The following editorial appeared in the Times-News on January 7, 2000.
So Uncle Sam has decided not to prosecute an Oregon woman who refused to pay a fee before setting foot in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area.
We applaud Majorie Hoye, of Bend, for acting on principle and refusing to knuckle under. We're glad the feds dropped the case. But we don't like their reasoning.
Because Hoye is from out of state, it would be too expensive to prosecute her over a $50 fine, say Sawtooth National Forest officials. That's nice for her, but what does it mean for us locals? Are we to be prosecuted simply because we're easy to find, while non-residents skip free?
For this we pay taxes?
It's time for Smokey Bear to warm to some basic truths about the Recreation Fee Demonstration Project in the Sawtooth National Forest:
* American taxpayers buy the right to use national forest lands every April 15. Charging a separate fee is double taxation.
* Leaning on the locals while declining to prosecute out-of-staters is contemptuous of Idaho residents. Just because we live here doesn't mean we're potato-digging peasants.
* The recreation fee is nothing more than a scheme to make money off of low-impact hikers, anglers and picnickers.
It's worth noting that the Sawtooth Forest is panhandling on public lands while its employees earn handsome salaries by local standards. How would you like a forest supervisor's job that pays nearly $80,000? Or a public relations job that pays $60,000? Or $58,000 to be a wildlife biologist? Or $45,000 to be a forestry technician?
Last year, the average salary for the Sawtooth's permanent employees -- including part-timers -- was $36,700 per year. Keep that in mind next time you buy a recreation pass to help the cash-strapped Sawtooth National Forest.
Most folks don't mind paying a fee when they use something that was expensive to build. Camping at a developed campsite and launching a boat at a boat ramp are activities for which most people will willingly pay.
But c'mon, is walking down a trail or picnicking along a lake really in the same league?
The majority of laws are enforced by moral suasion, not law enforcement officers. Most folks don't rob gas stations, or run red lights because: 1) It's part of living in a civil society; and 2) It gets expensive when you get caught.
We normally wouldn't advocate breaking the law, but the recreation fee program in the Sawtooth Forest is so egregiously bad that it deserves to be met with civil disobedience.
Don't buy a pass. Don't pay anything to settle a citation.
If you don't get cited, great. But if you do, give us a call. We'd like to hear your story, and we'd love to tell it to others. If prosecuting someone from Oregon would have been hard for Uncle Sam, just wait until someone from Gooding or Burley goes on trial.
We doubt that anyone will ever go on trial. The public image of Sawtooth Forest officials, as well as federal prosecutors, can't afford another black eye.
Idaho's congressional delegation should put an end to this demonstration fee program.