Recreation fee passes

By SCOTT McMILLION, Chronicle Staff Writer

Congress has approved a new program allowing the federal government to charge recreation fees on public lands across the nation, generating what one supporter estimated would be $200 million for the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service and other bureaucracies.

The measure was attached last month as a "rider" to the $388 billion omnibus appropriations bill.

Both of Montana's senators are unhappy with the new bill -- though they voted for the larger spending measure it piggybacked -- and plan to tackle the issue again in the future.

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont, "is absolutely furious that this provision was stuffed in the spending bill in the dark of night," said spokesman Barrett Kaiser. "He views it as an assault on Montanans' rights to access public lands."

Kaiser said Baucus did not know the rider was in the huge bill.

Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., "wasn't too terribly excited about the way it came about," said spokesman J.P. Donovan.

Burns, too, wants to readdress the program, he said.

On the other hand, Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., supports the measure.

"He had some concerns about it, but they were addressed," spokesman Tom Schultz said, adding that Rehberg voted for the measure in the House Resources Committee.

The bill was pushed by Rep. Ralph Regula, R-Ohio. It stipulates that 80 percent of the money must stay in the park or forest that generates the fees, to be used on recreation projects.

The 40-page bill gives guidelines, but doesn't stipulate how much to charge or where. Local advisory councils will help the federal government figure that out. In general, more developed areas are more likely to require fees.

Once the fees are in place, people who don't pay them face the possibility of up to six months in jail and a $5,000 fine.

Congress in 1996 passed a limited recreation fee program. The new law expands that program and applies it for 10 years.

It also allows for an "America the Beautiful" pass, which would allow entry to all federal recreation lands, including national parks.

Recreation fees are rare on Montana federal lands, but in other states they are common.

In Oregon's Deschutes National Forest, signs at many Forest Service roadside pullouts and parking areas warn that people could be ticketed if they park without buying a pass in advance.

Scott Silver, executive director of Wild Wilderness, a Bend, Ore., recreation group, provided a list of more than 300 groups, including the Oregon and California legislatures, that oppose recreation fees.

People already support public lands with their tax money, he said. Plus forcing payments creates new perceptions between the public and federal agencies.

"They're treating us as their customers, instead of them treating us as their employers," he said.

That isn't necessarily a bad thing, some say.

Rather, it could give agencies an incentive to provide what people want, said Bishop Grewell, a research associate at the Property and Environment Research Center in Bozeman. For example, the Forest Service might drop a timber sale in an area that generates recreation money.

He also compared federal lands to mass transit systems: they often are subsidized with tax money, but you still have to buy a ticket.

Some in the recreation industry, particularly those that cater to motorized and developed-site users, support the new fees.

"This is a good framework for improved recreation experiences," said Derek Crandall, executive director of the American Recreation Council.

He estimated the new law will generate at least $200 million yearly in extra money, most of which would go toward facility improvement.

Lorette Ray, spokeswoman for the Gallatin National Forest, said last week the Forest Service won't analyze the program until President Bush signs it into law.

The House of Representatives will convene Dec. 6 to take another look at the omnibus spending bill and Silver said a number of groups are hoping to remove some riders from it at that time.

Kaiser said that brief session will be mostly for bookkeeping.

"For all intents and purposes, it's a done deal," he said.

Scott McMillion is at scottm@dailychronicle.com

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