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The Olympian
Monday, March 4, 2002


Effects of Park Fees Examined
Research shows impact on low-income visitors

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.