The devil is in the details, or in the case of the Wasatch Powderbird Guides, in the documents which allow them to act like a bunch of spoiled brats in a toy store and get whatever they want.
These documents are hard-won. They have to be requested in writing from the Forest Service under the Freedom of Information Act. First you have to know that the document exists, then you have to request it by its exact name, then you have to follow up on it as the Forest Service may take weeks, months or years to respond. These documents are suppose to be easily available to the public, yet many of them took numerous e-mails to obtain.
These documents from the legal heart of the WPG/Forest Service agreement and can be very discouraging. Got landed on in Days Fork and had your day ruined? It’s legal and within the WPG permit. Saw an eagle get chopped by a WPG helicopter blade? It is permitted by the Final Environmental Impact Statement.
Operating Plans
WPG has to submit an Operating Plan to the Forest Service every year detailing how it will run its operation. These spell out the details and are your best bet for complaints to the Forest Service, although they are written in such vague terms that almost anything goes.
Wasatch Powderbird Guides 2007-08 Operating Plan
Wasatch Powderbird Guides 2006-07 Operating Plan
WPG Monthly Records
In an effort to appear dutiful, WPG has to keep monthly records of their activity. These records are only available through a Freedom of Information Act request, and once they are received, it is apparent they are more for WPG business purposes than anything else.
Jan/Feb 2008 Wasatch Powderbird Guides Daily Activities Record
RODS (Records of Decision)
In literal terms, a rod is a stiff object which can be used to beat someone, or be rammed down their throat. The same is true with the Forest Service RODs, or Records of Decision. After all the public meetings have been had, the Forest Service ROD’s are the final decision and rational for that decision by the Forest Service for the action they took, which always favors the WPG.
2004 ROD – 20 pages that gives the WPG the go-ahead to proceed as always.
1999 ROD – 15 pages that gives the WPG the go-ahead to have at it.
Final Environmental Impact Statements
Can eagles and helicopter be friends? According to this not only can they be friends, the eagles depend on exhaust fumes, rotor wash and jet fuel for their very existence. The WPG has been challenged on numerous fronts for their impact on the flora and fauna, so the Forest Service (at the public expense) undertook this study to prove that the eagle and the chopper can be friends and silence all future environmental complaints. 315 pages of mind-numbing details.
1999 Final Environmental Impact Statement: Wasatch Powderbird Guides Permit Renewal
Sue Their Ass Off
The Wasatch Powderbird Guides and the Forest Service have had various lawsuits filed against them over the years, or been threatened by them. Most have come to naught, probably because a lot of sharp, high-priced lawyers like to go skiing with the WPG.
A Petition to Review the WPG permit after they bombed a popular backcountry area.