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In each of the two most recent editions of Earth First! Journal, our organization, Wild Wilderness, has warned that our nation’s public lands are under attack from a new enemy. We named the culprit ‘industrial strength recreation’ and identified its chief proponents as the pro-wise use, corporate backed, American Recreation Coalition along with the usual cadre of right-wing Western States Congressmen lead by Senator Frank Murkowski. What we have not revealed in past articles is where this trend is leading, nor have we given specific examples with which to prove our point. And that will be the focus of this article.

It used to be that when we needed a nature fix, we’d jump in the car and head for the nearest mountain or desert. And once we finally pulled off the paved highway, what usually greeted us was a pretty natural outdoor experience just sitting there for us to discover, explore, interpret and enjoy. Unfortunately that type of free wheeling experience is about to go extinct, because the current goal of federal land-managers is to turn that kind of raw nature into a ‘product’ and then to repackage it, market it, and sell it in the form of differentiated ‘brands’ of value-added recreation.

Our public-lands managers are currently working from a list of basic tenets that are key to their new recreation paradigm. After presenting that list, I will provide specific examples of how these assumptions are now being translated into ‘on-the-ground’ projects.

1. Public lands recreation must be self-supporting. The Demonstration Recreation Fee Program recently implemented on many public lands, with the American Recreation Coalition as the program’s private partner, is expected to generate only $300 million over the next six years. In order for recreation to fully "pay its own way," as many are saying it should, then access fees would need to be increased dramatically above these levels, or additional businesses must be operated upon public lands in order to make up the shortfall.
2. The cost of public lands recreation must be increased to the point that privately provided recreation can compete. Raising prices is being touted as the solution to over-crowding now being caused by tourism promotion. The theory is that private recreation providers will be able to absorb this increased customer demand, so long as there is little or no cost differential compared to the public alternative. Many of ARC’s members are providers of private recreation alternatives, Kampgrounds of America (KOA) being a prime example.
3. Federal recreation dollars will be preferentially spent on facilities located near urban population centers. It takes lots of paying customers to run a profitable recreation business. Urbanites tend to have greater disposable incomes and are generally quite willing to purchase recreation. Unprofitable federal facilities will be closed, disposed of, or allowed to fall into disrepair. Preservation, conservation and retaining opportunities for ‘undeveloped recreation’ do not figure in this equation.
4. ‘Under-utilized’ recreational resources should be developed to facilitate increased usage. On the Dept. of Interior’s web site is an article written by B.A.S.S., an ARC member corporation. The article speaks of a terrifically over used motor-boat lake located near Boise Idaho, and explains how this crowding problem could be solved by developing paved access, and new marina facilities to service the absolutely "pristine" Owyhee Reservoir in nearby (yet remote) Eastern Oregon. The wanton sacrifice of such a magnificent lake is unconscionable.
5. Partnerships with private corporations shall be encouraged. In a document entitled "Recreation 2000 Update" the BLM states: "…the Federal government is taking a completely new look at the way we do business… In the past, we relied heavily on congressional appropriations as the traditional means for supporting recreation management efforts. We must now continue to look outward instead of upward for new sources of funding… In the future, we will strive to develop partnerships that assemble a wider range of potential partners who can share resources to help manage defined landscape units." It is not until you read the last page of this document do you discover that the American Recreation Coalition and four ARC member corporations are listed as the "Stake Holders Team" who helped develop this recreation / management agenda.
6. ‘Interpretation’ through informational signage, guided nature tours and the like will be heavily emphasized. This trend is being lead by two organizations, "The National Association for Interpretation" (a BLM Stake Holder) and the Walt Disney Corporation, an ARC sustaining member. In 1995 Disney signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the USFS, the BLM, the National Park Service and four other federal land-management agencies. That agreement defined a working partnership between Disney and the U.S. government and states: "focus areas will include joint environmental education/interpretation efforts…" I’m sorry, but Mickey Mouse knows no more about ecosystem management or biodiversity than Smokey Bear knows about the benefits of fire. This partnership has major implications regarding the type of self-serving, mind altering, corporate propaganda that Disney will be forcing upon future public-lands visitors. They do it at Disney World. They will soon be doing it in the real world as well, but by then we will hardly be able to tell the difference.
7. Scenic Byways and All-American Roads will be designated and actively promoted. ARC, along with its corporate members, Chevron, Exxon and the American Petroleum Institute, have been promoting ‘driving for pleasure’ as one of the center pieces of their motorization agenda. ARC’s membership also includes a half dozen RV Manufacturers, a similar number of RV Campground Associations and a whole host of firms now providing wayside attractions and services. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, " ‘All-American Roads’ are the crème de la crème of all scenic byways… These roads are destinations unto themselves." And for those wishing to nominate a road to receive this great distinction, applicants are instructed to: "Describe how lodging and dining facilities, roadside rest areas, and other tourist necessities are in place or planned for the number of visitors persuaded to visit by the byway’s designation as an All-American Road". The purpose of designating a road as a ‘scenic byway’ is to give people an excuse to burn gas and a chance to spend money along the way. Authorization for this program comes from the federal ISTEA program, another of ARC’s pet projects.
8. New and imaginative methods of doing business will be actively sought. Federal land-managers are quickly learning how to become successful businessmen. In fact, ARC’s Recreation Roundtable has created a special twelve-week private/public training program designed exclusively for high-ranking public employees. This program, called Partners Outdoors, is advertised as follows: "Participating corporations will benefit by opening lines of communication with government, and by learning different ways of doing business. Federal managers assigned to corporate positions will provide insights into government procedures and practices." Does this program benefit the American people, or is this just plain collusion?
9. Land-swaps will be a preferred mechanism for acquiring desired lands. Land swaps are one of the creative financing methods now being used and abused by federal land managers. Each year hundreds of land swaps are occurring whereby public lands are traded for other properties having supposedly equal value. In practice, this process has become a favored tool of private ski area operators seeking to acquire publicly owned mountains. And the more Congress continues to cut federal operating budgets, the better this scam works!
10. Wherever practical or feasible, the management of recreation resources will be turned over to private concessionaires. All around the country, recreation facilities are being put up for grabs. In Central Oregon, for example, the USFS recently sent out a prospectus offering concessions for seven public facilities. One local recreation planner recently stated, "I think we’re at the point where we’re going to have to either get concessionaires or we’re going to have to close campgrounds." Earlier in the year, the same USFS office removed spring-fed water systems from these campgrounds because they could no longer afford to test the water for purity.

