The following editorial appeared in the Ventura County Star on January 11, 2000.
ADVENTURE PASS: Few parks users like what was costly experiment.
Three years ago, when the Adventure Pass was first imposed in Los Padres National Forest and other federal areas, critics claimed that so much of the money would be absorbed by administering the fee, there would be little left to finance the promised repairs and maintenance to trails and facilities. The critics' claims now have been proved all too true.
The U.S. General Accounting Office ran a three-year audit of the fees from four forests and park areas, and found that of the $64 million collected, only $22 million -- slightly more than one-third -- was spent on repairs and maintenance. Keep in mind that, as the official federal watchdog on spending, the GAO has no visible axes to grind -- no reason either to oppose or to defend the Adventure Pass.
The $64 million included in the four audited parks and forests is only a part of the total of $219.6 million paid by Adventure Pass buyers in all the federal areas in those three years. The money has financed such varied projects as a new orientation center at the Grand Canyon and a study of bison at Yellowstone.
Under the law imposing the fee, only 30 percent of the money may be spent on implementing the Adventure Pass -- which, in most forest areas, is $5 per day and $30 per season. But another 20 percent of the total may be spent outside the forest area where the money is collected.
Los Padres wasn't among the areas in the audit, which included only one federal forest in California -- Sequoia-Kings Canyon. The Associated Press has reported that the Adventure Pass program raised $6.3 million during the first three years it was imposed in California, including Los Padres National Forest.
Despite the high costs of overhead, both congressional and Park Service spokesmen hail the Adventure Pass program as a great success. They explain the gap between collections and improvements by saying that it takes time -- and administrative planning -- to make improvements.
Some national park fees are going up this year, including the cost of taking a car into either Yosemite or the Grand Canyon, which is doubling from $10 to $20.
There's some consolation for park and forest users in the abolishment of what have been considered "nuisance fees" at some state parks -- $1 to bring in a dog, for example, or $1 for a boat.
Nonetheless, despite the token drop in state "nuisance fees," the Adventure Pass program now seems an entrenched part of the forest experience. Even though, to thousands of outdoor enthusiasts, the Adventure Pass is the biggest nuisance of all.