-or GOOGLE our full site -
Heads Up!
Wild Wilderness believes that America's public recreation lands are a national treasure that must be financially supported by the American people and held in public ownership as a legacy for future generations
BLOG CONTENT
OLDER CONTENT
|
HOME  - Land management Public Howls at Fee Increase
|
Public Howls at Fee Increase |
|
Written by Scott Silver
|
|
Saturday, 19 August 2006 |
One of the few positive provisions of the law that brought us the Recreation Access Tax requires land managers to obtain public input before levying new recreation fees or raising existing ones. During the Fee-Demo era which preceded the RAT, land managers were free to charge for whatever they wanted and to charge however much they wanted. They could, and did, set and raise these fees with no public comment whatsoever. They did so saying that the public is happy to pay whatever price is demanded. They lied.
Pasted below is an article that reports the beginning of a new trend. From now on, when land managers want to raise recreation fees they're going to have to ask the American People for their input. When they do, they're going to hear howls.
Will those who have for the past decade sworn that the public loves to pay recreation user taxes (and would willingly pay more!) have a response when confronted with the truth???
Scott
--- begin quoted ---
http://www.currentargus.com/ci_4187674
Park opts to lower proposed increase
By Stella Davis
CARLSBAD — An overwhelming negative public response to a proposal by
Guadalupe Mountains National Park to raise the entrance fee from $3 per
person to $10 per person has caused the NPS lower the increase. The fee
increase would have gone into effect in January of 2007, starting with
an increase from $3 to $7 and graduating to $10 by 2010.
John Lujan, GMNP superintendent, said as a result of public input, the
fee will be reduced from the proposed $10 per person age 16 and over to
$5 per person age 16 and over. The fee is for the seven-day life of the
permit and is a 50 percent reduction from the original proposal, he
said.
In June, Lujan called for public input on the proposed fee hike and
said he was surprised with the number of telephone calls and e-mails
and by regular mail from people from Carlsbad and around the country.
"I needed to know what people thought about the proposed increase," he
said. "I was overwhelmed with the number of comments received and the
tremendous response against the proposed increase."
He said under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act of 2004, the
park is allowed to engage the public and solicit opinion on issues
important to the public and evaluate the responses received.
Lujan said that the park will move forward with the creation of an annual park pass.
"This pass will be offered at a cost of $20 and will give the owner of
the pass and immediate family unlimited entry to the park. This pass
does not cover the park's camping fees, but is truly a bargain for the
frequent park visitor," he said.
Camping fees will remain unchanged at $8 per site per night.
"I want to thank the many people who took the time to respond and
comment on the proposed fee increase," Lujan added. "We have heard you
and have taken your comments to heart. However, we must not lose sight
of the importance and significance of The Federal Lands Recreation
Enhancement Act and our ability to keep 80 percent of the fees
generated by the park."
Lujan said the increased fees collected at GMNP will be used to repair,
maintain and enhance the park's facilities, as well as repairing
interpretive exhibits and providing visitor services.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fair Use Notice: This site may contain copyrighted material
the use of which has not always been specifically authorized
by the copyright owner.
We are making such material available in our efforts
to advance understanding of
criminal justice, human rights, political, economic, democratic, scientific,
and social justice issues, etc.
We believe this constitutes a 'fair use'
of any such copyrighted material
as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107,
the material on this site is distributed without profit
to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving
the included information for research and educational purposes. |
|
|
|
