Fee Demo Action

[Jason_Martin]

I don't know if this particular info has been placed on this site yet... So here it is:

 

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=161-09092003

 

 

Assistant Secretary Lynn Scarlett: Recreational Fee Demonstration

Program

Enhances Visitor Facilities and Services

 

 

9/9/03 4:00:00 PM

To: National Desk

 

 

Contact: Joan Moody of the U.S. Department of the Interior,

202-208-6416

 

 

WASHINGTON, Sept. 9 /U.S. Newswire/ -- In testimony today before the

Subcommittee on National Parks of the Senate Committee on Energy and

Natural

Resources, Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget Lynn

Scarlett stated that S. 1107 should be amended to allow for a new

interagency national pass, standardizing recreation fees, and forming

partnerships with states and gateway communities. "Our suggested

amendments

to S. 1107 are the result of a great deal of analysis and discussion

through

the Interagency Recreation Fee Leadership Council," said Scarlett.

"These

concepts were developed from the lessons learned in administering the

Fee

Demo program."

 

 

Assistant Secretary Scarlett recommended that in addition to the

National

Park Service, the permanent program should include the Bureau of

Reclamation, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,

and

USDA Forest Service. The creation of a new annual interagency pass

would

expand the National Parks Passport to cover all participating agencies

and

would consolidate the Golden Passes established under the Land and

Water

Conservation Fund Act. Consolidating these passes would decrease

visitor

confusion about various agency passes and shift the emphasis to

recreation

opportunities on federal lands, Scarlett testified.

 

 

In order to standardize recreation fees and minimize fee layering, a

new

system of "basic" and "expanded" recreation fees would be consistently

applied across all agencies and would minimize fee layering by ensuring

that

the basic fee covers the primary attraction site. By developing

partnerships

with states and gateway communities, all can work together in concert

to

promote tourism and better serve visitors. Such efforts are consistent

with

Secretary Norton's "Four C's" -- Communication, Consultation, and

Cooperation, all in the service of Conservation.

 

 

The Fee Demo was developed in 1996 in direct response to the federal

agencies' concern about growing backlog maintenance needs. The program

allowed participating agencies to retain a majority of recreation fees

at

the site collected and reinvest those fees into enhancing visitor

facilities

and services. "A permanent recreation fee program enhances the

Department's

efforts to support the president's initiative to address the deferred

maintenance backlog at our national parks," Scarlett said.

"Authorization of

a permanent program would allow the agencies to better serve visitors

by

making long-term investments, and creating more partnerships."

Assistant

Secretary Scarlett emphasized that while much has been learned from

administering the Fee Demo program, the proposed permanent recreation

fee

program would be dynamic and responsive to new lessons.

 

 

http://www.usnewswire.com/

-0-

/© 2003 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/

 

 

 

 

=======BEGIN ACTION ALERT========

 

 

Subject: Alert! E-mail DC on Fee Demo!

 

 

Please send a quick e-mail to DC by Tuesday September 23rd, opposing

Fee

Demo on lands administered by the US Forest Service, the BLM and the US

Fish

& Wildlife Service.

 

 

Senator Craig Thomas (R-WY) is holding a public hearing on 9.9.03 on

his

bill, S.1107, which will make Fee Demo permanent ONLY for the National

Park

Service. The public record is open for citizen comments on this bill

for

two weeks after 9.9.03, until 9.23.03.

 

 

Please remember that with Congress hesitating to make Fee Demo

permanent

except in National Parks, this is the year to keep the pressure on!

e-mails

are quick and easy - can you help generate more?

 

 

(Please note, we first sent out this alert on 7.27.03, only to hear

that the

public hearing then scheduled for 7.29.03 was postponed at one day's

notice.

You may, therefore, have already responded to this alert. If possible,

can

you resubmit the same email?)

 

 

 

 

WHERE TO SEND YOUR E-MAIL:

megan_badasch@energy.senate.gov

 

 

WHAT TO SAY

** Please thank Senator Thomas for NOT including permanent recreation

fees

for the US Forest Service, BLM or US Fish & Wildlife Service!

 

 

** Add your own comments about Fee Demo in National Parks. Though not

so

controversial as forest fees, there are two sides to Park Service fees.

(See BACKGROUND, below.)

 

 

** State briefly why you DON'T like Fee Demo in the other three

agencies.

 

 

BASIC SAMPLE LETTER (please add to it and use your own words!

Look-alike

e-mails carry less weight.)

 

 

Senator Craig Thomas,

Chair, Subcommittee on National Parks,

364 Dirksen,

Washington, DC 20510.

 

 

 

 

Dear Senator Thomas,

 

 

Thank you for not including permanent fees for all four public lands

agencies in S.1107.

 

 

Recent increases in the entrance fees have led to a drop in visitation.

 

 

I strongly object to paying a fee to visit undeveloped public lands

managed

by the Forest Service, BLM and US Fish & Wildlife Service, but I don't

mind

a small fee for a car campground or boat launch and am willing to pay

modest

National Park entrance fees.

 

 

Please include this letter in the public record for the hearings on

S.1107.

 

 

Thank you.

Yours, sincerely,

(name and address)

 

 

 

 

BACKGROUND ON PARK SERVICE FEE DEMO -

Park Service fees have some major differences from Fee Demo in the

other

three agencies -

 

 

** Parks had staffed entry kiosks before Fee Demo, so less money was

spent

on collecting fees, compared with, for example, new forest fees.

 

 

** Parks tend to be destinations (rather than, say, the National

Forest

adjacent to your backyard).

 

 

** Parks usually have more amenities than National Forests, and

visitors

expect (at least some of) these.

 

 

 

 

OTHER POINTS -

** Fee Demo allows the Park Service to keep and use entry fees that

previously were sent off to the US Treasury. This can lead to further

commercialization.

 

 

** National Parks are now adding further new fees (on top of entry

fees)

such as backcountry hiking and camping fees, parking fees, etc.

 

 

** Entry fees doubled (or more) with Fee Demo, which may be one reason

visitation is down.

 

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Scott Silver

Wild Wilderness

248 NW Wilmington Ave.

Bend, OR 97701

 

 

phone: 541-385-5261

e-mail: ssilver@wildwilderness.org

Internet: http://www.wildwilderness.org

 

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

 

 

 

-- "the most powerful weapon an oppressor has is the mind

of the oppressed"; Steven Biko

[Jason_Martin]

Just want to keep this at the top for awhile...

 

J.