California firm wins bid to manage forest campgrounds

For the first time in 12 summers, most of the campgrounds in the national forest surrounding Aspen will be operated by a new management company next year.

A private firm called California Land Management Services placed the winning bid to earn a five-year permit to operate the major developed campgrounds throughout the White River National Forest, said Rich Doak, recreation staff officer with the forest supervisor's office. The permit will be renewed for an additional five years if both parties agree.

The permit applies to hundreds of campsites in the sprawling, 2.28 million-acre national forest, which stretches from south of Aspen to north of Glenwood Springs and from the Rifle area in the west to Summit County in the east.

Eric Mart, co-founder and president of CLM, said his firm manages numerous national forest campgrounds in California, Oregon and Washington as well as some in Nevada. It has Forest Service permits in notable places such as the Tahoe, Sierra and Sequoia national forests in California and the Mount Hood National Forest in Oregon.

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