Effects of park fees examined

Research shows impact on low-income visitors

N.S. NOKKENTVED, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published Monday, March 4, 2002

OLYMPIA -- Edythe Hulet won't go hiking in the Olympic Mountains. She prefers the North Cascades or Pacific Crest Trail, where she can hike for free.

She's not alone.

Recent research, summarized for the U.S. Forest Service, shows that fees affect people's decisions on recreation -- particularly among low-income visitors.

"Research findings in this category generally show that fees have negative effects on use patterns," said research associate Annette Puttkammer of the University of Montana Foundation.

In a paper on recreation fees compiled in the fall for the Forest Service's Rocky Mountain Research Station, Puttkammer cites 18 studies on the influence of recreation fees on visitation and use.

'Priced out' of parks

"Low-income visitor groups can be more sensitive to price changes and are more likely to be priced out of a recreation site or activity," she wrote in her summary.

The Forest Service also is surveying people in the Northwest who don't visit public lands, asking them why not, said Jocelyn Biro, fee-demonstration coordinator for the Forest Service's Northwest office in Portland. The results are not complete.

Critics of the program say fees make access to public lands subject to people's ability to pay.

"It's not because I can't afford it," said Hulet, a retired teacher from Aberdeen. "It's because I object."

Program extended

The controversial recreation fee demonstration program -- fee-demo for short -- was authorized for three years in 1996 and went into effect in 1997. It has been extended to 2004, and some officials want to make it permanent.

"I don't think our public lands should be commercialized," Hulet said. Fees force more people into fewer areas, she said, and she blames Congress. The money is there, she said.

Paul Schaufler agreed. He has no objection to moderate fees. But many people think "trails and trail maintenance should be funded by Congress -- just like roads," he said.

Forest Service officials defend the program as a way to pay for maintenance.

"Recreation is chronically underfunded," Biro said.

But the fee-demo program was not meant to solve the agency's budgetary woes. It is one of several sources of funding, including money appropriated by Congress.

Since the 1980s, the appropriated funding has not kept up with rising use, Biro said. After 20 years of never putting anything back, things are deteriorating and becoming public safety hazards, she said.

On the Web:

- USDA Forest Service

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