FAIRBANKS, AK - Visitors to the popular public use cabins in the White Mountains National Recreation Area will be able to view cabin availability and make reservations online starting July 20, 2016, when the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) switches its reservation system to the federal government’s reservation and payment website Recreation.gov.
“The new reservation system through Recreation.gov includes options that the public has often requested from the BLM," said Eastern Interior Field Manager Lenore Heppler. “Once people use it a few times, we think they’ll find it more fair, convenient, and flexible. We realize that not everyone has fast internet service, so you’ll still be able to get information and make reservations by phone or at our Fairbanks office."
The Recreation.gov website incorporates features already familiar to users of many state and federal recreational facilities, including a calendar showing availability, multiple means of making reservations, a secure billing process, information on individual facilities, and a way to obtain refunds.
For now the BLM is not changing either its stay limit for individual White Mountains cabin (three consecutive nights) or the time limit that allows reservations to be made up to 30 days in advance. After receiving many comments on these topics in customer surveys and during public forums in April, the BLM will consider making such changes through a formal rule-making process after additional public input, Heppler said.
More information is available on the BLM’s White Mountains website or by contacting BLM’s Eastern Interior Field Office at 474-2200 or EasternInterior@blm.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management
