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Quoted from appended article about the steeply rising cost of taking a walk in the woods:
[ Critics of the fee hike, including Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., questioned the high cost of the pass. "An $80 fee is certainly higher than what folks should have to pay to recreate on federal lands," Thomas said.
Thomas, the outgoing Senate Parks Subcommittee chairman, said he opposed 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. ]
 Let me be plain about this. The reason it will cost you $80 to recreate upon your public lands is because a few democracy-hating, free-market-touting, ideologues such as Lynn Scarlett fought long and hard to eliminate public funding for public lands and to replace free access with pay-to-play. The reason it will cost $80 to enjoy your birthright is because the recreation industry, lead by the American Recreation Coalition, spent more than two decades and buckets of money lobbying Congress for this change.
To my conservation and progressive-oriented friends, I ask you --- what do you make of the hearty endorsement given by Mark Rey and Lynn Scarlett for the new America the Beautiful Pass???
To all of my friends, conservatives and progressives alike, I ask you --- do you agree with Senator Thomas (R-WY) that entrance fees should be confined to the National Parks ONLY --- and that those fees should be kept affordable???
America is made less beautiful with each infringement of the rights of citizens. America is made less beautiful by the transformation of fully-vested citizens into mere customers. Please do not passively accept this latest infringement.
Scott
PS... The "America the Beautiful Pass" was 27 years in the making. I have warned of its coming since 1997. GOOGLE for "wild wilderness" combined with "America the Beautiful" and you get 456 hits. Follow them and you will learn the ugly truth about this new pass.
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December 09, 2006
Prices increasing to visit 'America the Beautiful'
By JEFF GEARINO - Southwest Wyoming bureau
GREEN RIVER - Recreating in "America the Beautiful" will cost more next
year for people who buy annual passes for recreation areas on public
lands, federal officials said.
The Department of the Interior this week introduced its new "America
the Beautiful: National Parks and Federal Recreation Lands Pass" for
those federal recreation locations that have an entrance or standard
amenity fee.
Deputy Secretary of the Interior Lynn Scarlett said the new interagency pass will cost $80 beginning Jan. 1.
Scarlett said the pass will provide a cost-effective and easy option
for people who visit multiple federal recreation sites such as the
Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area in southwest Wyoming, where a
$20 annual user fee for residents has been in effect for a decade.
"The family vacation to these destinations is an American tradition
(and) visitors can now travel (from site to site) without getting a
different pass," Scarlett said. "A sightseer in Utah, for instance, can
view the majestic rock formations of Bryce and Zion National Parks and
then explore the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area ... using only
one pass."
Officials said access to most federal public lands continues to remain free.
But critics of the fee hike, including Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo.,
questioned the high cost of the pass. "An $80 fee is certainly higher
than what folks should have to pay to recreate on federal lands,"
Thomas said.
Thomas, the outgoing Senate Parks Subcommittee chairman, said he
opposed 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," said Thomas.
Improvements
Congress instituted the parks-only recreation fee demonstration program
in 1997 to raise money for infrastructure improvements not funded
through traditional means. Since its inception, the program has
collected more than $700 million nationally.
The Flaming Gorge NRA in southwest Wyoming was one of 47 sites selected
by Congress in 1997 to implement a three-year user fee demonstration
program. Congress has extended the pilot program five times since it
began. The new pass was authorized by Congress in 2004 in a last-minute
rider to an omnibus appropriations bill.
Federal officials said the pass combines the benefits of existing
recreation passes - including the Golden Eagle, Golden Age, Golden
Access Passports and National Parks Pass - from five federal agencies
into one comprehensive pass.
"The interagency pass is a great New Year's gift both to the public
lands and their visitors," said Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey.
"Annual interagency pass revenue will benefit public lands by providing
funds for maintenance, new visitor services and programs."
Rey said the 100 percent of the revenue derived from passes sold at
federal recreation sites will directly benefit the selling agency. He
said no less than 80 percent of the revenue will remain at the site
where the pass was sold.
He noted several Wyoming projects funded with fee revenues, including
the rehabilitation of the Yellowstone National Park Canyon Visitor
Center and the construction of an accessible boardwalk at Medicine
Bow-Routt National Forest.
To date, more than $1.5 million has been collected in user fees at the
91-mile long Flaming Gorge Reservoir and recreation area located south
of Green River, according to district officials.
The money has paid for improvements on 11 boat ramps, three visitor centers and 60 restroom facilities.
Federal officials called the new pass a bargain when compared to Parks Canada, which offers a family/group pass for around $140.
But Thomas cited a recent University of Wyoming study, which showed the
public had very little tolerance for a pass priced above $70.
Following a competitive process, the land agencies contracted with the
university's Survey and Analysis Center in May 2005 to collect and
analyze data to assist in providing a basis for making a decision on
the price of a pass. The study looked at the potential revenue
implications of different price levels.
The new pass covers recreation opportunities on public lands managed by
four Department of the Interior agencies - including the National Park
Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management and the
Bureau of Reclamation - and by the Department of Agriculture's U.S.
Forest Service.
Officials said the new card replaces the four current passes, which will remain valid until expired or lost.
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- Land management 
