The existing mountain top locations are generally owned by radio and TV stations and they want BIG money and BIG insurance that my little club can afford. I finally got my emails answered by the BLM and Forestry Service. The process has been streamlined since 2004. A land use survey was done and set protocols for both government agencies were established along with set fees determined by the population that the frequency will cover.
73,
K7TBY
Our local group has a long standing relationship with the USFS and several private entities that have mountain top sites. Use to be, the USFS required us to file for a 'use permit' as an individual entity (Amateur Radio had its own fee structure - much reduced from the commercial rates). Now, if your equipment is operating out of another entities site, AMATEUR RADIO is not required to file for its own permit (at least on on local USFS sites). This is especially true if you're not paying the other entity for that use (if money does change hands, it changes the definition of the private entity to a 'commercial - for profit' site and their fee to the USFS goes WAY UP!!).
We occupy building / tower space on a private utility's site and for that, we do site maint / cleanup. This keeps the utility from having to send someone to the site regularly and make sure it meets USFS regulations when the yearly site inspection is done. We DO have to provide FREQ and EQUIP information and contact numbers (on site) and meet all of the 'technical' guidelines for grounding and proper installation practices.
