The concept behind the proposed San Francisco soft-drink fee described in the appended article, is too silly for words. That doesn't mean it isn't dangerous Yes, I know that my political correct friends will say "High fructose corn syrup is bad for you blah, blah, blah."  I mean no disrespect to my friends, but such comments are irrelevant to the issue at hand. Let me explain.
The proposed fee will be charged to those stores which sell sodas containing HFCS (mom and pop stores being exempted, though I can't see why).   Safeway, Albertsons, Vons and every other supermarket that now sells soda will continue to sell soda. They will pass along to their customers the added cost imposed by the soda tax. There will be no nexus between the fee paid and the consumption of high fructose containing soda. The impact upon childhood obesity will be zero, zilch, nada.

That said, the concept behind what the city of San Francisco is proposing is becoming increasing commonplace and few people are likely to call BS on what is clearly a BS idea. Someone needs to do it and it might as well be me.

In the name of a sound-good, touchy-feely cause --in this case childhood obesity-- San Francisco would impose a tax they will not call a tax.  On the National Forests, the Recreation Access Tax is not called a tax and yet is most certainly a tax. The Forest Service has even made the claim that their recreation tax is a valuable tool in the fight against childhood obesity. I don't see that they're making a particularly valid point.

Fail to pay the forest tax and you've committed a criminal offense punishable by a hefty fine. Stores won't fail to pay the syrup tax. It will be no skin off their noses. They'll pass along the cost to the low-income mom shopping for her obese kids who might like to walk in the woods, but can't afford that luxury or who might like to eat more vegetables if only vegetables didn't cost so much. The government will, of course, continue to subsidize the conversion of corn into ethanol and you and I will pay that subsidy, but that's another BS idea best dealt with separately.

You'll be pleased to know that the mayor of San Francisco said already said he has no intention of imposing a similar tax upon pizza.  There's a real possible that he will impose a tax upon Hershey's milk chocolate, though Ghirardelli's ultra-premium chocolate will likely be exempt.

Scott

Those ubiquitous iron rangers found at Forest Service hiking trails and used to collect RAT payments, are tempting targets for thieves. They're located in remote areas, unguarded and filled with cash.

Read on to see how two trailhead crooks have been fishing in those iron rangers.

Would it surprise you to learn they were using RAT GLUE as bait?

Scott
 

It is with unbearable sadness that I must report that Western Slope No Fee Coalition President Robert Funkhouser died unexpectedly of a massive heart attack at his home, early in the morning of August 10. He was 50.

Rob was a tireless advocate of free access to public lands for everyone. He worked the phones, networked among diverse groups, met with elected officials and their staffs, spent endless hours in research, testified in Congress and before many State and County elected bodies, and authored dozens of articles, opinion columns, and policy papers, all toward the goal of rolling back, first Fee Demo, and later the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act.

He had some setbacks, but achieved many more successes. At the time of his death, he was extremely optimistic about legislation being drafted by Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) that promises to roll back the worst fee abuses by the public lands agencies.

Rob was a close, personal, friend. He will be greatly missed.

There's currently a interesting legal case before the Oregon Court of Appeals which deals with the giving of "volunteer passes" in exchange for a certain amount of labor.

Quoting from the recently published article (which is appened):

If something with value such as a ski pass is only offered to those who commit to work certain shifts, that's renumeration for a job, said Stephanie Soden, spokeswoman for the Department of Justice.

Quoting from the website of the National Park Service:

America the Beautiful – National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass – Volunteer Pass. This pass is for volunteers acquiring 500 service hours on a cumulative basis.

The federally issued America the Beautiful Volunteer Pass, valued at $80,  is offered ONLY to those who have worked 500 service hours.

Is the awarding of such a pass "renumeration" as the lower courts in Oregon have already ruled? If it is renumeration, then do the full spectrum of labor laws apply?

Interesting questions — and an important court case,  for sure.

Scott

Go to Southwick Associate's home page and you learn that:

Southwick Associates specializes in the business-side of fish and wildlife. We help natural resource agencies & the outdoor industries understand the retail sales, economic impacts, and other benefits business and people receive from wildlife and fisheries.

If we assume these people know their business, then here's a stiff dose of their cold reality:

Today, many of the driving influences in fish and wildlife management originate within state and federal legislatures, corporate boardrooms, courtrooms and media offices. These influences decide not only the financial resources available for fish and wildlife but also shape public attitudes that ultimately decide the fate of all natural resource programs.

With that in mind, I encourage you to read the appended article from the most recent Southwick Newsletter about pricing Outdoor Recreation. It begins with these important words:

Everyone remembers their Econ 101 professor saying “when prices go up, sales go down.”  This is true for fishing, hunting and other outdoor pursuits. When sportsmen pay more for fuel, we know fewer will fish and hunt. But, price increases are realized in more places than the cash register, and the effects can be severe for conservation and commerce.

