On June 15, the Native Forest Council joined citizens and conservation groups in a national day of action against the Forest Service's Recreation Fee Demonstration program, or "Fee Demo." It is a program charging citizens to visit publicly owned lands. Prior to the day of action, Forest Council members from across the nation used our online action pages to fax their senators and tell them that Americans oppose this double taxation. We also alerted media around the country to spread the word that, even as politicians are working to make Fee Demo permanent, citizen opposition is growing.

Council Regional Representative Robert Maris was the first person to take the Forest Service to task (and to court) in 1997 over Fee Demo. In federal court Maris won the right to freely access his favorite surfing spot on a state-owned jetty in Florence, Oregon. Maris organized the demonstration at the fee collection booth in Florence, one of 30 protests around the country, to express support for free access to public lands and call for the end of forest fees nationwide.

From birdwatchers, local business owners, fishermen, surfers and families, the people who gathered in Florence to show their support for free access to public lands represented a diverse group. Demonstrators distributed literature and displayed signs in an effort to raise public awareness of Fee Demo.

Fee Demo was introduced in 1996 through a rider tacked onto an appropriations bill. Started as a three year experiment, it has been extended through 2004 by two additional riders. Pushed by the American Recreation Coalition (ARC), an industry front group with members including Walt Disney Co., Outdoor Resorts of America, Coleman and the motorcycle industry, Fee Demo is the first step toward the privatization and commercialization of our public lands.

In the Northwest, the program charges $5 per day or $30 per year at trail heads, parking lots, turnouts, picnic areas and similar sites on public land. In parks, fees have skyrocketed, from $5 to $20 per vehicle. Fees are charged at almost 1,400 sites on national parks, forest and BLM lands, generating an estimated $180 million annually. Visitors who refuse to pay can be fined up to $5,000 and sentenced to six months in jail (although no one has ever paid that sum, and only one person has served jail time) but the average citation is $50.

According to the General Accounting Office, about 20 percent of the fees go toward program "administration." The remaining fee dollars go to "site improvements," often involving trail widening or paving, erecting signs, enlarging parking lots and removing hazard trees. Supporters of the program claim the extra revenue helps improve facilities, puts a value on recreation and makes up for the budget cuts imposed by Congress. Derrick Crandall, president of ARC, explains the industry side in a 1999 L.A. Weekly article: "The American public feels that recreation on public lands is an incredible bargain, and is willing to pay substantially more."

Opponents argue that citizens already pay federal income taxes that should adequately fund the operation and maintenance of national forests, that Fee Demo disproportionately affects low income Americans and that it is a regressive tax that bears no relation to the actual costs of recreation. Federal agencies are using tax dollars to fund destructive activities such as the timber program, which costs taxpayers more than $1 billion each year. If the Forest Service shifted even a small percentage out of extractive activities there would be ample funding for operation and maintenance of public lands.

Most importantly, Fee Demo is an attempt by private, profit-driven corporations to change how our public lands are managed. If ARC is successful in promoting Fee Demo, the door is left open for other private companies that stand to make a profit from public assets. "We are seeing a paradigm shift from tax-funded public services to regressive user fees that price out middle and lower income families," says Scott Silver, executive director of Wild Wilderness and a leading opponent of Fee Demo. "We are turning America into a land of and for the elite." If this privatization continues, our public forests may soon be run by corporations for the "consumption" of a recreation "product." The profits go to those who manage the land and sell recreation equipment and services.

Thousands of citizens, more than 240 organizations and numerous counties and cities object to Fee Demo. The state governments of Oregon, Colorado, California and New Hampshire have rejected it as well. Anyone who buys the pass is counted as a vote for the program, but there is no way to vote against it without receiving a fine or citation.

And many people have opted for the citation. In a notable December 2001 decision, U.S. Magistrate Thomas Coffin found that the Forest Service had illegally exceeded its 100-site cap by charging fees at 1,349 sites. This means that the Forest Service illegally obtained hundreds of thousands of dollars. Congress lifted the 100-site cap shortly after the ruling. Despite ballooning opposition, lawmakers in Washington intend to take the "demo" out of Fee Demo, making this fall a crucial time for opponents to make their voices heard. A bill to make Fee Demo permanent for national parks was already introduced in May. National Forests are next in line.

It takes determined public outcry to fight huge corporate monetary influence. Demonstrations, letters and lawsuits around the country are proving that American citizens won't give away their public land to private interests without a fight.

Fee Demo: U.S. Forest Service Playing the Numbers