12/12/07 Crapo wants recreation access fees halted

The Forest Service and other federal agencies would be blocked from charging higher fees to access public lands if a law proposed by Senator Mike Crapo is enacted. Crapo has joined Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus in proposing legislation that revokes authority given federal agencies with the exception of the National Park Service to institute new fees and increase existing fees at campgrounds, trailhead and other public areas. CRAPO "I come back to the point that we should not simply have a double tax or institute a new tax on that in order to achieve the objective of getting adequate budgets. Instead what we ought to do is to face the budget issues directly and have Congress and then the various agencies as they allocate their dollars make those decisions rather than taxing the American people twice just for access to the public lands." The Baucus-Crapo bill would repeal the 2004 Federal Land Recreational Enhancement Act and reinstate legislation dating back to 1965 that limits the use of public lands fees. Crapo says most of the fees that were collected have gone back to local areas such as national forests but in some cases at the expense of fewer budget dollars from Washington. In other words, instead of gaining some revenue, local areas have not seen any real revenue increase because of access fees. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott