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 In recent weeks, dramatically shifting federal recreation policies have begun collapsing all at once. Efforts of the land management agencies and their private sector partners to concentrate opportunities for outdoor recreation into areas where "experiences" could be sold to PAYING CUSTOMERS are meeting with increasing resistance. Having been pushed too far by the magnitude, rapidity, insensitivity and overt greed of these changes, the recreating public and key members of Government are pushing back.
Pasted below how the generally conservative, recreation industry-friendly, Federal Parks and Recreation newsletter described that situation today. If anything, opposition the new $80 public lands access pass and associated efforts to shutter recreation sites is even greater than this article suggests!
Scott
PS...the article ends with a gratuitous plug for "a free volunteer pass". That so-called "free" annual access pass is available only to persons who have already contributed 500 hours of free volunteer labor.
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Source: Federal Parks & Recreation Bulletin #11:
December 11, 2006
ADMINISTRATION SETS NEW $80 FED LAND FEE; FS CLOSURES FAULTED
At the bidding of Congress the Bush administration December 5
established one comprehensive $80 annual passport for entry to
developed park and rec sites managed by five federal agencies.
Influential western Sen. Craig Thomas (R-Wyo.) immediately protested.
"I had opposed the recreation fee being expanded beyond the national
parks and now my worst fears are being realized - higher fees with no
guarantee that the money is going back to the site being impacted,"
said Thomas, who chaired the Senate subcommittee on National Parks
through last week.
He added, "My concerns about the price of the pass are echoed in a
study conducted by the University of Wyoming, which showed very little
tolerance for a pass priced above $70. 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 backs of recreational
visitors."
Other pass critics predicted the fee was so high it would reduce
visitation. "They are going to price people out of visiting the
parks," said Robert Funkhouser, president of the Western Slope No-Fee
Coalition. He said the $80 price is in all likelihood just an opening
bid. "I imagine they will come in soft and hit hard later," he said.
Forest Service spokesman Joe Walsh defended the pass. "Most people are
excited about it," he said. "It allows them to pay one time and they
can go all over the country and visit parks and forests." The feds
also note that Parks Canada charges $140 for a comparable pass.
In a related federal land recreation issue, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont)
complained November 28 that the Forest Service was closing campgrounds
without first consulting the public. Baucus's complaint drew a promise
from the Forest Service to consult the public. (Baucus matters because
he will chair the Senate Finance Committee next year and oversee all
tax legislation.)
"I'm not going to let the Forest Service make decisions about our
campgrounds without full public input and scrutiny," Baucus said.
"Limiting access to our public lands for hunting, fishing and camping
is something Montanans don't take lightly."
The Forest Service is currently preparing recreation site facility
master plans on all its 219 forests to determine which recreation sites
are economically practical and justify staying open. The agency has
completed plans on 44 forests and intends to complete plans on another
175 forests by the end of 2007.
Baucus, afraid the Forest Service would make decisions to close dozens
of campgrounds in Montana before taking public input, asked Kimbell for
public hearings in each of the nine Montana national forests.
"Montanans must have opportunities to be involved in decisions that
affect developed recreation areas, so that the result takes into
account a wide variety of responsible uses," he wrote Kimbell.
The Forest Service sent a memo to the field October 12 that calls for
increased public participation, but it does not mandate public input
before initial decisions are made.
The memo, from Deputy Chief for the National Forest System Joel D.
Holtrop, advises forests that are beginning to write facility master
plans: "A commitment to share the initial results of analysis and
invite discussion of alternative ways of operating sites and building
new partnerships is required."
Holtrop also said that forests that are already well along in writing
facility master plans must obtain public input. "In some cases, this
may mean re-engaging the public in this process," he said. "In all
cases, the public must be involved in setting priorities for
maintaining developed recreational sites on the national forests."
Funkhouser of the Western Slope No-Fee Coalition maintains that the
Forest Service will still have made crucial decisions on which
facilities to keep open and which to close before public hearings are
held. "Once the planning is completed decisions to close campgrounds
are already made before the public is involved," he said.
But Forest Service spokesman Joe Walsh, citing the Holtrop memo,
disputed that assertion. "We are having total public comment," he
said. "Decisions have not been made before the public is involved."
Withal Funkhouser and other critics want the new Democratic Congress to
hold hearings next year on federal lands recreation policy,
particularly the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (PL 108-447
of Dec. 8, 2004) that authorized the new America the Beautiful Passport.
The new passport will provide access to the National Park System, the
Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Fish and Wildlife
Service, and the Bureau of Reclamation. It will replace the Golden
Eagle, Golden Age and Golden Access Passports. Those passports will
remain valid until they expire.
The new system will actually offer four passes - (1) the $80 annual
passport, (2) a $10 senior lifetime pass for citizens over 62, (3) a
free lifetime pass for citizens with disabilities and (4) a free
volunteer pass.
The passes may be obtained beginning in January at http://store.usgs.gov/pass and www.recreation.gov.
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- Land management 
