The bill amends the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996 to establish the Ski Area Fee Retention Account in the Treasury. Ski area permit rental charges collected by the Forest Service would be deposited into this Account and allocated for two purposes: local unit activities at the covered ski area and agency-wide efforts.
Expenditures are restricted to administration of the ski area program, maintenance, interpretation, wildfire planning, and related recreation duties, with limits designed to supplement rather than supplant existing funding. The act also creates a framework for distributing funds within and across National Forest System units and sets an effective date 60 days after enactment.
At a Glance
What It Does
Creates the Ski Area Fee Retention Account in the Treasury, deposits ski area permit rental charges into it, and establishes a distribution and expenditure framework tied to covered units.
Who It Affects
National Forest System units with ski areas, ski area permit holders/operators, and Forest Service staff responsible for ski area administration and recreation management.
Why It Matters
Provides dedicated funding for ski area administration, improvements, and wildfire-related planning, with a structured mechanism to support local units while preserving agency-wide capabilities.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The bill adds a new funding mechanism for National Forest ski areas. It creates the Ski Area Fee Retention Account in the U.S. Treasury and directs that ski area permit rental charges collected by the Forest Service be deposited into this account.
The money in the account is available for four fiscal years after it is deposited and may be spent only for purposes related to ski area administration, maintenance of facilities, interpretation and visitor services, wildfire planning and prevention, and related recreation activities. The funds are intended to supplement, not replace, existing appropriations for covered units.
Distribution rules determine how funds flow back to local units and across the system. Generally, 80 percent of deposits from a covered unit are directed locally: 75 percent of that amount for unit-specific ski area program activities and 25 percent for other unit activities.
Twenty percent of deposits from the same covered unit are available for agency-wide use at any National Forest unit for similar activities. If local needs exceed available amounts in a given year, the Secretary can reduce the local share to no less than 60 percent, with the remainder allocated to other units under a 75/25 split.
The Act also delineates eligible expenditures, ranging from permit processing and staff training to visitor services, wildfire response planning, and parking expansions, while prohibiting use for wildfire suppression or land acquisition. An overarching provision clarifies that the arrangement supplements rather than supplants existing funding and does not affect cost recovery for permit processing.The effective date is 60 days after enactment, after which the new Account and distribution provisions take effect.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The bill creates the Ski Area Fee Retention Account in the Treasury to hold ski area permit rental charges.
80% of deposits to a covered unit are distributed locally (75% for ski area program activities, 25% for other local activities).
20% of deposits are available for agency-wide expenditures across the National Forest System.
If local needs exceed available funds, the Secretary must reduce the local share to at least 60% and redirect the balance to other units (75/25 split).
Expenditures are limited to administration, maintenance, visitor services, wildfire planning, and related activities; no wildfire suppression or land acquisition is funded by the Account.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Short title
This section establishes the act’s official name, the Ski Hill Resources for Economic Development Act, for citation and reference.
Establishment of the Ski Area Fee Retention Account (definitions and setup)
Section 2 adds definitions for the Account, the covered unit, and the Secretary, and directs the Secretary of the Treasury to establish the Ski Area Fee Retention Account. It creates a framework whereby ski area permit rental charges collected by the Forest Service are deposited into the new Account and become available for use without further appropriation for four fiscal years after deposit.
Distribution of Amounts in the Account
The bill outlines local and agency-wide distribution rules. Ninety percent of local deposits flow to the covered unit, with 75% of that local amount funding ski area program activities and 25% supporting other local unit activities. Twenty percent of deposits go to agency-wide distributions across the National Forest System for defined activities.
Expenditures under the Account
Eligible expenditures focus on ski area administration, permit processing, staff training, visitor services, interpretation, and wildlife planning related to recreation. It also covers facility maintenance, parking, avalanche information, search and rescue, and lease administration, but excludes wildfire suppression and land acquisition.
Effect and Limitations
The act clarifies that the funding arrangement supplements rather than supplants existing appropriations. It preserves other statutory authorities and cost-recovery mechanisms for ski area permits, and specifies that funds retained under the Account do not undermine related forest management or grant programs.
Effective Date
The provisions take effect 60 days after enactment, establishing the new Account and its distribution and expenditure authorities.
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Explore Environment in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Ski area operators and managers who gain structured funding streams for permit-related administration and improvements, enabling more predictable project planning.
- National Forest System units with ski areas, which receive dedicated resources for local program activities, maintenance, and visitor services.
- Local communities and tourism stakeholders near ski areas that benefit from enhanced recreation amenities and services funded by the Account.
- Forest Service staff involved in ski area administration, permit processing, and visitor services who gain clearer funding lines to support operations.
Who Bears the Cost
- Federal Treasury administration of the new Account entails staffing and oversight costs for Treasury and Forest Service personnel.
- Other National Forest units receiving agency-wide funds may incur administrative costs related to cross-unit funding processes.
- Potential opportunity costs if the Account diverts funds from other Forest Service priorities or existing programs if the pool of eligible expenditures grows faster than appropriations.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central dilemma is whether creating a dedicated, partially locally controlled revenue stream for ski areas ultimately strengthens forest recreation management across units without undermining national priorities or funding stability for other programs.
The Ski Area Fee Retention Account creates a new funding mechanism that ties revenue from ski area permit rentals to both local unit needs and broader agency-wide use. While the structure aims to stabilize funding for ski area administration and related activities, it raises questions about long-term sustainability and cross-unit equity.
The requirement that local funds be distributed first to the covered unit, with a fallback to cross-unit allocation when needs exceed local capacity, could create incentives for units to optimize local spending rather than advocate for national-level priorities. The thresholds and cutoffs (e.g., the 60 percent minimum for local distribution) depend on annual assessments of needs, which could introduce variability in funding across fiscal years.
In addition, the prohibition on using the Account for wildfire suppression or land acquisition narrows the scope of potential uses, potentially limiting flexibility in extreme events or strategic land management. Finally, the interaction with existing funding streams and the Granger-Thye Act (Section 7) remains a potential area of overlap or ambiguity, particularly regarding supplemental funding effects and cost-recovery dynamics.
Core tensions center on balancing local unit autonomy with system-wide equity, ensuring that new funds truly augment rather than reallocate existing budgets, and maintaining clarity about eligible uses during fluctuations in demand for ski-area-related activities.
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