Jason_Martin Posted December 2, 2004 Posted December 2, 2004 This just in... ________________________________________________________ NOVEMBER 23rd 2004 OHIO CONGRESSMAN RAMS PUBLIC LAND ACCESS FEES THROUGH CONGRESS Western Senators Try But Fail to Stop Controversial Measure 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), succeeded in attaching his bill as a rider to the giant Omnibus Appropriations Bill recently enacted in the lame duck session of Congress. The bill was never passed by the House and was never introduced, given a hearing, or voted upon in the Senate. Omnibus bills are considered “must pass” legislation because of the potential for a government shutdown. Some members of Congress use riders attached to them as a way of getting funding for pet projects often referred to as “pork.” Regula’s bill, HR 3283, allows the federal land management agencies to charge access fees for recreational use of public lands by the general public. The bill has been highly controversial and is opposed by hundreds of organizations, state legislatures, county governments and rural Americans. HR 3283 passed the House Committee on Resources in September under strong pressure from Regula, who is expected to become the next Chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee. His bill is a radical change in the way public lands are funded and stands in contrast to a more moderate competing bill passed by the Senate. There, Senator Thomas (R-WY) sponsored S.1107 that would let the National Park Service retain their entrance fees for local use but would allow access fees to expire in the other agencies. Thomas’s bill passed the Senate in May by unanimous consent but never had a hearing in the House. Early in last week’s lame duck session, Regula’s attempts to attach his rider were strongly rejected by the Chairmen of all four pertinent Senate committees. Senator Thomas of the National Parks Subcommittee, Senator Domenici (R-NM) at Energy and Natural Resources, Senator Craig (R-ID) of the Public Lands Subcommittee, and Senator Burns (R-MT), Chair of the Interior Appropriations Committee, all westerners, succeeded in forcing Regula to remove his rider on Tuesday. By Thursday, however, Regula had reneged on the agreement. He went over the heads of the Senate’s public lands chairmen and struck a deal with Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Regula reportedly agreed to give Stevens funding for a road in a remote community in Alaska in exchange for allowing Regula’s bill to be reattached. That left the four Senators who had negotiated the original deal hopping mad and disappointed millions of fee opponents who expected that such a seismic shift in policy would receive public hearings, not be done behind closed doors “This was a victory of pork over principle,” said Robert Funkhouser, President of the Western Slope No-Fee Coalition, which has worked to oppose the Fee Demo program. “Ralph Regula is responsible for the first tax increase of the Bush administration. He and Senator Stevens have sold out America’s heritage of public lands for the price of a road.” The Regula bill will go into effect when Fee Demo expires at the beginning of fiscal year 2005 unless the new congress acts to derail it. Its key provisions include permanent recreation fee authority for all 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 punishable by up to $5,000 and/or 6 months in jail. 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 and to enforce fee collection. The bill also establishes a national, interagency annual pass called the America the Beautiful Pass, expected to cost $85-$100 initially. These provisions have encountered strong opposition in the west and in rural areas nationwide. The program is considered a double tax by many and puts the burden of funding the management agencies on the backs of rural Americans. Regula’s bill failed to attract a single western sponsor but was co-sponsored by seven eastern congressmen. “This is an abuse of position by Congressman Regula” according to Funkhouser. “Changing public land policy in the middle of the night via a rider is despicable. Once again the Congressman has proven to be hostile to rural and western values and will stop at nothing to push his agenda”. The provisions in HR 3283 are intended to replace the former Fee Demo program, also created by Regula. Fee Demo was similarly passed as a rider on an Omnibus Appropriations bill in 1996. Originally a two-year demonstration, it was repeatedly extended and is now in its eighth year. Fee Demo has sparked protests nationwide and widespread non-compliance. Hundreds of organized groups, as well as four state legislatures and dozens of counties, opposed the program. Contacts: Senator Thomas’s office – 202-224-6441 Congressman Regula’s office – 202-225-3876 Senator Stevens’s office – 202-224-3004 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- November 30, 2004 OK, fellow Public Lands accessors! We may have proof of Divine existence here. There seems to be one last chance to defeat Fee Demo after all. A few days ago it seemed a done deal, then that Ohio Senator pulled his underhanded last minute sneak play, adding Fee Demo to the money bill. The House passed the bill unread, but the Senate objected, and we have a chance. If you never make another political call, make this one! Please read the notice and help! Doug Green, RMCC Conservation ACTION ALERT! PERMANENT FEES CAN STILL BE PULLED FROM REGULA’S OMNIBUS BILL An unexpected delay in final passage