United States v. John Garren

John Garren appeals his conviction for rafting on a federally regulated river without a permit in violation of 43 C.F.R. 8351.-2-l(e). We affirm his conviction but remand for resentencing.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

Under the authority of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, 16 U.S.C. §§ 1271-1287 , the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) and the United States Forest Service (“USFS”) jointly regulate rafting access to designated portions of the Rouge River in Oregon through a permit system. The BLM has the lead responsibility for administering the commercial system (for profit rafting companies); the USFS has the lead responsibility for administering the non-commercial river rafting system. Under the permit system, access to the river is limited to approximately 120 people per day. Access is allocated evenly by the regulations between commercial and non-commercial users. Commercial users obtain permits to use the 60 commercial space per day. Noncommercial users file applications for use on a given day. If applications for a particular day exceed the space available, a lottery is held. In addition, non-commercial users can obtain permits from an “open pool” made up of last minute…