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HOME - Action alerts
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Written by Guest Kitty Benzar - Western Slope No Fee Coalition
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Monday, 16 February 2009 |
All of the Forest Service and BLM Recreation Resource Advisory
Committee members have been selected and each committee has met at least once.
With very few exceptions, the members of these committees - hand selected by the
Forest Service and BLM - have become willing collaborators with the agencies in
turning our public lands into profit centers.
Known as RecRACS, they are mandated by the fee law to act as
representatives of the public, recommending for or against new fee areas and fee
increases. They are required by law to see documentation of general public
support before recommending fee proposals.
But instead of acting as the
public's firewall against ill-conceived, illegal, and poorly supported fee
proposals, time after time they have recommended approval even when there is
evidence of general public opposition, when the agencies have done no public
outreach at all, and/or in the face of evidence that many fee proposals do not
meet the requirements in the law.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 16 February 2009 )
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Stop John Berry's Interior Secretary Nomination |
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Written by Scott Silver
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Saturday, 13 December 2008 |
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THIS IS IMPORTANT AND URGENT
Appended is a brief message received from a trusted associate. It deals with the appointment of John Berry to the position of Interior Secretary. It further confirms what other sources have been suggesting, that being:
John Berry appears to be incoming President's top pick for the Interior Secretary position
and
The Obama Transition Team could give Berry the nod as soon as Monday...
.... and what a disaster that would be!!!
John Berry has, my sources say blown past the environmental community's favored candidate, Raul Grijalva.
John Berry is almost certainly the candidate favored by the ANTI-environmental American Recreation Coalition -- the lobby group that worked with Interior's Paul Hoffman in an effort to weaken National Park policies and to open the parks to increased motorized recreation.
John Berry was recently appointed to the ARC's Outdoor Resources Review Group. Having Berry appointed Interior Secretary would be a phenomenal coup for the ARC.
John Berry was the Department of Interior's Recreation Fee Demonstration point-person. In that capacity Berry worked closely with the ARC's President, Derrick Crandall. Crandall was a chief proponent of this immensely unpopular and contentions program. Click to read Congressional testimony by both Berry and Crandall.
John Berry is the ONLY candidate now in the running who would be receptive to the pressures exerted by the American Recreation Coalition -- and those pressures promote the privatization, commercialization and motorization of recreational opportunities in the National Parks and other public lands.
ARC, I might add, was a highly visible and staunch supporter of the nominations of Interior Secretaries James Watt, Donald Hodel and Gale Norton. No one who loves the great outdoors should accept as Interior Secretary any nominee favored by the ARC.
Barack Obama was elected because he promised to bring change. John Berry's appointment would ensure continuity of the ARC's dominance over recreation policies. Is this the "change" Mr. Obama promised us? I hope not!!!
Pasted immediately below is the most current information I have in my possession. Below that you is contact information for the Obama Transition team, should you wish to weight in. Time is of the essence so please do not delay.
Scott
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 13 December 2008 )
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Public Lands Fees - Summer 2008 Update |
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Written by Guest: Kitty Benzar
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Wednesday, 27 August 2008 |
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FROM: Western Slope No-Fee Coalition
This year's Congressional Summer
Recess is a good time to pause and take stock of where things stand in the
movement to free our public lands from access fees. Here's an update of recent
developments and ongoing efforts.
S.2438 The Fee Repeal and
Expanded Access Act
The Fee Repeal Act was introduced into the U.S. Senate in
December, 2007, 4 months to the day following the unexpected death of Robert
Funkhouser, our co-founder and first President. Without Robert's ceaseless
efforts the bill would never have happened, and it is heartbreaking that he was
not there to celebrate.
The celebration was brief, however, because now comes the hard
work of getting the bill passed. It has four powerful sponsors: Max
Baucus (MT), Mike Crapo (ID), Jon Tester (MT), and Ken Salazar (CO), but it has to get through the committee process before it can move to the floor
for a vote.
