restrictions, more clients

JACKSON (AP) -- The Bridger-Teton National Forest has imposed several restrictions on a helicopter skiing company in exchange for increasing the number of clients it may bring into the forest.

Forest officials put restrictions on flight paths to protect wildlife and removed some acreage from High Mountain Heli-Skiing's permit area to avoid conflicts with non-motorized backcountry users.

Bridger-Teton Forest Supervisor Carole "Kniffy" Hamilton said to help police the area, the Jackson Ranger District staff will investigate formal complaints from residents, skiers and other outdoors enthusiasts, and take action against any violations.

Hamilton detailed the measures in a decision signed Nov. 8, which allows 832 "service days" of skiing per year with up to 368 more "as needed," allowing up to 1,200 service days for the season.

In recent years, the Forest Service granted the company permission, on a temporary basis, to increase service days, which ranged from 481 to 903 days.

Hamilton is allowing only one helicopter per day in the Palisades Wilderness Study Area, where nearly all of the heli-skiing occurs, and limited use in the Teton Range. However, two helicopters would be allowed in the Palisades on days when avalanche danger or bad weather hinders the company from operating in Idaho.

"My expectation is that providing heli-skiing operations within the (wilderness study area) with two helicopters on a given day will be the exception rather than the rule, but I believe I must continue to authorize a level of service that has come to be expected by the recreating public," she wrote in the decision.

In addition, the company must maintain a quarter-mile vertical and half-mile horizontal separation from groups of elk, moose, mule deer, mountain goats and bighorn sheep.

A total of 68,439 acres of the 305,010-acre permit area was removed from helicopter use to protect those species at a time when they are stressed by winter.

The order may be appealed within 45 days.

High Mountain Heli-Skiing owner Jon Shick did not return calls seeking comment.

The company, based in Teton Village, flies in groups of six, with one guide and five guests, according to its Web site. A maximum of four groups are flown to the mountains per day.