Timber companies charge fees

Hunting will be more expensive this year for sportsmen using some private timber company lands.

Potlatch Corp., beginning today, is charging for recreational access to more than 600,000 acres of company-owned property in the St. Joe and Clearwater regions. Fees for the required annual pass will be based on recreational users’ vehicle type, ranging from $100 for a motor home to $25 for a motorcycle or ATV.

However, fees will not be charged for recreational use on 55,000 acres of Potlatch land along the St. Joe River that was signed into a conservation easement with the Trust for Public Lands two years ago.

Potlatch, which is headquartered in Spokane, has allowed free public recreation on its Idaho lands for more than a century.

The new fees are necessary to pay costs associated with vandalism from public use and illegal dumping, company officials said. Last year, the company spent $10,000 repairing damage from a single incident of mud-bogging in a fragile meadow.

“Purchase permits online at www.potlatchcorp.com (click on “hunting/recreation leases”). Eventually, permits also will be sold through local vendors.

Inland Empire Paper Co. has increased access fees for the first time since it began selling permits six years ago for recreational access to its 115,000 acres of forestland in Washington and Idaho. Families will pay $65 this year for an annual pass, individuals pay $40. Infrequent users can buy a one-day permit for $10.

“Purchase permits through vendors, including White’s Outdoor in Spokane, Hico convenience store in Rathdrum, Hauser Market and Smoke Shop in Hauser Lake and Levis Minit Market in Deer Park.