Managers on the Superior National Forest have been working with a contractor over the past few years ways to increase efficiency of the wilderness permit reservation system.
Kristina Reichenbach of the Superior National Forest said one of the outcomes is a reduction in the reservation fee charged by the contractor to process Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) permits. Effective March 1, the fee to reserve a BWCAW permit will drop from $12 to $6. The reservation fee is separate from the user fee. User fees are utilized by the Forest Service for improving and maintaining portages and campsites in the Wilderness as well as for educational activities. There is no change in the user fee for the BWCAW, which is $16 adult and $8 youth.
Some of the changes that contribute to a more streamlined service include: . Merging the BWCAW reservation service with the National Recreation
Reservation System, which is the one-stop online reservation service for all federal lands in the United States. . Reduced paperwork by eliminating requirements for printing, mailing and carbon copies. . Increased efficiency in operating the annual BWCAW permit lottery. (For example, it now takes about 30 minutes to run, versus an entire day previously, and confirmation letters are emailed instantly.) . Ability of Forest Service staff to now enter information directly into the system rather than involve contract staff. . Eliminated “no pays” equaling thousands of dollars each season through instant credit card processing. . Cooperator access to issue walk-up permits (formerly
“quick permits”) via computer. . Customer ability to cancel reservations online, change group size, and make payments prior to permit pickup.
Another change merged the BWCAW call center and customer service numbers into the centralized National Recreation Reservation System number to extend the hours of operation significantly. The number is (877) 444-6777.
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