Sponsors
The bill secures a long-standing local flagpole practice and reduces costs and permitting hurdles for local residents and nonprofits, but it does so by bypassing environmental review, limiting Forest Service discretion, shifting costs to taxpayers, and creating potential fairness concerns about public-land access.
Local residents and Utah County nonprofits can obtain a 10-year permit to install and maintain a U.S. flagpole at Kyhv Peak, preserving a longstanding local practice and symbol.
Permit holders (local residents and nonprofits) are exempted from land-use and cost-recovery fees, reducing out-of-pocket costs for maintaining the flagpole.
The Secretary must publish permit availability online and in a local newspaper, improving transparency and access for local applicants.
Public lands, wildlife, and nearby communities: the exemption from NEPA removes environmental review for placement and maintenance of the flagpole, risking unassessed environmental impacts.
Forest Service and taxpayers: mandating permit issuance 'notwithstanding any other law' and imposing a 180-day deadline limits agency discretion and may strain agency resources or force rushed decisions.
Taxpayers and land managers: fee exemptions transfer administrative and management costs to the Forest Service (i.e., taxpayers), potentially reducing funds available for other land management activities.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Directs the Forest Service to issue a 10-year, no-fee special use permit for a U.S. flag-bearing covered flagpole at Kyhv Peak to prioritized local applicants, with NEPA waived and renewal rules.
Introduced July 23, 2025 by Mike Kennedy · Last progress May 19, 2026
Directs the Secretary of Agriculture, through the Forest Service Chief, to issue a 10-year special use permit for installing, operating, maintaining, and removing a U.S. flag-bearing covered flagpole at Kyhv Peak Lookout Point (approx. 40°16′18.14″ N, 111°36′58.57″ W). The permit must be issued within 180 days of enactment to a prior seasonal applicant or long-standing seasonal flag display participant, or—if they decline—to a qualified person (a Utah County resident or a Utah County nonprofit/volunteer organization with relevant experience). Permits may include reasonable terms and conditions, must not carry land use or cost recovery fees under 36 C.F.R. § 251.58, and are exempt from NEPA. The Forest Service must publish notice of availability, limit activities to the smallest practicable area, may authorize reasonable access consistent with safety and resource protections, and must renew or reissue subsequent 10-year permits within 180 days after specified triggering events; noncompliance can result in revocation.