administrative activities and 25% is for facility- and visitor-related activities. The remaining 20% is available agency-wide under the same 75/25 split. The law lists allowed uses, bars spending on wildfire suppression and land acquisition, preserves existing cost-recovery authorities, requires retained fees to supplement—not replace—appropriations, and takes effect 60 days after enactment.