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The contradictions in the appended article about the new $85 public-lands recreation pass are astounding. One the one hand, the BLM is quoted as saying:
"The primary reason for it is that the customers asked for it, and it provides better customer service and responds to the demands of the customer," said Maya Fuller, public affairs specialist for the Bureau of Land Management. "From word of mouth and customer surveys we've heard a lot of, 'Boy, it would be awfully nice if one pass was offered.'"
On the other hand, the Oregon Dept. of Parks says:
"We don't think we'll sell a lot of these passes. We do think it's a good idea and that the customer service and the good will felt by the few will offset any minor financial setback that might occur."
So are the citizens of Oregon and Washington ("the customers") really clamoring for this $85 pass??? Clearly there's some difference of opinion.
I would offer that the REAL reason for the introduction of this new recreation pass, is because the corporate sponsors/backers of fee-demo have been calling for it (demanding it actually) for 20 years. This new $85 pass is only a stepping stone on the way to the ULTIMATE pass... the one they have long called "The America the Beautiful Passport".
To read the legislation NOW before the US House of Representatives to create and permanently authorize the recreation industry's America the Beautiful Pass, go to: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c108:HR3283:
To learn more of the story, go to: http://www.wildwilderness.org/aasg/passport.htm
Scott
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New recreation pass offers more coverage
March 26, 2004
The long-awaited Washington and Oregon Recreation Pass has arrived relieving headaches for park lovers.
ROY GAULT - Statesman Journal
For the connoisseur of nature who has grown weary of buying a federal
pass for this and a state pass for that only to discover that Crater
Lake or Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area still is off limits, help
has arrived.
It is spendy, its popularity is yet to be determined and it won't cure
every headache, but the long-awaited Washington and Oregon Recreation
Pass has entered the market.
For $85, this annual pass will excuse the buyer from day-use fees at 26
Oregon State Parks charging day-use fees, at 20 Washington State Parks,
at national parks and monuments and at sites previously covered by the
Northwest Forest Pass.
It will not cover camping fees and its benefits will not be extended to
holders of Golden Age or Golden Access Passports, which are free or
reduced-rate lifetime passes.
"The reason we're doing this is to provide a value to somebody who
visits the recreation sites of several different agencies on a regular
basis," said Tim Wood, who is in charge of parks operations for Oregon
State Parks. "You won't have to buy a Northwest Forest Pass, an Oregon
State Parks Pass and a National Parks Pass. It's kind of a
one-size-fits-all."
The new pass is an add-on to the Golden Eagle Passport, which sells for
$65 a year. To convert that to a Washington and Oregon Recreation Pass,
users will pay an additional $20.
Who will buy the pass remains to be seen.
"I would say it's going to be the park lovers, people who spend a lot
of time visiting a whole lot of parks," said Chip Jensen, manager of
Fort Clatsop National Memorial near Astoria. "It will be people who
spend a lot of time at the coast, visiting the parks of the Pacific
Northwest."
It's a pass that's been suggested for years and has been shaped through
months of give and take between officers of Oregon and Washington State
Parks, the National Parks Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the
U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service.
"The primary reason for it is that the customers asked for it, and it
provides better customer service and responds to the demands of the
customer," said Maya Fuller, public affairs specialist for the Bureau
of Land Management. "From word of mouth and customer surveys we've
heard a lot of, 'Boy, it would be awfully nice if one pass was
offered.'"
The pass is being sold the first year at federal agencies, including
the Detroit Ranger Station and the Salem office of the BLM at 1717
Fabry Road SE, and at one Internet site. Of the $85, Oregon State Parks
will receive $9, Washington State Parks will receive $9, the Corps of
Engineers will receive $2 and $65 will go to the selling agency.
Since the new pass's benefits at state parks will be the same as those
covered by a $25 annual Oregon State Parks pass, Wood isn't sure
whether it will direct more or less cash to state park coffers.
"We really don't have a good handle on that," Wood said. "We don't
think we' ll sell a lot of these passes. We do think it's a good idea
and that the customer service and the good will felt by the few will
offset any minor financial setback that might occur."
Why does he predict that few of the new passes will be sold?
"Because it's 85 bucks," Wood said. "You need to make a choice, and it
might be cheaper to buy the Northwest Forests Pass for $30 if most of
what you use is forest sites, and then buy the Oregon State Parks Pass
for $25. That would be $55, and why would you put another $30 with it
if it's for parks you wouldn't visit?
"I think it's a small part of the population that will benefit from
this. The recreator who will benefit would be truly an outdoor
enthusiast, because they'll be spending a lot of time at recreation
sites."
People who already hold a Oregon State Parks Pass and Northwest Forest
annual pass probably will be best off to wait until their current pass
expires. Someone who bought a state parks pass three months ago, for
example, will not be refunded 75 percent of the original $25 purchase
price at the time of purchase of an Oregon and Washington Recreation
Pass. Hence, nine months use of the state parks pass would be forfeited.
A Web site has been set up to help purchasers balance which pass is
right for them. Visit the Nature of the Northwest Web site at
www.naturenw.org, click on the link under Forests to the "The WA &
OR Recreation Pass," then click on "Pass Choice Table" in the upper
lefthand corner.
The Oregon Coast Pass, which sells for $35 and is good for day use only
at federal and state sites along Highway 101 in Oregon, will continue
to be sold.
Other pass options include annual passes to individual parks, such as
Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area, or the standard federal passes,
the National Parks Pass for $50 or the Golden Eaglee Passport for $65.
Passports to which the Washington and Oregon Recreation Pass cannot be added are Golden Age and Golden Access.
The Golden Age Passport is available to U.S. citizens or permanent
residents who are ages 62 or older for a one-time charge of $10. The
pass is good for life.
Persons with a permanent disability may qualify for a Golden Access
Passport. It is available to U.S. citizens or permanent residents who
can provide proof of a permanent disability.
Those two Golden passes provide free entrance to most federal
recreation areas and provides a 50 discount on some use fees, sometimes
including camping, at some - but not all - federal parks.
"We'll be interested to see how this goes," Wood said. "I do think this
is a great example of federal and state agencies working together to
provide a product that might be of value to the public. There are seven
different players, seven different organizational structures that had
to come together to make this thing work."
The launch of the Washington and Oregon Recreation Pass comes at a time
when the U.S. Forest Service is rolling back the number of recreation
sites where a day-use fee will be required.
Of the 18 sites in the Detroit Ranger District where passes were
required a year ago, 11 sites require a pass this year. Of the 2,360
day-use recreation sites on forest service lands in the Pacific
Northwest, the number charging a day-use fee has been reduced from
1,064 last year to 679.
The 2004 Northwest Forest Pass Site Guide, with a full list of sites at
which the pass will be required, is due to be released on May l.
While the new pass is being offered during what is being called a
one-year pilot program, Fuller says it's a product that will stick.
"I don't see it as an experiment," she said. "I see it as go-slow to
go-fast approach, giving the customer what they're looking for, a
one-stop shopping service. It will start slow and build momentum. It's
a service we've offered due to customer demand, and I don't see it
going away."
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- Land management 
