Discovery pass ticket.

[JosephH]

No matter what perspective you look at it from, the Discovery Pass is a lousy approach to funding the parks.

[rob]

Driving is expensive, what do you expect? Carpool and split the parking fee or something, jeez. Buncha whiners.

 

We should charge $30 a year to park around Greenlake.

 

+1

[fishfinder]

You are absolutely correct. Yesterday I fished the Spokane River along Aubrey White Parkway, near Riverside State Park. In the turnout where I parked, I didn't notice any posted signs regarding permitted parking. Just to be safe, I put my current WDFW "Vehicle Access Pass" on the dash. But I found a $99 ticket on my windshield when I returned to my car.

 

It has never been clear to me why, in some recreation areas, EITHER a WDFW vehicle access pass OR a Discover Pass is required while, in others, ONLY a Discover Pass will do. For those of us with hunting or fishing licenses, a WDFW vehicle access pass is issued with the yearly license. Still, the Discover Pass and WDFW pass sometimes appear interchangeable, sometimes not.

 

After seething for a while, I decided to do some digging and see what my chances were for getting the ticket dismissed....

 

It was easy enough to find out that I wasn't even parked inside a state park. But what I then found out should come as great news for anyone with a WDFW pass who is fed up with this Discover Pass bullshit, so please read on.

 

According to the ticket I was issued, the statute I violated is RCWA 79A.80.080 (section 1b), or "Parking on state lands w/o displaying proper pass." With the aid of my lawyer, I learned that the statute, in its current form, reads as follows (verbatim):

 

(1) A discover pass, vehicle access pass, or day-use permit must be visibly displayed in the front windshield, or otherwise in a prominent location for motor vehicles without a windshield, of any motor vehicle:

(a) Operating on any recreation site or lands; or

(b) Parking at any recreation site or lands.

 

So, by law, ANY of the three parking passes mentioned is sufficient when parking on ANY recreation site or lands. The legislation here is written sufficiently badly that the average person cannot reasonably be expected to comply with it. Nor do I expect any thinking person in the courts to have trouble concluding that the $99 ticket is unenforceable, even if I had parked on state lands... which I hadn't.

 

I am still seething, but for reasons far weightier than a parking ticket that I shouldn't have found on my car. I cannot end without stating a few things I have learned just in the course of trying to be an informed citizen.

 

The Discover Pass program was begun in 2011 to compensate for budget shortfalls in the state park system:

 

http://www.dva.wa.gov/discoverpass.html

http://www.wta.org/action/olympia/discover-pass-faq

 

Those shortfalls resulted from initiatives created by fiscal conservatives looking to be seen to slash taxes and thereby enrich or otherwise empower the people of Washington State. If the public will only tolerate things like legalized slot machines, a hamstrung legislature,

 

http://ballotpedia.org/Washington_Two-Thirds_Legislative_Tax_Approval_Measure,_Initiative_1325_%282014%29

 

or a public parks system that is a hassle to use, then we can enjoy a flat $30 auto registration fee, a 1% lower sales tax, perhaps even a more attractive climate for corporate concerns. I wouldn't really know on that last item. You may appear to "cut taxes" and thus improve our quality of life when you are really defunding the parks department and vastly complicating the business of operating, or simply enjoying what should be one of the most redeeming things about this place. What I do know is that I would rather live in a civil society. I don't blame the cops, who are usually just trying to do their job and uphold the law. Nor do I blame the rangers, whose entire livelihood is being threatened by political speculators.