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On rare occasions I recycle an introduction. A year and a half ago I sent a message titled "Closing Down, Selling Off, Forest Recreation" and shared an article from the Oregonian I described it as a 'MUST READ' that "deserves Action."
Appended is an updated article from today's Oregonian. It too is a 'Must Read" and whereas the previous warning fell largely upon deaf ears, this warning can not be ignored. Too much is at stake.
Scott
Introduction originally written 4/12/05:
If you currently hike, bike, hunt, fish, camp, float, bird, ride, climb, swim or engage in any other form of outdoor recreation on National Forest managed pubic-lands, the appended article from today's Oregonian is a MUST READ. It is more than a 'MUST READ'... it deserves ACTION.
Simply stated, opportunities to enjoy your public lands are about to be severely limited. The USFS will, in the months ahead, begin to close many of the places you now enjoy. They will be selling those resources they no longer intend to maintain. They will be privatizing those sites concessionaires wish to operate. They will be "improving" the places they choose to keep and doing so in order to maximize revenue collection and to better cater to a new customer base they hope to lure to the forests. They intend to cater to an entirely new class of forest users ... the kind that expect their entertainment pre-packaged, neatly presented and easily purchased.
If you currently hike, bike, hunt, fish, camp, float, bird, ride, climb, swim or engage in any other form of outdoor recreation on National Forest managed pubic-lands --- you are about to get a very raw deal.
Scott
PS.... Official documentation explaining what is happening can be read online at: http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/measures/Prioritize/RS-FMP.htm
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September 24, 2006
Forest Service thinking smaller
Money crunch - In the Northwest and nationally, forests hope to save by closing sites and cutting use
MICHAEL MILSTEIN - The Oregonian
National forests around the region have begun unveiling new strategies
to close, shorten seasons or levy new fees at campgrounds, trailheads
and other recreation sites that they can no longer afford to maintain.
Blueprints for the Deschutes, Willamette and Umpqua national forests in
Oregon call for shutting down lesser-used campgrounds such as the Shady
Dell Campground near Oakridge and charging fees at the Clear Lake
picnic area east of Eugene.
It's part of a nationwide strategy by the U.S. Forest Service to bring
its aging array of recreation facilities into line with the shrinking
pool of money it has to maintain them -- and with what the public
wants.
Funding for recreation sites in Oregon and Washington has dropped from
$25.7 million in fiscal 2005 to $21.9 million proposed in President
Bush's 2007 budget.
While the sites targeted for closure may not be the most popular,
officials acknowledge they may include favorite out-of-the-way spots
where some families have camped for years.
It reflects the hard times now faced by national forests no longer flush with money like they had during the logging heyday.
Each national forest is ranking its recreation sites according to
factors such as how closely it fits with the forest's main attractions.
Highly ranked sites may be upgraded, while low-ranked sites may be
closed or operated for shorter periods each year.
The approach tries to do in an organized way what might otherwise
happen haphazardly when a funding crisis hits, forest officials say.
"Where we're shortening the season, we're matching it to where the use
is," said Doris Tai of the Willamette National Forest. "We don't intend
to go in and make changes overnight."
But Scott Silver of the Bend group Wild Wilderness, which opposes
commercialization of public lands, said the process favors the busiest
sites at the busiest times of the year over the quieter places in the
off-season. That undermines the allure of public lands, he said.
"It just herds people through like cattle," he said. "Nobody gets to
experience what the forest is really like during the slower times."
The Gifford Pinchot and Mount Hood national forests closer to Portland
have not unveiled their strategies. But Ron Freeman of the Gifford
Pinchot National Forest in Southwest Washington said initial
indications are that about 20 of the forest's recreation sites might
face closure.
Other alternatives might include shutting down a campground's water
system to avoid costly repairs and leaving it open to campers who bring
their own water, he said.
The Gifford Pinchot will have to dip into its reserve money to pay for
operating its visitor centers around Mount St. Helens next year, he
said.
Many of national forest campgrounds built decades ago along shady
streams or in high valleys have reached the end of their lives, forest
officials say. They need either expensive overhauls to bring them up to
standard, or they need to be closed.
The Willamette National Forest that encompasses Detroit Lake and the
McKenzie River east of Salem and Eugene examined 171 sites and is
proposing to shut down 10 and reduce the seasons or facilities at 22
more.
But 53 campgrounds and other sites could get upgrades, including new
toilets. As many as 10 might be converted to privately operated
concession sites, and nine could see increased fees.
Plans for higher fees might be complicated by a federal court ruling in
Arizona earlier this month that found the Forest Service is illegally
charging fees for parking along forest roads and trailheads. A federal
magistrate there concluded the Forest Service had gone beyond what
Congress allowed in charging recreation fees for using public lands.
Federal recreation fees have become an important source of revenue for
maintaining trailheads, picnic sites and other national facilities.
They include the Northwest Forest Pass, required for use of forests in
Oregon and Washington, but are hotly debated by critics who argue the
public should not have to pay to use public lands.
The Arizona ruling does not invalidate fees across the country but
raises questions about whether national forests elsewhere can make
their own fees stick.
"This is the first case in the country to come down this way, so the
implications are major," said Mary Ellen Barilotti, the attorney who
won the Arizona case on behalf of a client who had been ticketed.
Barilotti, formerly based in California, has recently moved to Hood
River.
She said fees charged in Northwest forests could also be struck down in court.
National forests that have released their plans for recreation sites
are now seeking public comments on the proposals. The Willamette is
trying to focus its limited money on its most popular areas, such as
often crowded facilities around Detroit Lake, Tai said.
Since recreational use of the forest is generally increasing, she said,
even sites that are closed may not be closed permanently so they can be
reopened later if demand warrants.
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