It has been assigned to the Senate Energy and Natural
Resources Committee, and is expected to be heard in the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests. We are pushing for a
hearing in September, because after that it's hard to be noticed above all the
election-year noise. The bill must get a majority vote in the full Committee to
move forward.
You can read more about the bill and its effects, and link to a
non-partisan national legislative watch website where you can cast your vote in
favor of the bill HERE.
What You Can Do: Contact the leadership of the Committee and Subcommittee, and
urge them to schedule S.2438 for a hearing as soon as possible: Committee Chair: Jeff Bingaman (NM) 202-224-5521, Committee Ranking Member: Pete Domenici (NM) 202-224-6621, Subcommittee Chair: Ron Wyden (OR) 202-224-5244, Subcommittee Ranking Member: John Barrasso (WY) 202-224-6441.
Contact your own Senators and ask them to co-sponsor S.2438. If
your Senator is on the Committee, your call carries extra weight. View a list of
Committee Members HERE.
House Hearing on Fee
Implementation
On June 18, the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests,
and Public Lands held an important hearing on the implementation of the current
fee law, the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act, or RAT for short.
(Recreation Access Tax).
Chairman Raul Grijalva (AZ) opened the hearing
with a moving opening statement about Congress's commitment to free public
access to public lands, and his statement was backed with a slide show of fee
areas across the country.
Witnesses for the Forest Service (Undersecretary of
Agriculture Mark Rey) and Department of Interior (Deputy
Secretary of Interior Lynn Scarlett) then testified, claiming that the
fees are popular and are working great.
They received an intense grilling from the Subcommittee members,
and their responses were evasive at best and downright misleading at worst. It
was pretty clear that they are completely out of touch with the intense anger
and opposition that most Americans feel when they are charged money for access
to lands that they already own and pay to maintain with their hard-earned taxes.
The second panel of witnesses kicked off with Idaho
State Representative George Eskridge, who sponsored Idaho's unanimous
state resolution calling for repeal of the RAT. He was followed
by Western Slope No-Fee Coalition President Kitty Benzar, National Recreation and Park Association's Richard Dolesh, Bill Wade, who heads the Coalition of National Park
Service Retirees, and Peter Wiechers, a teacher and
kayaker from California.
A completely different picture emerged from this panel, one that
shows people being priced out of their own public lands, local economies trying
to cope with declining visitation, working families (and their kids) staying
home because they can't afford to visit the great outdoors, and agencies unable
or unwilling to account for millions of dollars in fee revenue, much of it being
charged under legally questionable circumstances.
The anti-fee witnesses carried the day, and there are strong
indications that a Repeal Bill will be introduced in the House as a companion to
S.2438 in the Senate. We will let you know the moment that happens.
You can view archived video of the hearing and read Rep.
Grijalva's opening statement and the written statements of the witnesses HERE.
What You Can Do: Contact the Subcommittee Leadership and thank them for holding
the hearing. Urge them to introduce legislation to repeal the Federal Lands
Recreation Enhancement Act. Subcommittee Chair: Raul Grijalva
(AZ) 202-225-2435, Subcommittee Ranking Member: Rob Bishop (UT)
202-225-0453.
Contact your U.S. Representative and ask him
or her to introduce legislation to repeal the Federal Lands Recreation
Enhancement Act. If your Representative sits on the House Natural Resources
Committee, your call carries extra weight. View a list of Committee Members HERE.
The RecRACs Keep (Steam)Rolling
Along
Beginning in 2007, the Forest Service and BLM Recreation
Resource Advisory Committees have been coming on line and beginning their work.
Known as RecRACS, they are mandated by the fee law and are
supposed to act as representatives of the public, recommending for or against
new fee areas and fee increases.
Each RecRAC consists of a spectrum of users, including
recreationists, local and tribal governments, guides and outfitters, and
environmental groups. In some areas new committees were established, in others
existing BLM advisory groups are being used. A few states (AK, NE, WY) have
opted out of the RecRAC process, at the request of their Governors. You can
see an interactive map at the Forest Service's RecRAC
website.
