Access Fees 2

Avid sportsman and Washington state wildlife biologist Amy Spoon talks about access fees. "The hunters and fishermen in this area have had access to private timber companies land for a long long time and currently we are starting to see more and more fees being charged to gain access to this property. It has been going on for years but at a smaller scale. This year, Weyerhaeuser, has decided to really expand their fees for access. So much so that it feels like a slap in the face of outdoor recreators. If you ask Weyerhaeuser, what they are saying is that these fees to access their land are being used to offset some of the costs for vandalism and littering on their property. The dollar amount they are charging for a key to go behind the locked fences is way too much and they are only selling a certain number of keys. A couple of thousand acre property that requires a key to get into that area could be up to $250 for this key. Just across the road or river, there's a different set of keys and they will charge another $250 to access. Us hunters when we are out pursuing animals we can start on a piece of property that may be our own and then the elk crosses the river and goes into an access area where you would need a $250 key.