Page 10 - the NOISE October 2012

Since the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals de- cision back in February regarding United States Forest Service fees, not much has changed around the Coconino National For- est. Hikers in Sedona and surrounding areas still encounter fee machines and signs that declare that they are entering fee areas and are to display a recreation pass. They are still advised to purchase a Red Rock Pass by USFS personnel, volunteers, and private recreation pass vendors. But the federal court decision actually states that anyone who is just parking to go hiking is, in fact, not required to pay a fee to the USFS.
In what looks like an attempt to steer clear of the nation’s courtrooms and continue to collect as much money as possible, the Red Rock Ranger District has been avoiding the issuance of Violation Notices to forest visitors that do not display a Red Rock Pass. Represen- tatives of the Coconino National Forest have maintained that the Circuit Court decision, which involved the Mt. Lemmon recreation area near Tucson, does not apply here in Se- dona.
In addition, nothing has been done to ad- dress the fees charged by private companies that manage recreation sites on national for- ests – until now.
On September 12, 2012, five individuals and a non-profit organization filed a lawsuit in Washington, DC which calls into question the USFS’ practices regarding private concession- aires. The five plaintiffs include two individu- als from locations in Arizona and others from Colorado and Oregon who are working with the Western Slope No-Fee Coalition based in Durango, Colorado. Bark, a non-profit organi- zation and watchdog group for the Mt. Hood National Forest in Oregon is also named in the suit.
The Arizona sites represented in the lawsuit are on the Coronado and Tonto National For- ests. But both locations are managed by the same concessionaire that operates in Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon – Recreation Resource Management. RRM administers the Grass- hopper Point, Call of the Canyon (West Fork), and Crescent Moon day use areas and all of the campgrounds in the Red Rock Ranger District.
In this civil suit, the plaintiffs are challeng- ing USFS policies that allow private conces- sionaires to charge fees that the agency itself is not allowed to impose. These include fees solely for parking and for access to undevel- oped areas and scenic overlooks. In addition, it questions the ability of concessionaires to establish and charge fees that have never un- dergone the public approval process and to reject federal recreation passes that the USFS must accept.
Recreation fees on public lands are autho- rized by the Federal Lands Recreation Act of 2004. But many of the fees imposed on forest lands around the country were implemented
under the Recreational Fee Demonstration Program of 1996. Fee demo gave wide range to the USFS in the scope of fees that could be imposed. The purpose of FLREA was to rein the agency in and include language that clearly prohibits fees for certain activities and locations. But many forest districts, including the Red Rock Ranger District, did not adjust their fee programs to be compliant with the new law. FLREA also provided a public process that includes comment periods and review by citizen’s advisory boards before new fees can be implemented.
Over the past eight years, however, the USFS has transferred the operation of about half of its campgrounds and an increasing number of day use sites around the country to private contractors under Special Use Permits. Once a permit is issued and a private concessionaire takes over, the USFS has actively allowed the contractors to circumvent federal law.
The USFS has taken the position that fee prohibitions of FLREA apply only when the fees are collected by the agency directly. Pri- vate concessionaire permitting is governed by the Granger-Thye Act. So the USFS has held that fees collected under Special Use Permits are free from the restrictions dictated by FLREA.
“These recreation facilities are located on federal land and were built with taxpayer dol- lars. The Forest Service can’t just declare them exempt from federal law by hiring private con- tractors to run them. It’s a backdoor route to the privatization of our public lands and an outrageous disregard of congressional direc- tion,” said Olivia Schmidt, Program Director at Bark.
Private concessionaires have introduced new fees on public lands that have not under- gone the public review process. And many lo- cations operated under Special Use Permits do not meet the minimum amenity requirements of FLREA for fees to be authorized.
In addition, the Mt. Lemmon decision made it clear that no fee could be charged for indi- viduals who park a vehicle to go hiking. Many day use areas that are privately managed have what amounts to an entry fee (another fee prohibited by law) and parking can only be ac- cessed by going through a gate where a con- cessionaire employee will cheerfully collect the posted fee amount. But according to the Mt. Lemmon decision, this fee is not required of anyone who does not use the provided ame- nities at the site.
Theoretically, you should be able to drive up to the gate at Crescent Moon, for example, and tell the RRM staffer who will be there, poised to take your money, that you intend only to park your car and go hiking and you should be al- lowed into the parking lot without paying. As long as you do just that – park and go hiking
– and do not use the picnic tables, restrooms, or trash receptacles you would be within your rights under the law for fee-free access to pub- lic land.
“We have been raising these concerns with the Forest Service for several years but they have refused to adjust their policies,” said Kitty Benzar, President of the No-Fee Coali- tion. “They seem to be more concerned with the profitability of the concessionaires than with providing access to affordable recreation for the American public. This litigation is be- ing undertaken to establish that the National Forests belong to the people, not the federal agencies and their profit-driven recreation in- dustry partners.”
So what has the response been to the news of yet another forest service law suit? Ms. Ben- zar said that “all I’ve gotten as feedback from the public is – ‘it’s about time.’”
| Cindy J. Cole takes her sweet time while hiking Sedona. cindycole@live.com
10 • OCTOBER 2012 • the NOISE arts & news magazine • thenoise.us