I have long suggested that the rapidly increasing cost of recreation user-fees is, at least partially, to blame for declining visitation to America's National Parks and for declining recreational use of our National Forests and other public lands. The visitation trends are well established. The cause remains a matter of much debate.

Try as hard as you will, you are unlikely to find even one public land manager willing to admit the possibility of a correlation between pricing and visitation. Today's public land managers take their marching orders from outside of their own agencies, as Southwick so clearly says, and those who give the orders insist that the issue of user-fees is never discussed — or so I suggest.

  Now read the article from Southwick Associates and you'll discover that even they fail to mention the issue of user-fees in their discussion of cost-related visitation trends!! It that because people in corporate boardrooms prefer that Soutwick avoids the subjects of fees and privatization and focuses attention instead upon a very different set of recreation costs — a set of recreation costs that are of greater interest to those sitting within a board room, think tank, or private meeting between industry and government officials!?

Scott 

The American Recreation Coalition began life in 1979 as touts for the petroleum industry and shills for motorhome manufacturers . The world was in the depths of a major gasoline shortage / energy crisis and someone had to speak out in support of recreational gasoline consumption. In the years that followed,  ARC transformed itself into a force that drove the expansion of motorized recreation into every nook and cranny of America's public lands and waters.

Today the world is in the midst of a new crisis -- one that involves a shortage of energy and the threat of catastrophic climatic change. As in 1979, society is calling for improvements in automotive fuel efficiency and reduction in our consumption of fossil fuels and once again, the ARC has gone out in front touting for the petroleum industry and shilling for a wide range of energy inefficient vehicles.

Pasted below is a news release from Sport Utility Vehicle Owners of America in which SUVOA Director / ARC President Derrick Crandall is quoted.  For those unfamiliar with SUVOA, they are a particularly virulent wise-use organization composed, almost entirely, of members of the ARC.

You'd think that with the fate of the Earth in the Balance, driving for pleasure might take a back seat. ARC's raison d'être is to ensure that never happens. Learn more.

Scott

Quoted from today's media: 

There's a message in here somewhere for schools as well as for the National Park Service about the importance of reaching out to people and teaching them about national parks - and explaining the simple joys of an outdoor experience.

Meanwhile, studies show that Baby Boomers in particular are choosing to do other things than go camping on their vacations. If they go to a park, it's more likely to be Disneyland or some other theme park.

Richard Louv, author of the book "Last Child in the Woods," argues its symptomatic of society's growing fear and aversion to the outdoors. He calls it a "Nature Deficit Disorder." ...

Whatever the explanation, the National Park Service might need to brush up on its marketing techniques. Unlike so many places that identify themselves as "tourist destinations," the park service still has something to sell - even if it doesn't sell itself anymore.

 Scott responds ( --- with some serious attitude, I might add! )
 
The recreation industry's Richard Louv™ (BRAND) public-relations campaign grinds on. After seeing so many of these functionally identical puff-pieces,  I can't but wonder whether these editorials are actually written by the newspapers that publish them or supplied in bulk by the recreation industry.
 
I hope that there is not a person in the room who does not now acknowledge that this particular spin is the creation of, and the branded product of, the recreation industry.
 
Likewise I hope that no one reading this message will fail to appreciate that the American Recreation Coalition's DERRICK CRANDALL is the force behind this ongoing campaign --- a campaign designed explicitly to play upon a genuine declining visitation trend in order to bring about industry-friendly, wreckreation-friendly, changes in the way parks are managed --- changes that will, if implemented, destroy the parks.
 
Here is a link to something I wrote in 2004, back when this 'So what's behind the decline in National Parks Visits' public relations coup was first being kicked into high gear. I encourage you to read the spin Crandall applied when he was creating the illusion that so very many people now accept as gospel.
 
This deception has been allowed to go on far too long.

It's time that other voices weigh in.

Scott 

Harvey Manning passed on to his reward in Seattle on November 12. He was 81, my vintage, and a friend -- a comrade-in-arms if not quite a bosom buddy.  I respected and admired Harvey’s creativity as a writer and courage as an activist. He held principle high and stuck to it. The Seattle Times gave him a cheery sendoff, calling him “a dedicated and caring conservationist,” adding:

 The North Cascades National Park, the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area and Cougar Mountain Regional Park all owe their existence to him…

“The Issaquah Alps were nameless foothills south of Interstate 90 before Mr. Manning christened them in 1976. He was one of the original advocates of the Mountains-to-Sound Greenway, now a publicly owned 100-mile corridor of woods along I-90.”

