232 



These bills propose that the fees collected from the 

 concessioners would be available for use by the collecting agency. 

 We have previously testified before this Subcommittee' that 

 providing greater revenues by returning concessions fees and other 

 fees to the parks was an option available to the Congress to 

 address the deterioration of visitor services and the lack of 

 sufficient scientific data for sound resource management. Other 

 federal land management agencies would also likely benefit from 

 returned concessions fees. Thus, returning concessions fees to the 

 local level could, if properly managed and accounted for, help 

 improve the condition of visitor services in the national parks, 

 forests, and public lands. However, the benefit would only be 

 realized if these funds are used to supplement and not supplant 

 existing funding. 



Reflecting Fair Market Value in Fees for Ski Areas 



H.R. 1527 amends the National Forest Ski Area Permit Act of 

 1986 to prescribe a new fee system for ski areas on Forest Service 

 lands. The proposed fee system is much simpler than the existing 

 fee system. Currently, the fees for ski areas are based on GRFS, a 

 complex system requiring numerous calculations based on the level 

 of sales, source of sales, and level of a ski area's investment in 

 facilities and equipment. Calculations under GRFS include sales 

 from nine different business categories and assign multiple fee 

 rates for each category. 



In contrast, fees under H.R. 1527 would be calculated using a 

 progressive rate structure under which a ski area's fees would 

 increase as the sales increased. The sales subject to fee 

 calculations under this system would fall into two categories: (1) 

 lift ticket and ski school operations and (2) all business 



^ National Park Service: Difficult Choices Need to Be Made on the 

 Future of the Parks (GAO/T-RCED-95-124 , Mar. 7, 1995). 



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