of the massive omnibus Appropriations bill has given public lands fee opponents ANOTHER CHANCE to defeat Ralph Regula's scheme to legislate permanent public lands fees behind closed doors using a parliamentary sleight of hand, without debate or public hearings. You may have heard in the news that a clause offensive to privacy Rights advocates (it would allow certain members of Congress and their staffs To view previously off-limits IRS tax returns) was discovered in the Spending bill. The bill, with the offending clause, had already received House approval. The Senate deleted the IRS clause before they voted. The House and Senate versions are therefore different, and so final approval has not yet been achieved and the bill has not yet been sent to the President for signature The Congress has been called back for a second lame duck session beginning December 6 to settle the issues. At that time, House leadership can also make any other changes they like to the bill, INCLUDING REMOVAL OF CONGRESSMAN REGULA’S UNAMERICAN PERMANENT FEE BILL, HR 3283. HELP PULL FEES OUT OF THE OMNIBUS BILL. I am sending the following letter to Leadership of both the House and Senate: Dear Sirs: The Western Slope No-Fee Coalition respectfully requests that you move immediately to delete HR 3283 from the omnibus spending bill currently under consideration by the U.S. House. This bill is substantive legislation, including criminal penalties, that fundamentally changes the way America's public lands are funded and managed. Yet it has never been approved by the full House and has never been introduced, had hearings, or been voted upon in the Senate. HR 3283 would allow the federal land management agencies to charge access fees for recreational use of public lands by the general public. It would replace the Recreational Fee Demonstration Program (Fee Demo) which began in 1996 (via an appropriations rider) as a two-year demonstration and has been extended (as a rider) every year since then, with a permanent fee program. Fee Demo has been highly controversial and is opposed by hundreds of organizations, state legislatures, and county governments and by millions of rural Americans. These fees are a double tax that puts the burden of funding the management agencies on the backs of rural Americans. HR 3283 would constitute the first tax increase of the Bush administration. The attempt to slip such a controversial measure into the omnibus has ignited a firestorm in the West. Fee Demo is even more intensely unpopular now than it was when it was originally implemented, and this bill would be unlikely to pass on its own merits. To tack it on as an appropriations rider is an abuse of legislative power. House leadership should take this opportunity to right the wrong that is about to be perpetrated on the American people. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Robert Funkhouser, President, Western Slope No-Fee Coalition HERES WHAT YOU CAN DO: THIS WEEK, before December 3rd, contact the key congressional leaders Listed below, by phone or fax. Also call or fax your own Representative and both of your Senators. A massive outpouring of opposition, not only to the bill itself but to its method of passage, WILL have a major impact! SAMPLE LETTER OR PHONE CALL: Please remove HR 3283 as a rider on the omnibus spending bill. Substantive legislation, especially with criminal penalties involved, should go through a full legislative procedure of public hearings and debate. I am outraged at this abuse of the appropriations process HR 3283 should not be passed without ever seeing the light of day. (please vary the wording) Here is who to contact: Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House Phone: 202/225-2976 Fax: 202/225-0697 Tom Delay, House Majority Leader Phone: 202/225-5951 Fax: 202/225-5241 Rep. Ralph Regula Phone: 202/225-3876 Fax: 202/225-3059 Bill Young, Chair, House Appropriation Committee Phone: 202/225-5961 Fax: 202/225-9764 Bill Frist, Senate Majority Leader Phone: 202/224-3344 Fax: 202/228-1264 Ted Stevens, Chair, Senate Appropriations Committee Phone: 202/224-3004 Fax: 202/224-2354 Thank you again for your support! Robert Funkhouser Quote
OnTop_of_Poo Posted December 2, 2004 Posted December 2, 2004 Jason, Nice info, I posted this info yesterday... it may be of use here... It is EXTREMELY unlikely that the House will address fee demo again. This bill is not going to back to the Senate, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is holding the omnibus up to gain some political hay over the IRS issue (that all the R's are quickly distancing themselves from). Unless there is a miracle, fee demo is a done deal. For future reference, when trying to make a difference, contact your represenative directly. It's also important to contact the COMMITTEE's that over see these issues. Here is a link to the Senate committee on Energy and Natural Resources. These types of bills live and die in committee's. http://energy.senate.gov or the members at: http://energy.senate.gov/contact/contact_members.html Here is the link to the House Committees that generally oversee land use issues. http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/ http://agriculture.house.gov/ You are correct, this was added fee demo to the omnibus, b/c there is no way it would have passed solo (well, no way the USFS fee demo would have, the NPS version was viewed more favorably.) 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. Quote
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