That is the least of it. Harvey’s legacy really is in the standard he set. More about Harvey presently, but first a few lines to apply that standard to a current issue involving watered-down pseudo-wilderness bills before Congress. Those bills concern public lands in Idaho, but they hold serious potential precedent for wild, natural areas everywhere.

I missed the appended story when it was first reported in August. In the ensuing months this crazy proposal has, mercifully, been shot down. That said, it's too good (and too important) not to share. The principles described are not going away.

Here's an excerpt.

 Army officials say they are considering allowing a private developer to build a 125-acre entertainment, hotel and conference center complex next to a national Army museum at Fort Belvoir that could draw more than 1 million people a year to traffic-choked southern Fairfax County... The Army is considering the entertainment venue to help offset the cost of the $300 million museum, which a spokesman said is scheduled to open in 2013. No federal funds are being sought for the museum... A Florida developer has submitted an unsolicited proposal for a military theme park that would include the "Chateau Belvoir" hotel and an entertainment district with bars like the "1st Division Lounge" and several "4D" rides. "You can command the latest M-1 tank, feel the rush of a paratrooper freefall, fly a Cobra Gunship or defend your B-17 as a waist gunner," according to the proposal...

    "It seems fairly clear that the Pentagon brass has decided the only way they can succeed with the Army museum is to make a museum wrapped in an amusement park," Kauffman said.

And to give current relevance, here's a snippet from an article by George Monbiot published earlier this week. It was  titled "The Disneyfication of war allows us to ignore its real savagery."
 

The Imperial War Museum in London is currently running an exhibition called The Animals' War. It features stuffed mascots, tales of the "desperate plight" of 200 animals trapped by the fighting in Iraq, and photos of dogs wearing gas masks. It tells us about the "PDSA Dickin medal - the animals' Victoria Cross", which has been awarded to 23 dogs, 32 pigeons, three horses and one cat for "acts of conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in wartime". The museum resounds with cries of "aaah!" and "how sweet!". War is now cute.

I'm surprised the Army passed up this opportunity to have a Military theme park build upon a Military base. The idea sounds like what some would call a real "win-win".  It's possible they are holding out for a better proposal from the Disney Corporation.

Scott

While it has becoming difficult to find other than propaganda coverage of the politically charged federal recreation fee issue, one can still find quality reporting for other, directly analogous, pay-to-play schemes. The problem is not primarily with the reporting. The problem, to a large degree, is that discussion of this topic at the federal level has been stifled by Whitehouse politics. At the federal level, discussion of this transformational issue is tightly controlled and carefully scripted. Park or forest officials simply can not speak candidly to the media and, as a result, what makes it into the press is not useful information ... it is propaganda given out for instructional purposes.

This level of extreme authoritarian control has not yet permeated throughout all levels of society and government. For a while longer, at least, we will see reporting in which a variety of beliefs and opinions are presented with some candor.

Pasted below is one such article. It is not about federal recreation fees. It is about fees being charged for school-related activities and services. What is true of recreation user fees is generally true of school activity fees and visa versa. What's different is the honestly and the quality of the discussion.

Scott

"During a war, news should be given out for instruction rather than information." - Joseph Goebbels

In mid-September 2006, the Government Accountability Office issued a report titled: "RECREATION FEES: Agencies Can Better Implement the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act and Account for Fee Revenues."

The report made several references to the failure of the agencies to set the price for the new inter-agency federal public lands pass.

Many people have speculated that when this new pass goes on sale in January 2007, it will sell for about $100 -- roughly twice what the current National Park pass costs.

Those who can not afford $100 a year to walk in the woods (managed by the Forest Service), sit by a stream (managed by the Fish and Wildlife Service), or watch the sun set (managed by the Bureau of Land Management), can earn a pass by volunteering on federal lands. Five Hundred hours will earn you a pass, good for a year -- a pass that, incidentally, costs the government little more than printing costs. Five Hundred hours is the equivalent of twelve and a half, 40 hour work-weeks.

Our government has suggested on numerous occasions that volunteerism is the perfect way for middle and lower income people to gain access to their public lands.  I just wonder what those middle and lower income persons will be doing for income during the three months they are working on public lands at the cash equivalent rate of 20 cents per hour!?

Here is a table from that report. The full document can be downloaded from here. 

To suggest that one is actually "against" National Public Lands Day (NPLD) would be equivalent to saying one is against Apple Pie, or Motherhood or
Virginity. That said --- NPLD is definitely not all it's cracked up to be.

Pasted below is either a NPLD public notice  --- or a propaganda piece.
Your call. 

To learn more, click here.

