1) Stay Home (No Action Alternative). The forest is dirty and dangerous. Leave it to the bears and mosquitoes.

2) Stop Whining. This is government property and they know how to manage it better than you.

3) Take a Hike. Park more than 1/4 mile from the trailhead and add 1/2 mile to your hike. (This alternative, however, accepts the legitimacy of the program and violates the "don't cooperate, it only encourages them" principle.)

4) Take Your Chances (Preferred Alternative). Park at the trailhead without a permit and hope you don't get caught. This actually works most of the time because enforcement is very spotty. The Forest Service can't spend all the fee money paying people to drive around looking for violators and still claim the fees are going towards actual trail maintenance.

If you do get caught, you will probably be given an envelope requesting payment. Go head and pay, but include a statement that you are paying in protest and request that the statement be filed as a formal comment, and send me a copy (see address below) I will be checking to see if the Forest Service is really keeping track of negative comments.

Note: If you get caught without a permit several times, your license number will be put on a watch list and you will eventually be fined.

5) Tell it to the Judge (Civil Disobedience version). Take your ticket to court and plead guilty and pay the fine (or do the time). Make sure you let me know, so that we can maximize the publicity.

6) Tell it to the Judge (Promising, but Unproven Version) Take your ticket to court planning to plead not guilty. The citing officer must appear, and may not feel it's worth the time. If enough of us do this, it just may work.