Interesting Ruling on USFS Fees
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Case is specifically about Mt. Lemmon HIRA in Arizona, but will probably impact USFS lands nationwide. |
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They will probably just ban all those activities or make you get a permit for them then. |
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This has been the issue at Mt. Evans as well. If you refused to pay the fee, the ranger would say "you better not stop or park, just drive up and turn around." It's interesting to read the actual language of the statute, which certainly appears to permit the use of the parking lots without paying a fee. If I'm up there again to climb, I'll have to remember to bring a copy of the statute and the case to give to the ranger. I'll have to look and see if there is a similar case in the 10th Circuit. |
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Wow! Finally! This could be a far-reaching decision! |
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Not so much. Here is what the United States District Court for the District of Colorado had to say in Sherer v. USFS: |
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I'm not sure what the far-reaching implications of this particular ruling are, since I haven't done my homework. Still, I enjoyed reading the ruling. |
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Took a quick look at the 10th Circuit case mentioned by JoeP |
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John Marsella wrote:This may sound flippant, but I am asking in earnest: What's the problem with paying USFS use fees, especially if one will be climbing, or hiking, or bouldering, or biking, etc (ie, using the recreation area)?Short answer: because public resources should not be commodities. Long answer: If fees are charged, non-users can argue more effectively that their tax dollars should not go to national land management agencies. Paying users can also argue more effectively that their fees should go toward "improvements" that would often take away from backcountry/wilderness qualities that a minority of users value (and yes, climbers, hikers, and backpackers are almost always in the minority, and check recent threads on Penitente Canyon for more specific details of this pattern). Finally, increases in user fees over the past decade have largely gone toward privatized concessionaires, who I would argue care even less about equitable use by all recreational user groups than the USFS does. |
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camhead wrote: Short answer: because public resources should not be commodities. Long answer: If fees are charged, non-users can argue more effectively that their tax dollars should not go to national land management agencies. Paying users can also argue more effectively that their fees should go toward "improvements" that would often take away from backcountry/wilderness qualities that a minority of users value (and yes, climbers, hikers, and backpackers are almost always in the minority, and check recent threads on Penitente Canyon for more specific details of this pattern). Finally, increases in user fees over the past decade have largely gone toward privatized concessionaires, who I would argue care even less about equitable use by all recreational user groups than the USFS does.Plus one Camhead! The mega rich and corporations have done one of the best jobs of brain washing in the United States as could be done anywhere. They've caught us all napping as they lease out our land.. and again, I must enunciate this once more..."Our Land", as they drill for oil and gas, cut timber, graze cattle, look for gold and silver, and do about a hundred other things to create a product. They then package that product and sell it to us.. (can you say "Our Lands") at completely crazy prices which along with the write offs for developing .. "Our Lands", nets them a nice profit! AND THEN! Whenever a recreational use is expected by the public on "Our Lands", the corporations get together with your politicians and make sure that the cost to recreate comes out of your or our pockets since in fact it's not their land, but it's "Our Land". You take away that asset producing capability or at least nationalize it in such a way that the profits get put back into the resource from which they are derived and the term "Our Land" might mean something. Our public lands have become such a commodity that by taxing their corporate use we could alleviate all personal income tax in this country. Now try that one out on your Congressman.... |