The following editorial appeared in the Santa Barbara News-Press on May 14, 1998.
Two years ago Congress approved a trial program that called for a $5 daily fee for anyone entering a U.S. National Forest, which is at Santa Barbara's doorstep.
The purpose of the daily charge — or the annual fee of $30 — is to raise money for the Forest Service to make improvements at parks, including repair work that has been put off because of the Forest Service's dwindling budget.
But purpose and the public have been on a collision course almost since the so-called "Adventure Pass" program was announced. Anyone reading this newspaper's letters to the editor section is aware that a major conflict exists.
We have, in recent months, come more and more itno agreement with those critical of the Adventure Pass experiment. Although the pilot program is due for a natural death at the end of next year, there is compelling evidence the Forest Service ought to end it now.
For one thing, more and more retailers are refusing to sell the pass, convinced by protesters or their own beliefs that the Adventure Pass is a demonstration of the federal government's inclination to pile on layers of taxation, excusing it as a "fee."
Of course, a tax is a tax, no matter what government officials want to call it. And that is certainly true with the Adventure Pass, which essentially asks users to pay for a service they've already paid for through their income taxes.
Beyond the double taxation issue, there also is the matter of the Forest Service using revenue from the Adventure Pass program to make improvements to national forests. Just how much improving does a wilderness need? Or, perhaps more importantly, how much improvement do taxpayers think a wilderness should get?
There are enough complaints about this program to give us the answers to those questions. The Adventure Pass should take a hike.