§ 36-8-304 — Public baths and public campgrounds

Wyoming § 36-8-304

• Jurisdiction: Wyoming
• Title 36: Public Land
• Ch. 8: STATE PARKS AND RESERVES
• Art. 3: HOT SPRINGS STATE PARK

Text

The department of state parks and cultural resources shall
retain one-fourth (1/4) of the water in the main or largest
principal spring on the state land on the eastern bank of the
Big Horn River with sufficient quantity of the land adjacent
thereto, upon which suitable bathhouses may be constructed,
which shall be open, with preference of use given free to
persons who are indigent and suffering from ailments for which
bathing in the waters of the Big Horn Hot Springs will afford
relief. The department may make necessary rules and regulations
governing free baths, the manner and time of bathing, and may
require medical examination of applicants for baths. The
bathhouse shall remain open not less than ten (10) hours a day
each weekday and not less than six (6) hours on Sundays and
holidays. The rules shall meet the minimum requirements of rules
adopted by the department of agriculture governing public pools
and spas. The department, in consultation with the commission,
may set apart a suitable location and portion of the lands for
public camping purposes but may contract for operation of any
campgrounds by competitive sealed bid. Should the department, in
consultation with the commission, operate any campground within
Hot Springs State Park, the charges per night shall not be less
than one-half (1/2) of the average charges imposed by private
campground operators within a five (5) mile radius of the Hot
Springs State Park. The balance of the water and lands may be
leased by the department, in consultation with the commission,
for a term not less than five (5) years nor longer than ninety-
nine (99) years. The length of the term of each individual lease
shall be determined by the department, in consultation with the
commission, in accordance with the value of the improvements
proposed and actually placed upon the leasehold. The department
may by rule provide for special use permits for limited
purposes. The department may make rules and regulations with
respect to the erection of buildings and improvements upon the
individual leaseholds and may prescribe the plans and
specifications of, and the materials to be used in the buildings
to be erected. The department, in consultation with the
commission, in any lease may provide for such plans and
buildings and such use thereof as will best carry out the
purposes of this chapter in retaining the lands and waters
thereon for the treatment and cure of diseases and the pleasure
of the general public. The department, in consultation with the
commission, may conduct through pipes or otherwise any portion
of the waters of the hot springs reserved for free use under
this section and to provide baths and bathhouses for the use of
the water at such rental or rates as it prescribes.