National Forests May Soon Cost Nature Lovers A Pretty Penny
Don’t take a trip into the national forest for granted.
One day you might be charged an entrance fee.
Like state parks budgets, the U.S. Forest Service is finding it increasingly difficult to keep up with maintenance and other costs associated with recreation on public lands.
Last year, Congress authorized the Recreation Fee Demonstration Program, a four-year experiment with user fees on federal lands.
While user fees have been around for years in National Forests, typically for campgrounds, this program expands the types of fees charged and directs 80 percent the money back to the site where it was spent.
“The novel idea is, let’s let the managers keep the money and see what they can do,” explained Floyd Thompson with the U.S. Forest Service in Washington, D.C.
In New Hampshire and California, two national forests are now charging fees for driving and parking anywhere in the forest. Users can buy a year’s pass or pay $5 each time they visit the forest.
At places like Mt. Shasta in California and Redfish Lake in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, managers are charging boaters to use boat launches.
Additional user fees in the Sawtooths are under discussion.
The project also allows for the creation of new services, such as Heritage Expeditions.
Idaho’s first Heritage Expedition was a five-day float and jet boat trip down Hells Canyon in July with archeologists to study Native American rock art.
Four people paid $1,715 each for the catered, guided trip and for the chance to learn about the ancient paintings and carvings from experts. Some of the paintings date back 8,000 years.
The archeologists were able to clean crayon and whitewash off three sites, and the money that the agency made will go back into preserving the rock art.
“I’ve done a lot of things in my Forest Service career, but it’s the best thing I’ve ever done,” Keyser said.
The demonstration project will continue through 1999, when Congress will look at permanent legislation.
, DataTimes