The RecRAC members are selected and appointed by the agencies
themselves, and the members all represent groups that are beholden to the Forest
Service and BLM for their particular activity or area of interest. They are
selected because they are likely to do the agencies' bidding.
The results are about what you would expect: a virtual
assembly-line of fee approvals.
They have questioned only 35 fee proposals, of which 19 were
denied or tabled, and 16 withdrawn by the agencies - to be reworked and brought
back another day.
That's 747 fee proposals in just over one year, of which 712, or 95%, have been approved. If you think that's because they were
reasonable proposals, supported by the general public and in conformity with the
law, well think again.
The general public didn't even know about most of these new and
increased fees until they were a done deal, even though public support is
required by law.
Here are just a few of the problems.
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Meetings have ALL been held on weekdays, during the day.
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Meetings have been held by teleconference, and email meetings
are authorized.
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Many of the meetings have never been publicly announced at all.
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Meeting dates and times have been changed at the last
minute.
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Agendas have not been made available in advance.
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Agenda items have been added at the last minute without public
notice.
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RecRACs have been asked - and have agreed - to "pre-approve" fee
increases up to a certain percentage.
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Comments sent in about fee proposals by the public have been
withheld from, or misrepresented to, the RecRAC members by agency
spokespersons.
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Minutes of meetings have not been posted for months, or not
posted at all.
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ACTION ALERT: Congressional Hearing Scheduled |
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Written by Kitty Benzar - Western Slope No Fee Coalition
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Thursday, 05 June 2008 |
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DEAR PUBLIC LANDS SUPPORTER:
Fee Alert!
A congressional hearing has been scheduled in Washington DC for Wednesday June 18th at 10am EDT, on public lands access fees.
Your comments are needed and may be emailed directly to the House's National Parks, Forests and Public Lands subcommittee for inclusion as testimony in the official record of the hearing.
Below you will find background information, some points to include in your comments, the format required, and the email address to send them to. There is also a sample letter to fax to Subcommittee members requesting their attendance at the hearing.
You can also watch the hearing live on your computer, on June 18th! Information about the live webcast will be posted at the Subcommittee website.
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Your comments needed on commercial outfitter policy |
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Written by Guest George Nickas
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Tuesday, 11 March 2008 |
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The Forest Service has extended the comment period
until March 20, 2008 to submit comments on the proposed outfitter-guide rules. Please take this opportunity to protect Wilderness from increased
commercialization and harm. The alert below contains information that can help
in preparing your comments.
Thank much,
George
Proposed Administration Policy is a Giveaway to
Commercial Outfitters and Guides
Ten years ago Senator Larry Craig of
Idaho introduced legislation that constituted an incredible giveaway to the
commercial outfitting industry. The 56-page "Outfitter Policy Act," written by
industry lobbyists, would have granted private property rights for outfitter
permits and lowered resource protection and outfitter performance standards,
while making it virtually impossible for federal agencies to enforce even the
weakened rules. The bill went nowhere, nor did similar bills introduced by Sen.
Craig in subsequent Congresses, but the industry didn't give up. Instead, it
turned to the Administration and its toadies in the Forest Service to get what
it wanted. The result is a recently proposed rulemaking change by the Forest
Service that will give the outfitters much of what they sought at the expense of
Wilderness and self-guided visitors.
Your comments are needed to help
stop this destructive giveaway and protect Wilderness from exploitation. Now is
the time to stand up and protect your right to Wilderness that remains largely
free of commercial enterprise and that provides outstanding opportunities for
solitude and primitive and unconfined recreation.
Please ACT NOW! Your
comments must be received by March 20, 2008.
The myriad and
seemingly small changes spread over 32 pages of the propose rules will have the
cumulative effect of significantly favoring the interests of commercial
outfitters over resource protection and the publics' interest. The suggestions
below will restore key provisions of current rules and help to tip the scales
back in favor of protecting Wilderness and other public
lands.
