On April 30th, the Ouray County Board of
Commissioners passed a resolution to suspend fees charged under the
Recreational Fee Demonstration Program (Fee Demo) in the Canyon Creek/Yankee
Boy area near Ouray, Colorado.
The County Commissioners' action was in response to recommendations made by the newly formed Yankee Boy Regional Conservation Association (RCA). The Association was formed by local residents and regional groups, including the Western Slope No-Fee Coalition (WSNFC), to address concerns about resource protection and end access fees to public lands in the area.
"We are extremely pleased and would like to thank the Ouray County Commissioners and the Yankee Boy RCA for making this happen. What we see here is local citizens and government taking back their public lands. They’re putting the public back into public lands." said WSNFC president Robert Funkhouser.
The Fee Demo program at Canyon Creek was the only one in the entire nation to be invited in by a local government and has been the focus of controversy since it was implemented in May of 2001. It has been the site of numerous protests, criminal charges and court cases. "In the end it was unpopular with most everyone. The locals, the users and the tourists felt like they had been alienated" added Funkhouser.
The Yankee Boy RCA plans to use volunteers for Alpine Hosts and maintenance projects starting this May. The Forest Service will continue to maintain campgrounds and toilet facilities under the agreement. There will continue to be a charge for camping. "This is a great solution" according to Yankee Boy RCA vice-president Mike Nadiak "We are looking forward to working with the County and the Forest Service."
"The Yankee Boy change is a positive step, but Yankee Boy is a unique situation. This solution would not be appropriate for almost any other Fee Demo area. It is important that Congress appropriate adequate funding to the land management agencies and intensify its efforts to oversee how those funds are spent." Said WSNFC co-founder Kitty Benzar "The Fee Demo site at the Gunnison Gorge is a good example. Charging taxpayers a fee to access a river is contrary to the fundamental meaning of public lands. There’s no added value. The Gunnison Gorge Fee Demo site is simply a cash cow for the BLM."
On April 25, Mrs. Laurel Menoche represented
herself before a U.S. Magistrate in federal court on charges of violating
the Recreational Fee Demonstration Program's Northwest Forest Pass project.
The magistrate had been prepared to rule from the bench after reading the trial brief, but stated after Mrs. Menoche's arguments that he would need to review some of her arguments.
In a ruling one week later on May 6th, the magistrate found Mrs. Menoche guilty and ruled that the Forest Service could issue tickets to vehicles.
Mrs. Menoche plans to appeal her case.
On April 18, the Village of Oak Creek Business Association
issued a statement calling for the elimination of the Recreational Fee
Demonstration Program known in the Oak Creek area as the "Red Rock
Pass." The statement also calls for full funding of public lands
agencies. The statement was also sent in a letter to Senator Jon Kyl of
Arizona.
The statement reads as follows:
"Sedona Village Business Association opposes the Red Rock Pass Fee Program and urges Congress to fully fund US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service and Fish and Wildlife Service, to protect and manage our public lands for the benefit of all taxpayers."
On April 1, the Pima County Board of
Supervisors passed a resolution asking Congress to eliminate the
Recreational Fee Demonstration Program, and to restore proper funding to
public lands agencies.
The resolution reads as follows:
"WHEREAS, the U.S. Congress in 1996 authorized the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to levy fees under a Recreation Fee Demonstration Programs, charging U.S. taxpayers to enter public land under their management; and
WHEREAS, the notion of requiring citizens to enter public lands is contrary to the concept embodied in our Constitution and laws since the founding of our country, that public lands belong to all U.S. citizens and thus are places where everyone is granted free access and is welcomed; and
WHEREAS, this Recreation Fee Demonstration Program constitutes double taxation that bears no relationship to actual costs public visitation cause, and reduces the access to public land of low-income citizens, unjustly punishing them for their poverty; and
WHEREAS, Congress' authorization of the Recreation Fee Demonstration Program was attached as a rider to other legislation and thus never was debated in either the Senate or the House of Representatives, and never was subject to public comment; and
WHEREAS, Congress has used the program as an excuse to cut funding for management of public lands under Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management jurisdiction, thereby leaving our public lands with less money than before the program began; and
WHEREAS, the program reduces visitation of public lands that are a strong tourist attraction - and tourism is important to many local economies, including the economy of Pima County; and
WHEREAS, the Recreation Fee Demonstration Program has been imposed for once popular local attractions - Mount Lemmon, Sabino Canyon and Madera Canyon - preventing low-income residents and tourists from visiting them, and creating significant local opposition to the program, adding voices to opposition across the country.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Pima County Board of Supervisors calls upon Congress to abolish the Recreation Fee Demonstration Program as an injustice and a failure, and to restore land-management funding for the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and Fish and Wildlife Service adequate to provide for those agencies' full needs without the charging of fees;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT copies of this resolution be sent to Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, President George W. Bush, each member of the Arizona Congressional delegation, the majority and minority leaders of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, and to the U.S. departments of Agriculture and Interior."