The following editorial appeared in the Seattle Time on May 31, 2000.
Hard questions need to be asked about the value the public receives for recreational fees paid to the U.S. Forest Service.
The Recreational Fee Demonstration Program expires next year, and hikers, campers and outdoor enthusiasts deserve to know where all the money is going.
In theory, millions in fees go to maintain trails, spruce up campgrounds, provide portable toilets and clean restrooms, and pay for adequate uniformed staff during that busy stretch from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
Times reporter Hal Bernton found another story in the intense, high-use national forests that are Puget Sound's backyard playground. Maintenance backlogs are huge, facilities are tattered and worn, and thinly staffed crews are pushed to the limits by soaring numbers of visitors.
In the meantime, the Forest Service and kindred federal agencies are collecting fees to camp, park, picnic, hike, fish and pick berries on public land. Where does the money go?
The Forest Service says the fees make up for tax dollars that Congress has not provided for years. In theory, the public has already paid to help run U.S. forests through their taxes, but the Forest Service is not receiving its share of those dollars.
So campers and day-use visitors are taxed again through user fees. This makes some sense because it allows those who cause the wear and tear to pay for repair, maintenance and operating expenses.
Unfortunately, the Forest Service cannot account for the money. Bernton explained that the Government Accounting Office is trying to untangle the agency's bookkeeping practices. Suffice it to say the trails, toilets and staff are not getting the money.
Another problem is the Forest Service's dipping into recreational fees for agency overhead in addition to the overhead for the fee program itself: collection, enforcement, education and marketing.
All of this comes with a nasty Catch-22. The evidence seems clear that as the Forest Service collects more fees, Congress is even less likely to hand over money from the general treasury.
Congress pinches pennies, and the Forest Service cannot account for the fees. Fantastic.
Before the current fee regimen is renewed, or made permanent, the Forest Service owes the fee payers a detailed explanation of where the money went.