Fee-Demo is Un-Democratic

A National Day of Action - June 15, 2002

On August 14, 1999 and again on June 10, 2000, dozens of groups and hundreds of individuals came together in locations around the country to protest the growing trend toward pay-to-play, industrial-strength recreation on America's public lands. By all measures, these events were a great successes and did much to draw national attention to this rapidly developing issue. More importantly, these events created enormous momentum and helped grow the number of organizations opposing the recreation fee-demonstration program to over 230, nationwide.

To build upon this momentum, Wild Wilderness is asking for your help in planning, organizing and staging an even larger Day of Action in 2002. We have been working with key groups throughout the country and have selected Saturday, June 15, 2002 for this event. Our event will immediately follow the American Recreation Coalition's annual Washington DC lobby week called: "Great Outdoors Week 2002." We chose this timing to ensure that the recreation industry's strongly PRO-fee-demo message is not the only message heard by Congress and by the media.

With over 230 organizations now opposing fee-demo, the organization of a coordinated National Day of Action has grown too large for such a small group as Wild Wilderness. In calling for this event we accept the risk that if people do not respond to our plea for help, the media may take that to mean there is little opposition to the fee-demo program -- and nothing could be further from the truth. We've taken this gamble in past years and we won because people were willing to help! We are gambling once again and are counting upon your help and support to ensure that this year's event is an even larger success.

The basic message we will try to convey is that the management of recreation on America's Public Lands is at an important CROSSROADS and that FEE-DEMO is UN-DEMOCRATIC.

Will traditional recreational activities such as hiking, fishing, hunting, nature viewing, horseback riding, backpacking and primitive camping continue to be the primary recreational uses of public lands in the future? Or will federal land managers actively work with private partners in order to develop an entirely new recreation "Product Line" - one consisting of higher impact, expensive and, in some cases, environmentally detrimental activities selected primarily for their revenue generation potential?

Will free access to public lands remain a RIGHT of all Americans or will those public lands be closed to all but the wealthy or to those willing to buy exclusive access knowing that in so doing, they can prevent others from using the same resource?

All protests will be locally organized and we encourage organizers to develop a message that represents THEIR reasons for opposing the fee-demonstration program. We appreciate that there is no one right reason for opposing fee-demo. The themes we have selected - "Great Outdoors Crossroads" and "Fee-Demo is Un-Democratic" - were chosen so as to provide a broad and non-restrictive umbrella with which to unite the many protests that will occur on this day. These are the primary messages Wild Wilderness will convey to the media. Individual protest leaders are encouraged to convey whatever messages they consider most relevant.

Protests need not be large or elaborate to be successful. One of the more effective protests done as part of a previous Day of Action consisted of just two individuals who walked along a busy forest road waving signs that read: "Honk if You Hate Forest Fees!" Almost everyone did! Other events were much larger with scheduled speakers, live music and even dancing. Every protest counts, whether is is large and elaborate or small and simple. Please do what you can and your efforts will be rewarded.

In the upcoming days and weeks, please spread the word and let others know about the opportunity afforded by this Day of Action. Please do all you can to generate interest within your own circle of contacts.

Then, most importantly, please contact Wild Wilderness and let us know specifically how you would like to get involved and help make this day a success. We will do our best to coordinate all of the individual events and to ensure that our many combined voices are heard.

Thanks for your help and support. We look forward to hearing from you.

For more information, contact: