tired of paying to access your own backyard? tired of seeing forest economics, industry subsidies and social inequity that stipulates only those w/ cash can access our national forests? then DO SOMETHING about it!!! come out to the rally opposing Fee Demo this June 15th. Get educated, get involved and help save YOUR public lands!
Press Release to follow:
LOCAL HIKERS PLAN USER FEE PROTEST 11-1 PM JUNE
15TH AT INTERSECTION OF YALE AVENUE N AND JOHN
STREET [near REI]
For the past 100 years, our nation's public lands have been managed so as to maximize the commodity value that could be extracted from them. Today, a major shift in federal land management policy is being developed and implemented. Instead of extracting commodities from nature, nature itself is being converted into a commodity to be repackaged, marketed and sold in the form of value-added recreation products.
As part of a nationwide protest against recreational user-fees, local hikers, fishermen, picnickers and other outdoor lovers will be protesting and conducting a "teach-in" in Seattle at the corner of Yale Avenue N and John Street [near the REI] on Saturday June 15th from 11-1 PM. The group plans on disseminating information and answering questions about the US Forest Service Recreation Fee Demonstration Program [Fee Demo].
"Fee-Demo, is un-democratic, exclusionary, discriminatory and some would say, just plain un-American," said Seattle-area protest organizer David Dittrich. "It violates this nation's long held tradition of free access to our public lands. These lands are part of our birthright and should be managed by congressional appropriation, not by user fees," he said.
Turning nature into a commodity underlies the Fee-Demo project authorized on a three year trial basis in 1996 by Congress. "There are over 200 groups and organizations involved in the nationwide Fee-Demo protest and what it represents," said Dittrich.
"We're concerned the Forest Service can't account for the money they spend," Dittrich said. "They admit that only 45% of the fees collected actually go to trailside improvements."
According to Dittrich, "The purpose of the protest is to educate the public and communicate to Congress that Fee-Demo is extremely unpopular and is not the way to fund recreation on public lands." The event is part of a nationwide protest on June 15th, "To raise citizen's awareness that public lands and being taken over by private interests who want to limit access by imposing user fees and recreation fees," said Dittrich.
Noted area hikers and outdoor enthusiasts Harvey Manning and Lowell Skoog have added their names to a growing list of people protesting Fee-demo. A history of the USFS fee demonstration project is available from Scott Silver by calling 541.385.5261 or point your browser to www.wildwilderness.org