Wally Smith, Chief Operating Officer,
PO Box 1928,
Sumner, WA 98390-0800

April 9, 1999

Dear Scott and Mark,

The text of the letter below responds to the questions you raised in our meeting of April 1st.

REI has participated in the Recreation Roundtable, an organization that includes a varied representation of outdoor companies, both motorized and nonmotorized in philosophy. REI has held a seat at the Roundtable in order to represent the views of muscle powered outdoor recreation users. This is consistent with REI's history of working with a variety of organizations to protect the outdoors. REI has never been a member of the American Recreation Coalition (ARC) but since ARC sponsors the Roundtable, our participation in the Roundtable has sent a mixed message to our members.

It has become apparent that our continued participation in the Roundtable causes confusion, as that organization is linked with ARC. In response to this confusion, REI has stepped down from its membership in the Recreation Roundtable.

REI has supported the Fee Demo pilot program because, at least conceptually, it offers a way to provide desperately needed funding for trail maintenance and other resource stewardship needs. While we support the pilot, this does not commit REI to pushing for permanent adoption of Fee Demo when the pilot is concluded - the program must stand on its own merits and it must have the support of outdoor users.

It is a frequently voiced opinion that public lands are something we all pay taxes to support, and Congress needs to adequately fund the stewardship of this legacy. REI agrees, and we have not been shy about communicating this point of view to elected leaders. We will continue to express this viewpoint as opportunities arise. And, as we've done since 1976, we will continue to provide grants to conservation organizations such as the Sierra Club, The Wilderness Society, American Hiking Society, Access Fund and many others around the country who also work to protect America's outdoor legacy.

In the meantime, we favor exploring options and testing ideas that are solution oriented. We will remain open to our members' input in evaluating the options. On the issue of the Fee Demo Pilot, we promise to be rigorous when it is time to evaluate this approach - it must stand on its own and gain public support. We encourage you to contact members of Congress with your perspective as well, as they are the final decision-makers in public lands budget issues. I want to thank the REI members who have provided input regarding these issues.

  Thank you response to Wally Smith's letter from: California Nevada Wilderness Committee, Sierra Club

April 12, 1999

Wally Smith, President and Chief Executive Office
Recreational Equipment, Inc.
P.O. Box 1938
Sumner, WA 98390-0800

Dear Wally:

  Let me express my heartfelt appreciation to REI for withdrawing
from its membership in the Recreation Roundtable sponsored by the
American Recreation Coalition (ARC).  The Sierra Club has worked
so closely with REI and has enjoyed such good support from REI on
many matters relating to protection of our public lands that it
was extremely troubling to find ourselves on opposite sides of
this issue.

  As a Sierra Club public lands/wilderness activist, I share the
concerns that many Sierra Club members and other
environmentalists feel about the ominous potential which the
Recreation fee demonstration program (estabished by a last-minute
Congressional rider in 1996) has to “transform recreational
public lands management over the long term from a public service
orientation to a commercial enterprise.”  Since ARC is the
leading lobbying force behind the original establishment and
subsequent extension of the “fee-demo” program, and since ARC’s
mostly motorized recreation corporate members stand to gain most
from a trend toward more motorized and commercial recreation
facilities on our public lands, REI’s association with this group
did indeed, as Kathleen Beamer put it, send out “a mixed message”
-- a troubling one -- to concerned REI members.

  It is not too surprising that REI chose to give some initial
support to the “fee-demo” program, as “conceptually,  it offers a
way to provide desperately needed funding....”.  Many Sierra Club
members felt that way too, at the beginning.  They gave the
program at least a grudging nod for the reason mentioned above.
I myself was neutral about it at first.  But only at first. As I
began to learn more about the antecedents of the program and who
was involved, and what is involved, I changed my tune.  Recently,
I have worked to help convince the Sierra Club to reaffirm and
strengthen its opposition to user fees.  I attach to this letter
for your information the simple, single-page Sierra Club position
paper on this issue, which I will also send with a hard copy of
this letter, along with the resolution against recreational user
fees passed last September by the Sierra Club’s California/
Nevada Regional Conservation Committee, and since adopted
nationally.

  I quote here a brief excerpt from the position paper, part of
the Siera Club statement on Introduction of the Forest Tax Relief
Act in February of this year: “We oppose the user fee program for
many reasons that are even more important to the environmental
health of public lands than a reluctance to “pay to play”...There
is strong evidence that recreational interests that generate the
most income like mechanized-lift skiing, off-road vehicle use,
resort development and power boating would take precedence over
lower impact activities like hiking, camping, nature study, and
educational outings.” We are indeed grateful that REI has been so
responsive to the concerns of its members that it has withdrawn
from the Recreation Roundtable.  I hope that REI will now
withdraw its support from the fee-demo program.  You have given
fee-demo a chance.  It has been demonstrated.  You are learning
of the breadth and depth of the opposition to it.  We believe it
is time to revise your original stand.  We invite you to join the
Sierra Club and many others in supporting HR 786, the Forest Tax
Relief Act by California Representatives Mary Bono and Lois
Capps.

  However, simply stopping this program will not solve the
problem of insufficient funding for public lands recreation!
Therefore we also ask REI to join us and to help us in
undertaking a massive, critical lobbying campaign of the U.S.
Congress to restore the much-needed public funding for public
lands recreation.

Thank you for your help.  Please let us know if you have any
questions on the Sierra Club’s position on this issue.  We look
forward to working with you to maintain the honored American
tradition of accessible public lands for a caring public.

Sincerely,


Vicky Hoover, chair
California/Nevada Regional Wilderness Committee
REI member # 50109 
Member since 1966