Straight from the horse's mouth!
You've heard Wild Wilderness say that fee-demo is but the thin
edge of a very thick wedge. You've heard our fears that the
American Recreation Coalition seeks to "commercialize, privatize
and motorize" recreational opportunities on America's public
lands.
NOW HEAR ARC's PRESIDENT CONFIRM OUR WORST FEARS!!!
The following has been excerpted from: "Public Lands Policies and
Predictions: ARC president reviews progress and discusses the
future of our national parks, forest and scenic byways."
This article was written by Bob Ashley and in May 1998 was
published in Motor Home (MH) Magazine, the journal of The Good Sam
Club.
Susan Bray, Executive Director of the Good Sam Club, is on the
Board of Directors of the American Recreation Coaltion. The Good
Sam Clubs itself, is a sustaining member of the American
Recreation Coalition.
What you are about to read is not conjecture. It is the voice of
ARC President, Derrick Crandall, speaking to a friendly audience.
It is ARC's own predictions for the future of America's Public
Lands.
Perhaps they didn't expect the public would be listening! Perhaps
they didn't even think you'd care.
(This is NOT an action alert. Just read the following, think
about what it means, and distribute this message widely.)
Thanks
Scott
--------- the interview ----------
MH: What is ARC's view of corporate sponsorship for parks?
Crandall: There has always been a role for corporations as
partners on American public lands, and there will be even more
opportunities in the future... The question is: Do we go way
beyond that and invite the Kodaks and the General Motors or
McDonald's to actively support the federal-land management
agencies? It's a matter that we will have to experiment with.
MH: Isn't some experimentation already underway?
Crandall: Yes, there are a lot a experiments underway already,
some involving federal agencies. But actually the states are two
steps ahead of the feds. The New York state-park system has an
official soft drink, just as the the Olympics has an official
softdrink and everything else.
Two years ago, we authored legislation in Congress that would
have allowed a corporation to become some kind of an exclusive
supporter of the national parks or a specific national park. We
were fine-tuning it when our progress was interrupted by a series
of Doonesbury cartoons. Cartoonist Gary Trudeau was prompted by
an environmental organization to target this concept with the
humorous notion that a national park might actually be sold to a
company and renamed something like "Kodak's Grand Canyon."
MH: That wasn't what you envisioned?
Crandall: Not at all. We see a win-win situation at a growing
number of national parks; for example, where there are privately
funded Imax theaters and other kinds of visitors centers nearby.
We wouldn't mind some of those visitor facilities being put on
public lands and a company being a sponsor.
MH: ARC supported the current fee-demonstration program, through
which federal land-management agencies can set their own fees.
Has the program met your expectations?
Crandall: We are greatly pleased with the way the program has
worked out. For most of 10 years, the recreation community has
worked with Congress and the land agencies to address the
issue...
MH: Some of the members of your coalition , primarily
private-campground owners are fearful that these added fees and
the improvements they fund will lead to increased competition
from the public sector. Do you agree?
Crandall: We are concerned that additional revenues generated
from public lands be well spent. We want those to go to services
that are obvious to visitors so that they feel good about paying
the fee. Fees should not be a disincentive for visiting areas.
You have to charge in order to provide what the visitors expect.
I do not expect - and the Forest Service has taken action to
prevent - the use of these new fees to in any way undermine
existing or potential private-sector operations on public lands.
MH: Do the additioanl fees, used to improve roads and campgrounds
unfairly increase competition with the private sector, as some
private campground operators contend?
Crandall: We don't think that's the case at all. We believe the
Forest Service largely will be out of the developed-site camping
business within the next 10 years. Where we do see a difference
is in the need to upgrade or consolidate existing campgrounds
that are too small to be economically viable if they were
operated by the private sector. If you have three 40-site
campgrounds in a national forest district, we may well see that
those are essentially closed and a new 120-site campground is
built to today's standards, using private-sector dollars.
MH: The U.S. Forest Service has established a moratorium on
building additional roads through forests. What are your thoughts
on that?
Crandall: ... We are going to see an opportunity to enhance,
whether it's for 4x4s or mountain biking or hiking, by converting
roads into essentially a lower level of use... Our national
forests are one of America's prime playgrounds, and we are
pleased that the new chief of the Forest Service, Mike Dombeck,
is pushing aggressively in this direction.
------- end of quoted material --------
I know I said this isn't an Action Alert, but if you just can't
contain yourself, here's how to contact the Forest Service
fee-demo coordinator. I'm sure she'd just love to hear from you.
lfeldman/wo@fs.fed.us
This document was prepared by Wild
Wilderness. To learn more about ongoing industry-backed congressional
efforts to motorize, commercialize, and privatize America's public lands,
contact:
Scott Silver, Executive Director,
Wild Wilderness
248 NW Wilmington Avenue, Bend OR 97701
Phone (541) 385-5261 E-mail: ssilver@wildwilderness.org