ST. GEORGE — While more people than ever are frequenting camping resources on the Arizona Strip, user fees have remained unchanged for over 25 years.

However, in recent months, the Bureau of Land Management has been gathering public input to determine whether this needs to change.

The Arizona Strip straddles the border of Southern Utah and Arizona. The BLM Arizona Strip District Office in St. George manages it. The strip covers five wilderness areas, including the Paria Canyon, Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness Area, the Old Spanish National Historic Trail, nine areas of critical environmental concern and two river segments suitable for Wild and Scenic River designation.

Rachel Carnahan, BLM Arizona Strip public affairs specialist, told St. George News that many BLM Arizona recreation sites statewide require service and upgrades.

“Fees have not been raised since 1998 at the Virgin River Canyon Recreation area, a 48-year-old recreation site,” Carnahan said. “While a majority of Bureau of Land Management public lands are available for use for free, some of our recreation sites with special services need current and ongoing maintenance.”

Carnahan said the proposed BLM draft management business plan aims to update recreation fee site management. The places affected within the Arizona Strip District include the Virgin River Canyon Recreation Area and the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument’s Paria Canyon/Coyote Buttes Special Management Area and White Pocket.

The proposed business plan would implement fees to keep pace with the rising cost of operations and maintenance across Arizona. The fees would be comparable to those of other public agencies and private sector facilities that offer similar sites, services and facilities in the region.

Carnahan said the BLM proposes to increase recreational use permit fees statewide due to increasing operational costs. The proposed change would raise the current $2-a-day use fee to $5 and the overnight camping fee from $6 to $12. The Interagency Annual, Access, Senior, Volunteer and Military passes would continue to be honored for day-use fees in the recreation area.

Carnahan said the fee increase would help fund operations, improvements and repairs.

According to the Draft Business Plan for the Baker Dam Recreation Area, there is room for improvement. The Washington County site was created in the 1980s so the public could enjoy fishing, swimming and boating in the Baker Dam Reservoir. It’s located 25 miles north of St. George on state Route 18. The 290-acre recreation area includes a 19-site campground, a seven-day site use area, a one-mile riparian habitat along the Santa Clara River and two-tenths of a mile of Baker Dam Reservoir shoreline.

Approximately 2,500 visitors use the Baker Dam Recreation Area annually, which offers various amenities, including a hiking trail, vault toilets, trash receptacles, designated parking, camping sites, sheltered tables and campfire rings.

The Virgin River Canyon Recreation Area, a campground and day-use area, is also ready for upgrades. It provides recreation for an average of 14,760 visitors annually. Carnahan said that use and visitation have nearly doubled over the past decade, growing from 11,435 visitors in 2014 to 20,578 in 2023.

Amenities and services at the Virgin River Canyon Recreation Area include drinking water, a day-use area and a campground. Restrooms provide flush toilets and comply with the Architectural Barriers Act accessibility standards. Trash, dumpster and trash removal services are available. Carnahan added that there are also shaded and non-shaded picnic tables and fire rings, with tent, trailer and RV spaces available.

Access roads and drive-up access to campsites are available. Hiking trails and interpretive signs and information are available. Carnahan said there is limited lighting at the entrance, and law enforcement patrols the area.

Carnahan said the BLM’s budget per visitor has fallen despite increasing use and visitation. The current fee revenue only partially covers operation and maintenance costs most years and will not cover future infrastructure replacement needs. The current fee structure has remained unchanged since 1998, while costs and visitation have increased.

The table below shows actual expenditures and average annual operating expenses for the Virgin River Campground over the last five years, including expenditures on replacement, repair, or renovation of aging facilities using fee revenue and appropriated funds from fiscal years 2019-2023.

Staff labor	Operations	Total annual expenditures	Average annual revenue
$77,503	$135,229	$212,732	$48,191

In a news release, Gerald Davis, the Arizona deputy state director for resource and planning, said current recreational fees statewide are below market prices. The fees collected are reinvested into local recreation programs to expand and improve recreational opportunities.

“The BLM has not updated business plans for our recreation sites to reflect market conditions in decades,” Davis said. “The updated plans would enable the BLM to improve services and add amenities in order to ensure these sites provide the exceptional experiences that visitors to public lands deserve.”

Davis added visitation to public lands in Arizona has increased from 4.9 million to 6.8 million in the past five years. Yet, the BLM’s budget per visitor has fallen despite increasing use and visitation. Davis added that the increase in visitation has caused wear and tear.

Davis noted that Arizona’s outdoor recreation industry is worth $11.7 billion. Recreational opportunities on BLM-administered lands contribute more than $276.2 million to Arizona’s economy. The BLM’s “Blueprint for 21st Century Outdoor Recreation“ provides guidance to proactively respond to increasing visitation by diversifying recreation funding sources.

Statewide in Arizona, the BLM is seeking public input on five draft recreation business plans for the following locations: Kingman Field Office, Lake Havasu Field Office, the Arizona Strip Field Office’s Virgin River Canyon Recreation Area, the Phoenix District’s Recreational Shooting Sites and the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument’s Paria Canyon/Coyote Buttes Special Management Area and White Pocket.

In addition, the Arizona Strip Field Office sought input on implementing routine fee adjustments to offset inflation and cover future operating expenses.

“Outdoor recreation is a huge economic driver in the West. More than 120 urban centers and thousands of rural towns are within 25 miles of BLM lands,” Carnahan said. “Their recreational resources provide critical economic support and quality-of-life benefits to local communities and businesses, attracting visitors from across the country and even abroad.“ 

The next steps include the BLM evaluating the comments received and adjusting the business plan accordingly. Carnahan said the business plan proposal would then be presented to the Arizona Resource Advisory Council, which will review it, hear public comments and make a recommendation to the BLM Arizona State Director. If approved, the BLM would announce a new fee in the Federal Register. The fee would take place six months after the notice appears in the Federal Register.

Carnahan said this interactive story map shows the locations, proposed fee sites and changes that would modernize the system. 

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