S. 472 · Where this bill is now
In committee
Introduced in the Senate, Feb 6, 2025
What this bill does
In plain words · AI-written from the official summaryNational forests keep more ski area permit fees
Right now, ski areas on national forest land pay permit fees to the federal government, but most of that money disappears into a general fund. This bill would let individual national forests keep most of the ski area fees they collect. The forests would use the money for things like maintaining the ski permits, providing visitor information, preventing wildfires, repairing facilities, restoring wildlife habitat, and search and rescue operations.
How it affects you
If you ski on national forest land, this could mean better-maintained ski areas and facilities nearby, since the forests get to reinvest the ski permit fees locally rather than sending the money elsewhere. Ski area operators may see changes in how their permit fees are used, though the summary doesn't spell out whether this affects what skiers pay.
Read the official summary (Introduced in Senate, Feb 6, 2025)
Ski Hill Resources for Economic Development Act
This bill allows National Forest System (NFS) units to keep the majority of ski area permit rental fees that were generated within their boundaries and outlines how revenues from those fees may be used. Such fees are collected by the Department of Agriculture (USDA) from ski area operators on NFS land.
Within the NFS unit where the fees were generated, USDA must expend (1) 60%-48% of the collected fees for activities such as administration of the ski area permit program, visitor information, or reducing the likelihood of wildfire in or adjacent to a recreation site; and (2) 20% of the collected fees for activities such as repair of a Forest Service-owned facility, habitat restoration, or search and rescue activities.
The remainder of the collected fees must be expended by USDA at any NFS unit for any of the activities specified in this bill.
Written by AI (Claude) using only the official summary by the Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress’s nonpartisan research staff. It can miss nuance, so check the official summary and the bill text for details.
1st SessionS. 472
A BILL
Ski Hill Resources for Economic Development Act
Sponsor: Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) · Introduced Feb 6, 2025 · Public Lands and Natural Resources · 2 versions of the text
Sources: Congress.gov actions and votes · bill text from GovInfo · latest official action Feb 11, 2026: “Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 333.”
Sections
The wording of this bill hasn’t changed across its 2 official versions.