The Forest Service reinstated the permit for heli-skiing outfitter Wasatch Powderbird Guides just in time for the Christmas holiday weekend.
"We're back in action," said Wasatch Powderbird owner Greg Smith of Alta, whose helicopters were grounded Monday by the Forest Service after the company failed to file a necessary operating plan."We still do not believe it was reasonable that they suspended our permit, but we are relieved that it has been reinstated," he said Wednesday.
Officials of the Wasatch-Cache and Uinta national forests had suspended Wasatch Powderbird Guides' special-use permit after failing to receive the company's safety and operating plan required by the permit. The plan includes aircraft-safety procedures, flight patterns, avalanche-control methods, rescue procedures and mitigating impacts of helicopter noise.
After meeting Tuesday with Forest Service officials, the company submitted an operating plan that was accepted, with some minor changes, by Salt Lake District Ranger Mike Sieg on Wednesday.
"They did a nice job on this plan," said Salt Lake District snow ranger Al Soucie. "We weren't asking for a book, and we didn't want them to sit idle, because we believe heli-skiing is a viable recreation activity on the forest."
Modifications the Forest Service made to the company's plan included a requirement that Wasatch Powderbird Guides maintain a written record and map of the location of unexploded avalanche-control charges. The company also must give the Forest Service a written "dud hunting" report explaining whether the unexploded charges were recovered.
"They already do that now, but we wanted it in written form so that we have a documented monitoring program, especially given the public concern over unexploded charges," Soucie said.
The Forest Service also clarified Wasatch Powderbird Guides' plan to lessen disturbance to nesting golden eagles and peregrine falcons in heli-skiing areas.
Beginning March 1, all known golden eagle nesting sites - there are no known peregrine falcon nesting sites in Little Cottonwood, Big Cottonwood or Millcreek canyons - will have a one-mile no-fly zone around them.