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.