Idahoans volunteer to make Hells Canyon improvements in place of unpopular entrance fee

LEWISTON – Volunteerism and collaboration appear to be replacing a U.S. Forest Service proposal to charge a recreation fee to enter the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area.

The 2016 proposal that would have required people to pay $5 to $10 each to enter Hells Canyon was poorly received by the public and eventually dropped by the agency. Its stated purpose was to raise revenue to chip away at a reported maintenance backlog of more than $1 million at boat ramps, campgrounds and historic sites.

Money from the fee would also have been used to increase river patrols by the agency and to perhaps provide Wi-Fi hotspots in the canyon.

Most of the people who attended public meetings about the proposal were adamantly opposed, saying the agency should rely more on volunteers and grants to reverse the backlog.

The Hells Canyon Recreation Collaborative, endorsed by Idaho’s congressional delegation, began forming shortly after the proposal was dropped and kicked off its official volunteer partnership with the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest last week. The effort will put boots on the ground in November during a project to revamp the water system and bathrooms at Pittsburg Landing.

“This is our counterproposal to (the proposed fee increase) – forming this group of all users and trying to not to leave anybody out so we can have a say and get volunteerism going,” said Shay White, a jet boater from Meridian who is a member of the Western Whitewater Association and serves as co-chairman of the collaborative group.

During the second and third week of November, members of the collaborative and volunteers will work with a contractor to upgrade the potable water system at the Pittsburg Landing Campground and boat launch.

The group will also paint bathrooms and perform maintenance at the campsites. The group applied for and received a nearly $150,000 grant from Idaho Parks and Recreation to pay for those upgrades.

Collaborative members also have plans to perform maintenance at Kirkwood Ranch, Cache Creek and at the Hells Canyon Dam boat ramp in the coming months and years.

Mark Yates of Hells Canyon Adventures represents commercial rafters in the collaborative and serves as the other co-chairman. Yates said people who frequently visit and love the canyon prefer the hands-on volunteer approach to paying a fee, which could have created more bureaucracy.

“We think by going this route we can actually assist the Forest Service, and we can see what our money is doing. It doesn’t burden the taxpayers,” he said.

Mark Bingman, a deputy district ranger at the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, said he welcomes the group and looks forward to working with its members.

“It’s great to have a group that is willing and wanting to come along side us and wanting to get things done,” Bingman said. “To me, it’s really good to have partners on the ground that want to help me. It’s really their national forest, so the more involved they want to be the more we are going to welcome them helping us out.”

The group is made up of commercial and private rafters and jet boaters, backcountry pilots, hikers, horse packers and outfitters. Kelli Rosellini, a hired coordinator for the group, said it will begin holding regular meetings in December and rotate between Lewiston, Boise and Riggins.

The meetings will be held through May and take a break during the busy recreation season in the canyon. Meeting times and location will be posted on the group’s website at hellscanyonrecreation.org.

The Clearwater Resource Conservation and Development Council is handling some of the administrative and legal functions of the group such as serving as its fiscal agent.

Rosellini said the group is looking for more people to participate in the collaborative, especially those representing private and commercial rafters and trail users. Those interested are encouraged to attend meetings starting in December or to contact Rosellini at krosellini@gmail.com.

Rosellini also serves as a coordinator of the Clearwater Basin Collaborative, a group helping to guide management of the Clearwater-Nez Perce National Forest with an eye toward smoothing over long-running disagreements about timber management, preservation and recreation.

She said the Hells Canyon Recreation Collaborative is much more narrowly focused, and that will help it be successful.

“Our aim is really singular,” she said. “Instead of a broad forum that is more politically based, we are on the ground and actively seeking to improve recreation amenities in the canyon. Our focus is really on on-the-ground efforts.”