Whether we like it or not, federal land managers are operating under an entirely new set of principles. And while they may continue to pay lip service to the idea of biodiversity, conservation and natural resource protection, these agencies are quickly transforming themselves into profit-driven entrepreneurs, simply trying to stay in business and perhaps, make a buck from recreation. Foremost upon their minds are thoughts of downsizing, spinning-off unprofitable assets, brand-management, customer satisfaction and all the usual terms associated with running a profitable business. To these former bureaucrats, what were once recognized as our public lands are quickly becoming their "working capital."

Having provided some feel for the current state of affairs, I’d like to offer a small sampling of projects to illustrate how these policies are actually being used to "commercialize, privatize and motorize" our public lands. Additional examples can be found at the Wild Wilderness Internet web site and readers are urged to contact us with word of new or proposed developments.

The "nature-based tourism marketing company", Egret Communications, has proposed construction of a mile long "spiderweb of elevated walkways" to be suspended within the canopy of a 1500 year old, publicly owned, giant redwood and Douglas fir grove near Brookings, Oregon. The developer has already received a $700,000 grant to evaluate this project and is currently seeking an additional $19 million in federal assistance to complete the project. The attraction is expected to draw 200,000 annual visitors.

In what has been called a "test case", the National Park Service has agreed to allow a private developer to run an IMAX movie theater and shops within Gettysburg National Military Park in exchange for erecting a new visitor center.

The Dodge Ridge Corporation has been granted a one-year special use permit by the Stanislaus National Forest to create a "pay-for-use" groomed ski trail system in an area historically used by backcountry wilderness skiers. This is being touted as an evaluation program designed to "stimulate public comment."

One of the last remaining old growth bottomlands in Central Alabama (Cooter’s Pond) was recently clear-cut the day Army Corp of Engineers signed a 50 year lease agreement with a private golf club. ACE will receive $1 per year in this deal.

The USFS is currently negotiating a land swap, which would privatize 265 acres of public land at the base of Grand Targhee ski slope in Western Wyoming. Three years ago the USFS ruled against a similar swap saying "it would not be in the public interest."

Because the following example is so very special, I have chosen to quote it verbatim from its BLM source. Please read it slowly, for in this one short paragraph, you will see evidence of virtually all of the ten basic tenants: "Deputy Assistant Secretary Slvia Baca is accepting an award on our behalf from the American Recreation Coalition for the brochure commemorating the Black Hills Back Country Byway here in the Safford District (AZ). Decreased funds and staffing have just made us more innovative, more creative and aggressive. Our good ideas and successful track record with partners has been rewarded with numerous grants: The Arizona State Park Off-Highway Vehicle Fund has been used for improvements here at Hot Wells and along the Black Hills Back Country Byway and the Empire-Cienega Resource Conservation Area… Thank you for your help and support in putting ‘recreation’ in BLM’s vocabulary."

If what you’ve already read hasn’t quite turned your stomach, here’s one final example and a glimpse into the future. Consider a future in which America’s National Parks serve as ‘anchor attractions’ for an enormous host of nearby commercial development. This is a vision of the grandest of all possible shopping malls. This is the truly la crème de la crème, Le Grand Mal.

Quoting from Las Vegas Review Journal, "There’s no disagreement that Grand Canyon National Park has big problems… [New Jersey developer] DePaolo’s answer is a $500 million development including 3,650 hotel rooms, 250 campsites and 425,000 square feet of retail space – roughly the equivalent of seven large department stores. It also would include employee housing and a park-and–ride center…" The proposed location of this development is on publicly owned, forest land just south of the park. DePaolo has recently purchased private lands elsewhere in Arizona and is currently discussing a land swap of these lands for the Grand Canyon Portal.

These examples are only the tip of the iceberg for the future of public lands recreation. If you don’t want to be "malled to death" during future visits to our public lands, you might consider showing some serious indignation for what’s going on. Please join us in opposing, and killing, the dreadful Recreation Superbill Legislation now being drafted by Senator Frank Murkowski and the American Recreation Coalition.

The author, Scott Silver, is Co-Founder and Executive Director of Wild Wilderness. Located in Bend, Oregon, Wild Wilderness has fought in support of 'undeveloped recreation' since 1991. Readers can learn much more about this subject by visiting the Wild Wilderness website at -- http://www.wildwilderness.org or phone us at (541) 385-5261

This document was prepared by Wild Wilderness. To learn more about ongoing industry-backed congressional efforts to motorize, commercialize, and privatize America's public lands, contact:

Scott Silver, Executive Director,
248 NW Wilmington Avenue,  Bend  OR 97701
Phone (541) 385-5261    E-mail: ssilver@wildwilderness.org