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Officials defend new forest pass Medford critic calls it an unfair tax By PAUL FATTIG A new Northwest Forest Pass to be released in May will make it easier for recreational users of the Rogue River and Siskiyou national forests to use the demonstration fee system, forest officials say. "Our customers were telling us there were too many passes, that the system was too complicated," said Jim Heck, system coordinator for the two forests. "They wanted something simpler and easier to use." The passes, which will be available May 1, will be good at most national forest fee sites in Oregon and Washington, he said. They will sell for $5 a day or $30 a year. The passes replace the current demonstration trail park fee program, which costs $3 a day or $25 a year. Established by Congress as an experimental program in 1996, it was implemented in 1998 as an effort to raise funds for dwindling federal budgets. It is scheduled to expire on Sept. 30, 2001. The experimental program drew demonstrations from some forest users last year, but the new pass system has been supported by the Pacific Crest Trail Association. The Oregon chapter of the Sierra Club and Wild Wilderness, both groups concerned about public forest uses, remain opposed. So does Medford resident Art Armstrong, 69, a member of the Rogue Group Sierra Club who frequently leads local forest hikes. "As far as I'm concerned I will never pay it," he said. "I'll park two miles away (from trailheads) and bushwhack to the trail. I'll never pay." After finding a $3 ticket attached to his windshield last Independence Day while parked in the Rogue River National Forest, Armstrong fired off a letter to agency representatives indicating he would see them in court before he would pay the fee. A forest representative later called and told him to forget the whole thing, he said. "I'm against it on principle," he said. "I pay taxes. The Department of Agriculture is supposed to be funded from taxes. The Forest Service is a division of the agriculture department. They are ripping off people. "The property belongs to taxpayers, not to the bureaucrats," he added. "The agriculture department and Congress came up with this. The decent people who went to work for the Forest Service get the brunt of this angry feedback. It's too bad." But Forest Service officials say the money is needed to maintain trails and trailheads as well as forest facilities such as toilets. "In a nutshell, appropriations have not kept pace," Heck said. "Our regular appropriations to fund projects have not kept up with the need for maintenance. "We've had about 80 or 90 percent of the people supporting it," he added. "There are always those folks who don't like it and give us a hard time. But we're listening to them." They also will fine them, although the Forest Service prefers to call it a "remittance" fee. "We will continue to put the remittance envelopes on windshields to alert owners of vehicles they are parked in a Northwest Forest Pass location and that they are required to have a pass," he said. Those without passes can obtain them by using the remittance envelope. "If the fee is not sent in, they will be fined $55," he added. "But we won't slap them with a fine right off. We will warn them first." Signs will indicate where a pass is required, he said. People can still drive on the national forests and park at many areas at no charge. There will also be areas, such as Mount St. Helens, the Oregon Dunes and the wild river permit system, where the passes will not be accepted. Annual trail park passes purchased after Jan. 1 can be exchanged for new passes for free at agency offices after May 1. Last year, the agency collected about $15,000 in the Rogue River forest and about $10,000 in the Siskiyou from trail park fees. Nearly all the money is poured back into local maintenance and improvements, he said. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA