Mr. Garrick Beck
930 Baca Street #10
Santa Fe, NM 87501

In response to your June 5 letter addressed to Lynn Bidlack, I have discussed your concerns with Lynn and provide the following information.

The Secretary of Agriculture's non-commercial group use regulations at 36 CFR 251.54(g)(3)(ii)(E) require that "the proposed activity does not violate State and local public health laws and regulations as applied to the proposed site." State requirements must be met before a Forest Service non-commercial group use permit may be issued. Therefore, as we have verbally informed you several times, any large group gathering in Utah must comply with Utah State laws and regulations, as well as any applicable local county laws and regulations. Utah State requires a Mass Gathering Permit for any group exceeding 500 people.

Lynn Bidlack of my staff, as well as David Ferrell and Kim Christensen of the Law Enforcement Staff, and Malcolm Jowers, Incident Commander, have contacted appropriate Utah State and county officials to ensure they are aware that Utah is a possible location for this year's annual Family gathering. We have coordinated with the State/county officials to help them understand the nature of annual Family gathering, the history of the group and past gatherings, and enlist their help and cooperation in the permitting process. In fact, a June 4th meeting occurred between the above-named Forest Service folks and the State and County officials to ensure that just such cooperation occurs.

It is the non-commercial group use applicant's responsibility to ensure that their proposed activity does not violate State and local public health laws and regulations. Your March 31 letter of intent to apply for a non-commercial group use permit identifies that you will be the special use permit applicant and the Forest Service contact for the special use permit. That is why we have strongly encouraged you to make immediate contact with the local county officials. During a telephone conversation on June 5, Lynn provided the appropriate county contact names and phone numbers, as listed on the next page. We have added mailing and electronic addresses for your convenience.

In addition, should you wish to contact the Utah State Department of Health directly, we suggest you call. Dr. A. Richard Melton, Deputy Director. Dr. Melton can be reached at 801-538-6111 or dmelton@utah.gov. However, as we have discussed, the local, county offices should be your first point of contact because they have the delegated authority to implement the Mass Gathering Regulation.

Apparently there has been a misunderstanding regarding Lynn's role in working with you and the State of Utah regarding Utah's Mass Gathering Regulation requirements. We did agree to facilitate a working relationship with the appropriate State personnel; we did not intend that facilitation to specifically include a conference call between the Forest Service, the State, and members of the Family. We have taken the appropriate steps to lay the groundwork for you to contact the State and discuss their regulations.

Please contact Lynn Bidlack (801-625-5141) or Malcolm Jowers (828-667-5261, ext. 122) if you have questions.

Sincerely,

/s/ Randy Welsh (for)
ELIZABETH G. CLOSE
Director, Recreation

cc Liz Close, Malcolm Jowers, David Ferrell, Kim Christensen, Ray Corbin, kenneth paur, ellen.hornstein, Steven R Ryberg, Chauncie Todd, Larry C Lucas, Clark B Tucker, Eileen F Richmond, Bill Goosman, dmelton, sjenks, JShaffer