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Owners of an unconventional Colorado-based wilderness therapy program hope to expand their operations in southeastern Utah — complete with organic food, outdoor yoga and meditation — by up to more than half.
But first, federal land managers have to sign off.
The Bureau of Land Management is reviewing Open Sky Wilderness Therapy's application to renew a special permit to roam a 144-mile swath of public land east of Blanding.
Far from a spa, but not quite traditional wilderness therapy, Durango-based Open Sky conducts winter trips in Utah's San Juan County and continues summer operations across the state line in the San Juan National Forest.
The agency is conducting an environmental assessment of Open Sky's use of the canyon country drained by Montezuma Creek for multiday expeditions of teens and young adults hoping to change their lives through primitive outdoor experiences.
A public comment period wraps up Nov. 7.
Aaron Fernandes and Danny Frazer started Open Sky in 2006 in an effort to reinvent wilderness therapy, a movement whose roots reach back into Brigham Young University's outdoor programs.
Unlike most established Utah wilderness treatment programs, Open Sky campers are served whole, organic food; see naturopathic doctors; and participate in yoga, music and meditation.
The enrollment fee at Open Sky is $2,950. Tuition costs $485 a day.
It holds a license from the state Department of Human Services to conduct "outdoor youth treatment," along with 11 other operators in Utah. Operations manager Kyle Dern said the firm currently has 40 students on the ground in southern Utah.
Wilderness therapy launched in Utah 40 years ago and became the target of controversy and investigations after the deaths of a few young clients on extended marches.
Open Sky's owners have applied to extend the company's special recreation permit for another five years, according to a BLM scoping notice. Open Sky "anticipates about 600 visitors per season and about 6,000 visitor days per season," trekking on foot across Utah's canyon country from Oct. 1 through the end of May.
"The only difference is we are going from five groups to a maximum of eight groups [at one time], if we have the clientele," Dern said. "It gives us more flexibility if we grow."
Counselors and other field staff account for up to a fourth of Open Sky "visitor" use limits, according to Dern. The group is required to have at least one counselor per four students and aims for a 3-to-1 ratio.
Groups cannot be larger than 15 and would limit their activities to 50 sites Open Sky has identified for camping, water and wood drops and program activities. All are away from archaeological sites, riparian zones and springs.
Open Sky launches trips from a base camp on land it owns at Bug Point, which can be accessed by road from Colorado. Campers are required to practice "leave no trace" ethics and may not gather firewood, except by permit.
The public may offer comment by e-mailing BLM_UT_MT_Comments@blm.gov.