Photos by Kent Treptow/The Olympian
Rob Plankers, a manager at Alpine Experience in Olympia, displays some of the permits he uses to access wilderness areas around the state. "I wish there was just one permit for everything," he says.

National Park Service ranger Mike Connolly (right) assists with permits as hikers hand over the $15 per person fee. Strapped for cash, the agency has cut back the operating times of its Paradise ranger station to three days a week.

Land of the Fee

Recreation fee issue still festers

N.S. NOKKENTVED, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published June 12, 2001

OLYMPIA -- A backpacker headed into the Olympic National Park from a national forest trail head needs a Northwest Forest Pass from the U.S. Forest Service to park at the trail head and a wilderness permit and an overnight camping permit from the park service.

In addition, climbers need permits and fees for each mountain -- one for the Olympics, one for Rainier, and another for St. Helens.

Some people object to the number of fees.

"I don't mind paying, but don't nickel-and-dime me to death," said Rob Plankers of Olympia.

Plankers is an avid mountain climber, and he uses the national park and forest lands more than most people. He would not complain about paying a single fee. But he objects to having to pay fees to each place he visits.

His complaint is familiar.

"We know it's confusing for people," said Barb Maynes, Olympic National Park spokeswoman. The park is working with the Forest Service on simplifying the fees where the two adjoin, she said.

The Pacific Northwest is blessed with an abundance of outdoor recreation opportunities. But increasing use has land managers complaining about budgets that don't cover their maintenance needs.

State and federal agencies charge fees for various recreation activities, but their reasons are similar.

The federal recreation fee program was authorized in 1996 as a three-year pilot program. It went into effect in 1997 and has since been extended through September 2002. Whether it continues beyond that date is up to Congress.

The government has been charging fees at campgrounds and park entrances for many years, but people aren't used to fees in day-use and backcountry areas, Olympic National Forest spokesman Ken Eldredge said.

The fees are meant to help pay for maintenance and for restoring lands impacted by recreation -- to help fill the gap between needs and what lawmakers approve.

Opposition

The fee program is one way to reduce the cost of government by putting more of the burden on users, Eldredge said.

But some people say public lands belong to all residents and recreation should be covered by taxes they pay.

"It's time that Congress pony up what's needed," said Mark Lawler of the Sierra Club's Cascade Chapter in Seattle. Though authorized by Congress, the fee program lacks accountability, he said. Congress has less control over what federal land managers do with the fees collected, he said.

Edythe Hulet, a retired teacher who lives in Aberdeen, resents having to pay again.

Land managers say the money appropriated by lawmakers doesn't cover the backlog of upkeep and improvement needs.

"The parks are falling down around people's ears," said Anne Hersley-Hankins, spokeswoman for the state Parks and Recreation Commission.

While people pay taxes, not enough tax money is going to the parks. Even so, the commissioners aren't happy about the fee, she said.

"What else can we do?" she said.

But critic Terry Wright of Belfair says the fee is just another tax.

"We're taxed to death to begin with," he said. His hobby is metal detecting at state parks and old schools, anywhere he can find old coins. But the fee would eliminate the parks for him and others like him, he said. And it may eliminate a form of recreation for some low-income families.

Local benefits

Todd Scott of Olympia does not mind paying and he feels other users should pay as well -- provided the fees are going to the area used.

"There needs to be a way to pay those hard-working trail crews," he said.

Forest Service spokesman Rex Holloway in the Portland regional office said that most people are willing to pay under certain conditions.

In the Olympic National Forest, 10 percent of the fees goes to the regional office, 10 percent covers local administrative costs and 80 percent pays for materials, tools and labor for trail maintenance, Eldredge said.

In Olympic National Park, not all recreation-fees money goes for trail maintenance and bridge repair -- some also pays for wilderness information and supports a bear-proof food container loaner program, Maynes said.

Meanwhile, officials continue to consider a single Northwest recreation fee.

N.S. Nokkentved covers the outdoors for The Olympian. He can be reached at 754-5445.

Park passes

- Northwest Forest Pass: Olympic National Forest Headquarters, 1835 Black Lake Blvd. S.W.; or ranger stations in Hoodsport, Quilcene, Quinault and Forks. Pass can be ordered by phone at 800-270-7504 or Internet at www.fs.fed.us/r6/ feedemo/welcome.html.

- Locally: Passes at Alpine Experience and Olympic Outfitters in Olympia.

- Park passes: National park entrances and ranger stations. Also order via phone at 888-467-2757 or Web at www. nationalparks.org/index.html.

- Thurston County Parks: Access is free to county parks except the ORV Park, which costs $8 per rider.

- State parks: Day-use parking costs $5 per day or $30 per year. This new fee begins Jan. 1 unless the Legislature blocks it.

- State Fish and Wildlife: Access Stewardship Decal costs $10 per year. For parking at Fish and Wildlife boat ramps and lands. Free with hunting, fishing licenses.

- Forest Service: Northwest Forest Pass costs $5 per day per vehicle or $30 annually. Covers national forests in Washington and Oregon. In Olympic National Forest, it is needed only for parking at trailheads. In Gifford Pinchot National Forest, it is needed at most trailheads and developed sites where no camping fees are charged. Payment is on the honor system.

National parks

- Olympic: Vehicle entrance fee is $10 for up to seven days. Individual entry fee is $5 for up to seven days. Annual pass is $20. Ozette parking fee is $1 per car per day. Wilderness permits cost $5 for up to 14 days for up to 12 people. Individual wilderness fees are $2 per person per night for overnight stay in backcountry. Frequent hiker pass costs $30 per person per year.

- Mount Rainier: Entrance fee is $10 per carload. Good up to seven days. Individual is $5 for up to seven days. An annual pass costs $20. Climbers pay $15 per person, per climb. An annual climbing pass costs $25.

- Mount St. Helens: The entrance fee is $3 per day, $1 for youths, for a single site and $6 per day, $2 for youths, for multiple sites. Climbing permits cost $15 from April 1 through Oct. 31. No charge Nov. 1 through March 31. An annual climbing pass costs $30.

- Nisqually Wildlife Refuge: The entrance fee is $3 per family per day. An annual pass costs $12.

- National passes: Park Pass, $50, covers entrance fees at any national parks. A Golden Eagle sticker, $15, extends park pass to cover entrance fees to federal fee areas, including national forests, monuments and wildlife refuges. Golden Access Passport is free for residents with permanent disabilities. Covers fees to all federal fee areas. Golden Age Passport, $10, covers lifetime entrance to all federal fee areas for residents 62 and older.

The Olympian Copyright 2001

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