|
Black is White. War is Peace. Loss is GAIN — and the joke is on us.
Here is an excerpted quote from the appended article which recently appeared in the Santa Fe New Mexican. The complete article is appended.
If you want to bicycle, hike or watch birds in the state-run wildlife areas after April 1, it's going to cost you. Non-hunting and non-fishing visitors will have to pay to play, view and enjoy 28 wildlife, wildfowl and camping areas managed by the Department of Game and Fish, according to department spokesman Marty Frentzel. The new permit is part of the department's Gaining Access Into Nature or GAIN program.
 Folks should understand that virtually all non-consumptive nature-based activities are currently being commodified so that they can be sold. For example, watching birds and other animals has been branded as the value-added "Watchable Wildlife" product. It was, until recently, possible to watch birds without having to pay a fee. Now to gain access one must pay a "Gaining Access Into Nature" fee.
Is this a GAIN? Does anyone believe that GAIN will promote appreciation of, respect for, and an enhanced desire to protect nature? Or do new programs such as GAIN simply put nature onto the same playing field as Disneyland and other entertainment commodities?
GAIN may be a pain but more importantly, GAIN is a LOSS.
Scott
--- begin quoted ---
Recreation inflation
Staci Matlock - The New Mexican 3/20/08
No foolin'.
If you want to bicycle, hike or watch birds in the state-run wildlife areas after April 1, it's going to cost you.
Gone will be the free camping in the Bert Clancy, Mora, and Terrero
campgrounds managed by the state Department of Game and Fish in the
Pecos Canyon.
Gone will be the no-fee waterfowl viewing at McAllister Lake and horseback riding at the Edward Sargent Wildlife Refuge.
Non-hunting and non-fishing visitors will have to pay to play, view and
enjoy 28 wildlife, wildfowl and camping areas managed by the Department
of Game and Fish, according to department spokesman Marty Frentzel. The
new permit is part of the department's Gaining Access Into Nature or
GAIN program. "If you have a fishing license or a hunting license,
that's your permit to go in these areas. And if you are bird-watching
or hiking, we're going to expect you to get a GAIN permit," Frentzel
said.
The department is responsible for managing everything from habitat for
endangered species around the state to elk herds and fish populations.
Until now, most of the department's budget has come from hunting and
fishing fees, and taxes on hunting and fishing gear. About $12 million
of the department's annual budget is from hunting and fishing license
fees. Another $8 to $9 million comes from the state's share of federal
excise taxes on the sell of hunting and fishing equipment. The
department gets some capital outlay state funds for big picture items
such as taking care of dams and fish hatcheries.
But those funds are no longer enough to clean up and manage some of the
state's wildlife areas, Frentzel said. "We're at the point with the
population in New Mexico and visitors to these areas that we can't
provide the services with just the money from hunting and fishing,"
Frentzel said.
The cost of a GAIN permit is $15. Add to that a $4 habitat management
fee and a $1 vendor fee, for a total permit cost of $20. Similar to a
fishing license, the GAIN permit will be good for one year at all the
state managed wildlife and waterfowl areas covered by the GAIN program.
The department will have available a $9 temporary GAIN permit good for five days.
Visitors under age 18 won't need a permit. But each person over 18 will need one.
Arnold Atkins, president of the Truchas Chapter of Trout Unlimited,
said he thinks it's fair to charge hikers, bikers and campers who visit
Game and Fish managed areas. All other land agencies — Forest Service,
national parks, state parks and the Bureau of Land Management — charge
fees at most of their campgrounds and even day-use parking areas. "So
for the life of me, if someone wants to ride horses or hike in the
Sargent Wildlife area and other state-managed sites, I see no reason
they shouldn't contribute to the well-being of the area," Atkins said,
but noted there's no doubt people who've enjoyed the areas for free
aren't going to be happy about paying now.
Doug Jeffords, president of the Upper Pecos Watershed Association,
wouldn't comment on the fees, but he said the organization was
preparing to release a study commissioned last year that showed the
impacts of all kinds of recreation on water quality in the Pecos River
and adjoining streams. Preliminary findings: It's a big, detrimental
impact.
The popular campgrounds in the Pecos Canyon, where people for years
parked their RVs and campers willy-nilly, sometimes right on the edge
of streams, are areas the department wants to improve and manage
better, Frentzel said. The department put up steel railings in 2006 and
reseeded river banks at two of the campgrounds, but more work is
needed.
But the new permit fees to pay for it are going to make long-time Pecos
Canyon visitors upset. "We're going to get hate mail over this,"
Frentzel said, sounding slightly glad to be working out of a Santa Fe
office 45 miles from the campgrounds in question.
The GAIN permit and fees were approved earlier this year by the Game
Commission after several public hearings and commission meetings around
the state.
Frentzel said the money will be used to manage wildlife areas better.
At the Pecos Canyon campgrounds it means having the money to hire
someone to pick up trash, empty trash cans and monitor litterbug
campers.
One of the newest full-time employees hired at the Department of Game
and Fish is an archaeologist. "Before we put a post hole in the ground
we have to do an archaeological survey," Frentzel said. "Environmental
laws have increased costs. For us to keep up with services, we have to
find alternate funding sources."
Frentzel said the department plans to use the first year to educate the
public. "Officers can write warnings at their own discretion," Frentzel
said. "If they catch the same person without a permit two or three
times, then they may write up a citation."
|
BLOG 