Scott

 Think of the press as a great keyboard on which the government can play.  ---  During a war, news should be given out for instruction rather than information.
                      - both quotes, Joseph Goebbels

Quoted from appended article titled "States turn to revenue from fees":

State leaders are loathe to increase income taxes. But there are plenty of other ways they can -- and do -- raise revenue. Think lotteries, bonds, professional licenses, fines, user fees, and sin taxes on tobacco and alcohol... And politicians are careful where they add, always looking for the path of least resistance. It's much easier to raise the cost of a license for a registered nurse or a fishing license than to increase income taxes... Experts said they aren't sure where the tipping point is: when groups revolt over those costs. "There are as many fees out there that a creative person can think of,"Greenberg said. "More and more, it's coming up with fees where you didn't have one before."

There was a tax revolt and taxes were cut for the wealthy and for corporations. Today, user fees are the taxes we all must pay to finance those tax cuts.

We are no where near the tipping point... or so I fear.
       
Scott 

FREE  (Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment) is a right-wing think-tank best known for the junkets it hosts each year for Federal Judges and its effort to indoctrinate those judges in Libertarian ideology.

Pasted below is their most current Op-Ed, titled "Are We Ready for $6 Gas?"   It makes interesting reading.

It makes even more interesting reading when you appreciate that FREE receives major funding from Shell, ExxonMobil, General Motors as well as the usual extreme right wing philanthropic funds such as Olin, Castle Rock and Claude Lamb.)

"Are We Ready for $6 Gas?" is a good question to ask.

One might also ask:

 "When Gas does eventually reach $6, how much of that cost should be due to taxes and for what purposes will those taxes be used?"

Surely, one must also ask

"Why did John Baden, a past member of the National Petroleum Council, write this particular piece? What ideology is he promoting?  What solutions is he suggesting? What is it about this piece that gives off a bad smell?

Scott

Dear colleagues and friends

Today, I'd like to introduce you to a well-documented and thought-provoking critique of CSR produced by the UK-based NGO Corporate Watch. Please find below excerpts from the paper entitled "What's wrong with Corporate Social Responsibility?"

The following issues will be addressed here:
* CSR as Public Relations sells
* CSR is a strategy for avoiding regulation
* The market has no morality
* Case Study: Carbon trading as a solution to climate change
* Can the consumer really change the market?
* Corporate Citizenship: With responsibilities come rights
* CSR as Public Private Partnerships
* Access to 'emerging markets'
* It's good to talk? Why dialogue is not an appropriate response to corporate power
* What would a [genuinely!] socially responsible company look like?

The final chapter of the study outlines strategies for activists and concerned citizens, such as pressuring for corporate accountability and binding regulation, supporting grassroots action and international solidarity, challenging the expansion of corporate power, exposing corporate abuse and shams, and building people-centred alternatives.

Although the paper does not specifically deal with the tourism sector, I believe it is a must-read for all those concerned with the `new CSR paradigm' in tourism - particularly  tourism activists, CSR professionals, industry and government representatives and tourists/consumers - because it raises essential questions that need to be put onto the tourism agenda; for example, CSR supporters' claim that corporations as currently structured can be part of a shift to a more sustainable and socially just society.

The full text of the paper, including a detailed list of notes and references, can be downloaded from the Corporate Watch website: http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/?lid=2670


Yours truly,
Anita Pleumarom
Tourism Investigation & Monitoring Team (tim-team)
 

Intense controversy now surrounds the Walt Disney Corporation's production of the ABC TV special "The Path to 9/11"  scheduled to air on Sunday September 10th. 

I thought folks might appreciate this cartoon published several years ago in the New Internationalist in an edition that focused upon the Disney Corp. The edition was titled "Inside the Dream Machine."
 
In that edition was an article titled "Nature By Design". That article explained the threat of the American Recreation Coalition and described the Corporate Takeover of Nature that was occurring. 

Back when I first identified the Disney threat in the late 90s I created a major resource titled "When Disney Defines Nature". The link is www.wildwilderness.org/docs/disney.htm 

Scott 

 

Scott

• "Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints"
• "Pack it in, Pack it out"?
  

 ["Geocaching is skyrocketing in popularity. I feel like we have to embrace it and try to educate folks to do it in a way that is responsible," says Ben Lawhon, education director for the Boulder-based Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics. "There is a cultural shift where the younger population has very little interest in the outdoors and much more interest in technology. "From that perspective, geocaching is great because it combines them."]

 "To me, a wilderness is where the flow of wildness is essentially uninterrupted by technology... " - David Brower

 "In short, the very scarcity of wild places, reacting with the mores of advertising and promotion, tends to defeat any deliberate effort to prevent their growing still more scarce." -Aldo Leopold