Senators Float Plan to End Entrance Fees

December 11, 2007

     Two Western senators yesterday introduced a bill to remove entrance fees from public lands and national forests coast-to-coast. Senators Max Baucus (D-MT) and Mike Crapo (R-ID) want to repeal the Federal Land Recreation Enhancement Act, which established entrance and enhanced user fees on Interior Department and Forest Service lands but has drawn criticism for its fee structure and uneven enforcement.
     Nicknamed the Recreation Access Tax (RAT) by opponents, FLREA was included as a rider on an omnibus spending bill in December 2004 at the behest of Rep. Ralph Regula (R-OH) and with the support of the Bush administration. FLREA was the successor to the "fee demo" program the agencies had operated under since fiscal 1997.
     The bill would essentially restore the fee structure that existed before 1996, meaning only the National Park Service would be allowed to charge entrance fees, and entrance fees for the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation and Fish and Wildlife Service would disappear.
     "Mandatory user fees for access to many of those lands limits accessibility to those who can afford the cost and results in a 'pay-to-play' system that is unacceptable," Crapo said in a statement.
     "It's the first really important thing that's happened since fee demo was passed," said Kitty Benzar of the Western Slope No Fee Coalition. "It gives us something positive to support instead of beating our heads."
     Interior collected nearly $180 million in recreation fees in fiscal 2006, according to budget documents. The vast majority of fees - $159 million - were collected by the National Park Service, which is also moving to increase entrance and parking fees from coast to coast.
     Before 2006, NPS had 17 separate entrance-fee rate schedules and no consistency from park to park. Now, the agency has a four-tier system, ranging from $5 to $12 per person and $10 to $25 per vehicle. BLM collected $15 million in 2006, a number projected to drop in 2007. The Fish and Wildlife Service collected $4.3 million in 2006, and was projected to collect slightly more in 2007.
      "The department believes that the authorization that Congress gave to the Interior Department and Forest Service in 2005 under the act was an essential tool that allows us to retain recreation fee revenues and utilize the revenue collected under the act to enhance the visitor experience," Interior spokesman Shane Wolfe said in an e-mail.
     The Forest Service collected $53 million under FLREA in fiscal 2006, and spent $51 million that year on visitor services, maintenance and repairs and other enhancements, according to the agency. About 98 percent of national forest lands remain free, as do 65 percent of Forest Service developed sites.
      Agencies would still be allowed to charge for developed campgrounds, swimming and boating sites. The fees they collect would no longer remain at the sites they are collected, but the money would revert to the federal treasury to be subject to the annual appropriations process. Under FLREA, 80 percent of fees are to be used at sites where they are collected.
     "Right now each little district ranger is a business unit and is operating like a business unit without congressional oversight," Benzar said.
     FLREA also mandated the creation of the $80 "America the Beautiful" annual pass good for Interior and Forest Service public lands, replacing a $50 pass good for all national parks, essentially meaning a $30 increase for those who wanted a national parks-specific pass. The Baucus-Crapo bill would re-establish the parks-only pass and abolish the "America the Beautiful" pass, as entrance fees would not need to be collected on the other public lands.
     "We continue to believe that the America the Beautiful Pass is an economical way for visitors to see their public lands and is a good-government tool that provides a one-stop shop for visitors to all Interior lands," Wolfe said.
      Several state legislatures, including those in California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Alaska have approved resolutions over the past three years opposing the expanded fee collection program.

To read more about the proposed repeal of the Federal Land Recreation Enhancement Act, check out     www.wildwilderness.org/  and search on S. 2438

Scott Silver has an updated  Wild Wilderness. The website is a clearing house of all things related to FLREA, RAT, and The Adventure Pass

Wait a Second! What does this all mean to me?

Follow this link to Scott's website. It proposes three different versions of Outdoor Recreation

Miracles do happen

By Ken Fischman
Reposted from Wild Wilderness

Saturday, 29 December 2007

     Miracles do happen. In an age of bitter political recrimination, a truly bipartisan bill has just been introduced in Congress by Sens. Mike Crapo, an Idaho Republican, and Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat.
     The Fee Repeal and Expanded Access Act (S. 2438) would roll back thousands of fees that U.S. citizens are now being charged for mere access to their public lands. This bill is the culmination of the dream of a dedicated group of volunteer activists.
     In 1996, a rider was attached to an appropriations bill, giving federal lands agencies the right to temporarily charge fees for many activities that had been free, supported by general tax funds. Activities such as backcountry camping, hiking and merely passing through public lands were now being charged fees. In one California forest they even charged a fee to park near a cliff to see the sunset.
     Over the years these fees multiplied like a cancer, all over the United States, even reaching into Idaho.
     In response, a Vermont carpenter and cabinet maker, Robert Funkhouser, formed the Western Slope No Fee Coalition to fight the fees. As tax funds, hitherto used for recreation on public lands, were deliberately diverted to other purposes, agencies such as the Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the Bureau of Land Management, starved for funds, created more and more fee areas.
     Then in 2004, another rider to make the fees permanent, was slipped into another must-pass appropriations bill. We nicknamed it the R.A.T. (Recreation Access Tax).
     Agencies now became emboldened in finding questionably legal ways of charging ever-more fees. They bundled together thousands of acres to meet the minimum criteria of having a few amenities like bathrooms, signs and garbage collection in order to charge fees.
     No fees for wilderness camping allowed? No problem. They charged for parking at the trailhead.
     Up here in Sandpoint, we collected over 400 names on a petition to repeal these fees. My wife, Lanie Johnson, led the drive, and presented the petition to U.S. Sen. Larry Craig. We asked state Rep. George Eskridge, from Dover, to sponsor an Idaho resolution against the R.A.T. His fellow Republican from Priest Lake, Rep. Eric Anderson, co-sponsored it. We flew down to Boise to testify.
     The resolution passed both houses unanimously. Momentum was gathering. Then, disaster hit.

      Last summer, Funkhouser died unexpectedly of a massive heart attack at the age of 50. Robert had spent huge amounts of time in Washington, D.C., talking to senators, congressmen, bureaucrats and their staffs. He knew "Foggy Bottom" inside and out.
     Most of us were total outsiders. We redoubled our efforts and dedicated them to Robert's memory. Kitty Benzar, a nurse in Durango, Colo., took over. She learned fast, and now we are at the threshold of success.
      The way ahead is still challenging. There will be committee hearings and votes at several levels before we can claim victory. We face powerful opposition. There is an entrenched ideologically oriented bureaucracy to overcome, as well as a shadowy lobbying organization with deep pockets.
      The ARC (American Recreation Coalition) is composed of such organizations as Marriott Hotels, International Association for Amusement Parks & Attractions, and the Walt Disney Company. They lobbied for these fees. They also want to "manage" our public lands (i.e., develop them, either in "partnership" with the government or to buy them outright if they can get laws passed allowing them to do so.)
     American public lands are unique. No other country has anything like them. They belong to all Americans. We do not need the king's permission to walk on them. We must fight to keep them this way.
     Contact Sens. Crapo and Baucus and tell them that you support S. 2438. Tell your friends in other states to ask their senators to co-sponsor the bill.
      Let's remain the Land of the Free, not the Land of the Fee.

Western Slope No Fee Coalition (WSNFC)

More info on the Recreation Access Tax:

The Arizona No-Fee Coalition   www.aznofee.org/aznofee/home.php