Date: Sat, 21 Jul 2007 12:34:57 -0700
Reply-To: Don Hanson <dhanson@GORGE.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Don Hanson <dhanson@GORGE.NET>
Subject: Re: Camping..slight rant without V-C
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Good points, Loren
I actually have tried to determine what authorizes the State(s) to collect fees for campers, hikers, bikers, etc..using Federal lands, like "our" national forests. I've written to numerous agencies and got back some 'non-answers'
One interesting factoid I got from a upper mid level State "forester": The state is afraid to prosecute anyone for not having a Forest pass..They are afraid to test the legality in court. They never have.. I was told..."You didn't hear that from ME" by this un-named official.
I was asking what percentage of the Forest Pass revenue was used to actually help the forest, and what % was spent on signing, enforcement and prosecution of violators..No answer there...
I have written my legislators a few times, getting polite form letters in response..
Now, I have always been a big supporter of our Forest Service and National Park camping 'system'..I never welch on paying a fee at self-pay stations and I always try to leave my sites cleaner than when I arrived. But when the only service provided for a fee is a bunch of signs saying "No Parking without Forest Use Pass" I just blow it off. If I get a ticket, I blow that off, too. If they want to prosecute me for that, fine.. But it seems they don't want a test case to hit the courts. (maybe) They (and we)might find out that they are not allowed to double charge us to use public land. Land which we already support through our federal and state taxes..
Don Hanson
----- Original Message -----
From: Loren Busch
To: Don Hanson
Cc: vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com
Sent: Saturday, July 21, 2007 10:07 AM
Subject: Re: [VANAGON] Camping..slight rant without V-C
RE: Changes in FS Policy (Federal)
As a participant in a laege function on FS land each year (and one time member of the planning organization) I saw the beginning of these changes back in the mid '90's. Pushed by organizations like the Sierra Club, the administration at that time urged Congress to start making changes and Congress went along. In 1996 there was even a very real possibility of completely closing many areas that had been open to the public for a century since the motor vehicle came into common use, they wanted to close all vehicle access in many areas around the country. The dramatic expansion of the areas designated "Wilderness" (and thus cut off from any new access or improvements) is one example. At the State level the creation of things like Forest Passes and Snow Park Permits, implemented under the guise of "Saving" some aspect of the outdoors, are strictly a revenue generating device. Here in the NW the severe curtailment of the logging industry resulted in a big loss in revenue, in part for the State Schools. (In Washington State, one section (square mile) of each township (36 square miles) was originally owned by the State to be administered for the benefit of the schools). 40 years ago a good friend of mine, a strong environmental activist at the time, was afraid of what has happened. He predicted that if the actions being sought to protect the natural areas for posterity were not done right everyone would be either completely shut out (preserve it but no one allowed to ever see it) or you would have to have a special license or permit, issued by some low level bureaucrat , to take a walk in the woods.
The bottom line: Only Congress or your State Legislature can make a new law, change an old one, or pass a law to collect 'fees' for common activities. Talk to and write to those people.
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