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Written by From Newswire
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Monday, 10 December 2007 |
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[ NOTE: I am delighted that Senator Baucus' News Release (appended) credits the late
Robert Funkhouser of Western Slope NoFee Coalition for his extraordinary
contribution to making this RAT repeal bill a reality. Without Rob's efforts, we
might never have gotten this far. It's now up to all of us who care about public
lands to transform this bill into enacted law. - Scott]
Baucus, Crapo Bill Would Nix Recreation Fees
Montana, Idaho Sens. Team Up To Repeal Recreation Access Tax
WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Forest Service and other federal agencies would be blocked from charging Americans higher fees to access their public lands under legislation introduced today by two prominent Western lawmakers.
U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) today joined Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) in introducing the much-anticipated Fee Repeal and Expanded Access Act of 2007.
The bill would revoke authority given federal agencies, with the exception of the National Park Service, in 2004 to institute new fees and increase existing fees at campgrounds, trailheads, and other public areas.
Specifically, the bill repeals the 2004-passed Federal Lands Recreational Enhancement Act, sometimes called the recreational access tax, and reinstates legislation dating back to 1965 that limits the use of fees on public lands.
Baucus, a long-time critic of the fees, said the current system amounts to double taxation.
"Americans already pay to use their public lands on April 15," Baucus said. "We shouldn't be taxed twice to go fishing, hiking, or camping on OUR public lands. It just doesn't make any sense. That's why Mike and I are going to fight like the dickens to get this bill passed."
The senators noted that both the Montana and Idaho State Legislatures passed resolutions to repeal FLREA.
Crapo said, "As an outdoorsman and legislator, I have always supported fair and reasonable access to our nation's public lands. 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. I also fully recognize that we need to adequately fund recreation activities on federal lands and will continue to fight in Congress to make sure the funding needs of our public lands management agencies are met."
Debates have flared up in communities across the West as fees began to rise after the 2004 bill was passed. Baucus said he hopes his bill will help resolve those disputes.
Kitty Benzar, president of the Western Slope No-Fee Coalition, hailed the bill. Baucus worked closely with Benzar as well as the late Robert Funkhouser, who recently passed away, in crafting the legislation.
"This bill will bring an end to a failed experiment that has for 10 years burdened Americans with a double tax and kept them away from public lands they have always enjoyed," Benzar said. "I applaud this bipartisan effort."
The Baucus-Crapo bill would:
- Repeal the FLREA
- Reinstate the fee authorities established by the 1965 Land and Water Conservation Act
- Reinstate the National Parks Pass system
- Cap the amount that can be charged for entrance to national parks.
For complete text of the bill, visit http://www.baucus.senate.gov
SOURCE Office of Senator Max Baucus
http://www.baucus.senate.gov
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Last Updated ( Monday, 10 December 2007 )
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Request Oversight Hearing |
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Written by Alasdair Coyne
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Thursday, 20 September 2007 |
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URGENT: Ask Senators to Hold Oversight Hearings on Public Lands Recreation Policy!
It's the end of summer and the US Forest Service is releasing proposals to close thousands of developed recreation sites around the nation - campgrounds, trailheads, picnic areas, boat launches, and swimming sites - to charge new or increased fees at hundreds of others, and to remove facilities, reduce capacity, and shorten seasons at hundreds more.
These changes are outlined in documents known as Recreation Facility Analysis (RFA) Proposed Programs of Work (PPOW). Each National Forest is producing an RFA -PPOW and the bulk of them - around 140 - are due out in coming weeks. (For the past few years, these documents were known as RSFMPs. The name change to RFA is very recent.)
The Western Slope No-Fee Coalition (WSNFC) has carefully gone over the 18 or so RFAs that are so far available to the public, and in just these 18 forests, the agency's proposals over the next five years will:
- close 407 campgrounds (17% of sites in these 18 forests);
- reduce capacity at 464 sites (20% of the total);
- remove amenities (toilets, tables, trash cans, fire rings) at 243 sites (10% of total);
- turn 225 sites over to concessionaires or partners (10% of total);
- implement new fees at 136 sites (6%);
- and increase fees at 170 sites (7%).
