On Saturday, October 31, at the Seattle
headquarters of Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI), activists protested the nationwide
Recreational Fee Demonstration Program, REI's involvement in creating that program,
and the U.S.
Forest Service's related efforts to commercialize and privatize our nation's
public lands. Two groups, Free the Forests of Twisp, Washington, and Wild
Wilderness of Bend, Oregon, sponsored the demonstration.
This action was a follow-up to similar demonstrations held at REI stores in Oregon, Washington, California, and Idaho on October 10. Protests will continue at REI stores until REI publicly explains their role in creating, promoting and implementing the Fee-Demo program. REI responded to the October 31 protest with a written statement admitting support for the user fee concept. However, REI refused to respond to the protesters' allegations that REI was one of the companies directly responsible for creating this highly controversial and unpopular program.
To support their claims, Scott Silver of Wild Wilderness and Isabelle Spohn of Free the Forests displayed a letter addressed to Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman, dated September 2, 1998. The letter appeared on the letterhead of a spin-off of the American Recreation Coalition, The Recreation Roundtable and stated:
"We are very pleased that the National Recreation Fee Demonstration Program, which is the direct result of our efforts, will produce more than $150 million this year in new receipts for the four agencies covered, including an estimated $20 million for the Forest Service."The letter bears the signatures of sixteen corporate executives including Wally Smith, the CEO of REI, who comprise the powerful recreation industry lobby group known as the Recreation Roundtable.
On October 10th, Free Our Forests,
working with the Keep the Sespe Wild Committee organized protests at three
Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI)
stores in California. Though the protesters were few, numerous flyers were passed
out and the word about REI's complicity
with the creation of the Adventure Pass was spread.
Simultaneously, at one Oregon store, one Idaho store, and at two locations in Washington, including REI's Seattle headquarters, protests were held to bring attention to REI's involvement with the Recreational Fee Demonstration Program. These protests got media attention including local networks and a story in the Seattle Times.