No forest pass? $5,000 fine and 6 months in jail!

[eric8]

my legislation will limit the kinds of activities for which visitors can be charged. For example, my bill prohibits agencies from charging a fee to access to a visitors center, restroom, picnic table or water fountain. No fee can be charged for stopping at a scenic overlook or roadside exhibit or to access areas where there has been little Federal investment.

 

Thats great, I mean the amount of federal investment into a vistor center compared tr is so much less

[Stefan]

Seems like the Departments were in concert to do this together from the begining, sort of an all the agencys/bureaus or none. Senators Thomas, Craig and Domenici were opposed to the USFS getting in on the permanent fee authoriy (Thomas passed legislation enabling the NPS to have a permanent fee authority), but Senator Stevens (R-AK), chair of Appropiations (a very powerful position) seems to have made a deal with Secretaries at the Department of Agriculture and Interior and left the legislation in.

 

Seems odd that a R-Senator would oppose other western state R-Senators. The Secretaries must have pitched a great position, or another deal.

 

Well look at this piece in the bill AND WHAT IS SAYS ABOUT IN ALASKA IN THE LAST ONE!

 

(b) LIMITATIONS ON FEES FOR CERTAIN PERSONS, ACTIVITIES, AND LOCATIONS- The Secretary concerned may not charge a basic recreation fee with respect to any of the following:

 

(1) A person under 16 years of age.

 

(2) Outings conducted for noncommercial educational purposes by schools or bonafide academic institutions.

 

(3) The following National Park System units:

 

(A) U.S.S. Arizona Memorial.

 

(B) Independence National Historical Park.

 

© Statue of Liberty National Monument.

 

(D) National Park System units in the District of Columbia.

 

(E) The Arlington House-Robert E. Lee National Memorial.

 

(F) Any National Park System unit covered by section 203 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 410hh-2), other than Denali National Park and Preserve.

[tivoli_mike]

"bonafide academic institutions"

 

Well there you go, we will just reorganize ourselves into the University of Crackology. Or perhaps the University of Washington Climbing Club will be overwhelmed by alumni doing "outings".

[Uncle_Tricky]

From the Western Slope No-Fee Coalition:

 

> December 6, 2004

>

> WESTERN OUTCRY FAILS TO STOP OHIO CONGRESSMAN'S RECREATIONAL ACCESS

TAX

>

>

>

> Despite a last-minute outpouring of letters and phone calls and a

> flood of negative editorials, an Ohio congressman with no public lands in his district has forced a measure through Congress to implement

> permanent access fees for recreation on all land managed by the

Forest

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

> Bureau of Reclamation.

>

> Ralph Regula (R-OH), the original architect of the unpopular

> Recreational Fee Demonstration Program (Fee Demo), attached his bill

> as a rider to the giant omnibus appropriations bill. Originally

passed

> on November 20, the omnibus unexpectedly had to be revisited by

> Congress because of language objectionable to privacy-rights groups

> that would have allowed certain members of Congress to scrutinize

> individual tax returns. The omnibus bill passed Monday evening,

> December 6th.

>

> Opponents of Regula's bill seized the opportunity to mobilize a

> massive phone call and letter-writing campaign in a last-ditch

attempt

> to delete it before the final vote. Despite thousands of letters and

> phone calls and press coverage coast to coast, the effort failed. Fee

> opponents have vowed to take their fight to the next Congress.

>

> The fee bill, HR 3283 or the "Recreational Access Tax (RAT), allows

> the federal land management agencies to charge access fees for

> recreational use of public lands by the general public. It has been

> highly controversial and is opposed by hundreds of organizations,

> state legislatures, county governments and rural Americans.

>

> "This is a bad bill and it is a bad tax. It will not be accepted by

> the American people," said Robert Funkhouser, President of the

Western

> Slope No-Fee Coalition, one of the groups coordinating opposition to

> public lands fees. "It was forced through without passing the House

or

> any hearings or debate much less a vote in the Senate. Such a major

> change in policy should be done in an open public process not behind

> closed doors. Congressman Regula has sold out America's precious

> heritage of public lands."

>

> Key provisions of the RAT include permanent recreation fee authority

> for National Forests and BLM land as well as all land managed by the

> U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the

> National Park Service. Failure to pay the fees will be a criminal

> offense. Drivers, owners, and occupants of vehicles not displaying

> either a daily or annual pass will be presumed guilty of failure to

> pay and can all be charged, without obligation by the government to

> prove their guilt. The measure encourages agencies to contract with

> private companies and other non-governmental entities to manage

public

> lands. The bill also establishes a national, interagency annual pass

> called the America the Beautiful Pass, expected to cost $85-$100

> initially.

>

> "Congressman Regula has claimed that fees will be limited to only

> highly developed facilities," said Funkhouser. "But the actual

> language is very broad and contains internal contradictions. The RAT

> prohibits entrance fees for Forest Service and BLM managed lands on

> one hand and authorizes basic or standard fees for the very same

lands

> on the other. It gives the agencies a free hand to decide how large

an

> area a fee can apply to, and it calls for essentially only a toilet

in

> order to qualify. Make no mistake, this bill transfers ownership of

> our public lands from the taxpaying public to the agencies. These

> agencies have a long history of financial bungling and mismanagement,

> and should have more congressional oversight, not less."

>

> Fee opponents plan to work closely with the incoming 109th Congress

to

> repeal the Regula bill, and anticipate strong bipartisan support in

> both houses. In the meantime the Western Slope No-Fee Coalition will

> be monitoring agency implementation of the RAT to ensure that the

> agencies do not implement fees outside this new law. Regula's bill

> failed to attract a single western sponsor but was co-sponsored by

> seven eastern congressmen.

>

Regula is seeking to become Chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee and is running into stiff opposition from Congressmen Jerry Lewis (R-CA) and Hal Rogers (R-KY). While Regula has no public land in his district, both Lewis and Rogers district's have vast tracks of Forest Service and/or BLM managed public lands.

[bunglehead]

This sickens me. Our "representatives" do some very un-represent-ative like things sometimes.

Didn't anybody else in Congress question the motives of a guy with no public lands in his district pass a law involving most public lands?!

 

 

 

[OnTop_of_Poo]

Dude, it's all this "new mandate" that we're living under. You sound so "un-american."

[Blake]

 

We already have to pay to use and visit other public lands (state parks, National Parks, campgrounds) but it seems to me that such high prices and harsh fines for visiting national forests is crazy. We would have a lot more money to maintain and FREELY visit our national public lands if we quit paying timber companies and other corporations to steal the resources off of them.