We don't have time to wait until all the RFAs are published to alert Congress to these threats to our publicly-owned recreation sites! In some cases, the US Forest Service has already gone and removed water systems, toilets, picnic tables, and fire rings, and completely closed campgrounds and other developed recreation sites without ANY public notice at all.
For the WSNFC's June 2007 update report on RFA/RSFMP plans click here.
ACTION ALERT CONTINUES...
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Last Updated ( Friday, 21 September 2007 )
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Written by Robert Funkhouser
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Tuesday, 16 January 2007 |
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January 15, 2007
HELP TURN THE TIDE in Washington on the issue of public lands access fees AND CLOSURES!
CONTACT YOUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES TODAY.
Skyrocketing entrance fees in National Parks, widespread recreation site closures by the Forest Service AND WIDESPREAD IMPLEMENTATION OF FEES are attracting bipartisan opposition in Congress. The change from Republican to Democratic control and the subsequent shakeup of Committees and their Chairmen has opened a window of opportunity for a top-to-bottom review of national recreation policy. It's up to us, the American People, to take advantage of that opportunity and ACT NOW to persuade Congress to put the "public" back in public lands.
Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) has taken a strong stand against the Forest Service's "Recreation Site Facility Master Planning" policy that is already resulting in new fees, increased fees, site closures, and other changes to recreation programs on National Forests.
According to Senator Baucus's spokesperson "the Senator vows that the increased fees will never come to fruition" and "this proposal, at first glance, is ludicrous, because Max doesn't think that the Forest Service should balance its budget on the backs of Montanans who take their kids hunting, fishing and camping on our public lands."
Nor, we would add, on the backs of public lands users in any other state!
Senator Craig Thomas (R-WY), outgoing Chair of the Senate's National Parks Subcommittee, is criticizing the new $80 "America the Beautiful" pass that is pricing Americans out of their National Parks and other federally managed public lands.
According to Thomas, "An $80 fee is certainly higher than what folks should have to pay to recreate on federal lands," He went on to say he opposes expanding the recreation fee beyond the National Parks to other federal land management agencies, which will result in higher fees with no guarantee of improving the impacted recreation sites. "If there's a budget problem in our land management agencies, let's get to the root of it, address it head-on, and not put budget shortfalls on the back of recreational visitors."
We couldn't agree more!
Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) recently sent an open letter to Secretary of Interior Dirk Kempthorne urging him to veto the planned entrance fee increases at Crater Lake National Park and Lava Beds National Monument. "It doesn't make sense to increase park fees while national parks are struggling to attract visitors," DeFazio said. "I am concerned that the increase in fees at Crater Lake will discourage regular visits by Oregon families. . . I agree that the national park system is in need of additional funding, but raising fees for park visitors will only drive visitors away."
NOW IS THE TIME to urge your Representative and Senators to weigh in and protect the public's interest in public lands.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 16 January 2007 )
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Recreation Planning Alert |
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Written by Guest: Dick Artley
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Saturday, 30 September 2006 |
(What follows is an important call to action written by a recently retired Forest Service employee)
Dear fellow citizens that enjoy recreating on public land with our
families:
You have the opportunity to help nearly 300 million owners of public
land.
Something very tragic is happening to our public land
administered by the U.S. Forest Service … and you can help.
The Forest Service has been implementing a policy initiative called
Recreation Site Facility Master Planning, or RSFMP. This policy was cooked up
in secret by the Forest Service in 2002 with absolutely no public
involvement … or congressional review...
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 30 September 2006 )
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Written by Scott Silver
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Wednesday, 30 August 2006 |
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Massive numbers of potential recreation site closures loom, according to the following news release issued today by Western Slope No-Fee Coalition.
They've prepared an important investigative report which ends with a call to action. I encourage everyone to read on, and follow up.
