S. 868 would repeal certain provisions of the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act.
Detailed Summary
Fee Repeal and Expanded Access Act of 2009 - Rewrites specified provisions of the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act.
Provides for the application and administration of certain admission and use fee authorities under the Land and Water Conservation Act of 1965, the Emergency Wetlands Resources Act of 1986, and the National Parks Omnibus Management Act of 1998 as if the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act had not been enacted.
Status of the Legislation
Latest Major Action: 4/22/2009: Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Points in Favor
S.868 repeals most provisions of the FLREA and restores the language of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 regarding recreation fees.
For all agencies, fees will still be allowed at campgrounds, swimming sites and boat launches that have a defined minimum level of development, and for rental of cabins and lookouts.
Entrance Fees will be allowed for NPS units and NPS will retain fee revenue within the agency with 80% to be spent at the site where collected. NPS will no longer charge additional fees for backcountry access or interpretive programs when an entrance fee has been paid. Increases to NPS Entrance Fees will be required to be submitted to Congress 60 days before taking effect.
The $80 America the Beautiful Pass will be eliminated, and the $50 National Parks Pass and Golden Eagle Pass will be reinstated.
Forest Service and BLM will be prohibited, as they were under the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act, from charging fees, either singly or in any combination, for drinking water, wayside exhibits, roads, overlook sites, visitor centers, scenic drives, toilet facilities, or solely for the use of picnic tables.
Forest Service and BLM fee revenue will be paid, less 15% for administrative costs, to the Treasury for appropriation by Congress. This will eliminate the current system where those agencies keep all the money they can raise, which has resulted in fees being charged for parking, scenic overlooks, picnic tables, driving scenic roads, toilets, and many other basic services that should be supported with existing appropriated budgets.
SUMMARY
S.868, The Fee Repeal and Expanded Access Act will restore language that worked well for over 30 years. It will preserve the ability of the public lands agencies to charge reasonable fees for specialized facilities and for National Park entrance. It will restore free use of basic facilities such as picnic tables and toilets and free general access to scenic trails, roads, and overlooks. It will restore Congressional oversight of the expenditure of fee revenues.
Points Against
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Visitor Comments
Tom Halpin
November 20, 2009, 2:55pm (report abuse)This is a good start to restoring freedom in the USA
Kristi Laguzza-Boosman
November 20, 2009, 4:15pm (report abuse)Struggling families who value our National Forests need Congress to do the right thing and Pass S 868 in the Senate, and a similar Bill in the House.
The Federal Lands Recreation and Enhancement Act(FLREA)has reduced the ability of low-income families to access public lands by nearly 50%. Visitation to our National Forests have dropped by 37% in OR and WA and 42% in the Eastern U.S. as a result of this law. It is unacceptable in a country with a skyrocketing obesity rate that our government should create barriers to low income families who wish to spend time in the woods with their kids.
Congress has increased USFS allocations by over 66% in the last 10 years, while local Ranger Districts are seeing their trail fee maintenance budgets regularly cut. Where is our money going? We should be using tax payer money to maintain our National Forest trails instead of charging tax payers twice to access their own land.
Peter
November 20, 2009, 4:24pm (report abuse)Over the last ten years the US Forest Service has been given more an more money from taxpayers. This year's proposed increase is a whopping 8.9% (this is on top of billions of dollars in "stimulus funds they have all ready received). These days everyone else is being told to do more with less, the Forest Service insists on doing less with more.
Hopefully this bill will pass. If not this year then next year.
Leslee Goodman
November 20, 2009, 4:52pm (report abuse)I'm all for the Forest Service being given more taxpayer money relative to other "causes" taxpayers money go to--to wit, the military/industrial complex--but I am opposed to the access fees for hikers, campers, nature lovers, which are oppressive.
Heidi Dunn
November 20, 2009, 5:19pm (report abuse)I eagerly support S 868! As a US citizen I feel less freedoms than I used to when trying to recreate on our "public lands". This is a good start to returning public lands to the public. If the Forest Service and other Federal Management agencies need more money to manage the land, they should start taxing the large timber corporations for their use of our "public" resources, instead of subsidizing them.
James Donaldson
November 20, 2009, 6:56pm (report abuse)I think this bill will help take back our national forests. Take back the forests for the people rather than the corporations and their various trshy enhancements.
Joe Anderson
November 20, 2009, 11:03pm (report abuse)It sounds good to me.
Lorah Super
November 23, 2009, 3:01pm (report abuse)"Pay to Play" is a concept that has been tested, and when it failed to find public support it was foisted upon us. Remember the original promise to return 80% of the returns to the district from which fees originated, ostensibly paying for trail maintenance on the hundreds of miles of "backlog"? I think that clause died in the late 1990's; the fees have gone into the Treasury to fund more desk jobs in D.C. , and our trails remain inaccessible to many users. Let's eliminate one more barrier to public lands access by passing this bill.