Scott
--- begin quoted---
WESTERN SLOPE NO-FEE COALITION
P.O. Box
135, Durango, CO 81302
www.westernslopenofee.org
More
information:
Robert
Funkhouser 802/235-2299
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Kitty
Benzar 970/259-4616
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
August 30, 2006
For Immediate
Release
REPORT CHARGES
FOREST SERVICE WITH PLANNING TO CLOSE THOUSANDS OF RECREATION
SITES
Policy Adopted In Secret
Requires Developed Sites To Pay Their Own Way Or Close
The Western Slope No-Fee
Coalition today released a six-page research report on a secret Forest Service
Policy that could result in thousands of recreation site closures nationwide.
The report charges that since at least 2002, the USDA-Forest Service has been
secretly implementing a policy initiative called Recreation Site Facility Master
Planning, or RSFMP, that threatens to impose a for-profit model on the
management of America's National Forests.
RSFMP mandates that every
National Forest inventory all its developed recreation sites and rank them
compared to a National Required Standard. Those that do not measure up will be
closed or "decommissioned" (obliterated). The closures would affect mainly
simple, remote facilities favored by local residents, hunters, fishermen, and
others who prefer dispersed and minimally developed recreation sites. Forest
Service visitor statistics indicate that such visitors make up almost two-thirds
of all Forest users. On the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National
Forests in western Colorado, up to 100 of 138 sites are slated for closure.
That's 72% of all recreation sites!
No public or congressional
review of the RSFMP policy has yet occurred. Although 22 Forests have completed
5-Year RSFMP site closure plans and implementation has begun, none of the plans
have been publicly released. As part of their research, the No-Fee Coalition was
able to obtain two complete plans and partial information about three more. From
the data available so far they project that between 3,000 and 5,000 recreation
sites will be closed or decommissioned, and as many as 4,000 more will be
converted to fee sites or turned over to private for-profit concessionaires to
manage.
"The RSFMP program is going to
send shockwaves through National Forest gateway communities nationwide," said
WSNFC President Robert Funkhouser. "This will impact local communities'
economies, public health, and quality of life." Funkhouser points out that
among the management actions planned or already underway are removal of toilets,
capping of drinking water systems, and bulldozing of campsites.
The Report questions Forest
Service claims that plummeting recreation budgets are the impetus and
justification for RSFMP. It shows that much of the funding appropriated for
recreation by Congress never makes it to the local Forest managers. Instead, the
Report charges that it is policy decisions, not budgets, which are driving the
site closures.
"A serious reality gap exists
between what the Forest Service is claiming is available to the Forests in the
way of appropriated funds from Congress for developed recreation and what
Congress is actually appropriating," said Funkhouser. "As implementation of the
RSFMP unfolds, it is becoming increasingly clear that it is intended to be the
vehicle for reducing or eliminating undeveloped and dispersed recreation, the
very kind of recreation favored by almost two-thirds of visitors. Forest Service
Chief Dale Bosworth has identified this type of use as a threat. Those less
developed, more remote, and dispersed sites and areas are the ones that are
unprofitable and subject to closure."
In the report's Conclusion, the
No-Fee Coalition calls on Forest users to demand that the RSFMP 5-Year Plans be
subjected to public comment and review as specified in the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). They also call for Congress to scrutinize the
program, and for an audit of Forest Service recreation spending compared to
appropriated funds.
"It is imperative that this
secret policy see the light of day," concluded Funkhouser. "This is a drastic
change to National Forest recreation management that should not be allowed to
proceed behind closed doors."
The Recreation Site Facility
Master Planning report (pdf) can be read at www.westernslopenofee.org
The Western Slope No-Fee
Coalition is a national organization based in Durango, Colorado that has called
for repeal of the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (FLREA). The FLREA
allows the Forest Service, BLM, and Bureau of Reclamation to charge access and
user fees on vast tracts of publicly-owned land.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 21 September 2006 )
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Recreation Advisory Councils now being formed |
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Written by Scott Silver
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Wednesday, 30 August 2006 |
As part of the legislative package which unleashed the RAT upon America, Congress called for the creation of Recreation Resource Advisory Councils and defined the role RRACs would serve related to user fees for outdoor recreation.
The make-up of those committees with respect to the interest groups that would serve upon the RRACs, was pre-determined. RRACs will be composed of a mix of interest groups including representative of both motorized and non-motorized recreation. The process of selecting individuals to fill those slots, has recently begun.
Pasted below is an action alert, the text of which comes from the BlueRibbon Coalition (a motorized recreation access group). I have removed all references to that organization, but have left all of their substantive information intact and provided a link to their original news release.
The BRC has done a commendable job of explaining the current opportunity to seat representatives upon the USFS/BLM RRACs and of explaining the function those RRACs will perform once established.
Just as the BRC is encouraging its motorized supporters to become engaged with the RRAC process, Wild Wilderness is encouraging its supporters to become engaged.
Unlike the BRC, Wild Wilderness is also encouraging its supporters to continue to work aggressively to bring about the repeal or substantive rewrite of the Federal Land Recreation Enhancement Act.
Scott
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 21 September 2006 )
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USFS to flout law/close site |
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Written by Scott Silver
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Friday, 06 May 2005 |
As you all know, when Congress authorized the Recreation Access Tax as part of the Omnibus Appropriations Bill on December 8th, Fee-Demo was officially repealed. Fee-Demo was replaced by the RAT, a new law which some said would be fairer and less egregious in its implementation than the unpopular program it replaced. Unfortunately, they were wrong.
The USFS's RAT implementation guidelines were issued on April 25th and with its publication, much of the uncertainty regarding how that agency intends to interpret the new law is resolved. We now know that the USFS has no intention of making the recreation program either more fair or any less egregious. In fact, the USFS has no intention of following the law! What they intend to do is to charge the widest variety of fees for the widest variety of recreational activities by stretching the RAT far beyond what the law permits. They must not be permitted to do so!
Pasted below is an Action Alert prepared by our friends at the Western Slope No Fee Coalition. I have modified it to the extent that I've added web-links to documents that where not available on the internet when their alert was distributed yesterday morning and which I have since made available.
There's a lot of important information here. I hope you find it helpful.
Scott
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 21 September 2006 )
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Written by Scott Silver
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Monday, 17 July 2000 |
Action Alert:
Oppose Fee-Demo Legislation
Current Until Updated
"Can't See the Forests for the Fees" is a complaint being heard from
coast to coast as the recreation industry's Recreation Fee
Demonstration Program increases its grip upon America's public lands.
Enacted as a legislative rider in 1996, Fee-Demo provides authority for
federal land managers to charge and retain user fees for an almost
limitless range of recreation products, goods and services. "Hiking",
"Fishing", "Camping" and "Skiing" have suddenly become commodities
while you and I have just as suddenly become customers.
The good news is that opposition runs deep. Over 300
environmental, conservation and recreation organizations oppose this
program.
The bad new is, on November 21, 2004 Congress abolished the
fee-demo program and replaced it with a new Recreation Access Tax (RAT)
program. RAT was authorized for a period of ten year and should be
viewed as being nothing less than fee-demo on steroids.
It's going to take much more than silent opposition to end a
program created expressly for the purpose of introducing the profit
motive into public land recreation management. The special interests
who created Fee-Demo and RAT have every intention of using it to
commercialize, privatize and further develop recreational opportunities
upon America's public lands.
PLEASE:
1) Write your elected officials and ask them you oppose Recreation Access Taxes.
2) Write letters to the editor and encourages others to do the same.
3) Know that the success of the program is being judged based
upon compliance rates and dollars collected. If you don't support the
program, don't visit RAT sites and don't pay the fees.
For additional information contact Wild Wilderness 541-385-5261, or visit us online at - http://www.wildwilderness.org.
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