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Phone: 202-224-6441
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307-261-6413
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Contact: Cameron Hardy
202-224-6441 |
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Thomas Warns Against Creating Rec Fee Problems
Senator: Fee for all public lands much different story than Parks-Only model |
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| Chairman of the National Parks Committee Craig Thomas talks to committee staff prior to a hearing. |
October 26th, 2005 - WASHINGTON – “Recreation fees are simply not appropriate for the vast majority of BLM and Forest Service lands. These fees should not be charged for general visitation,” U.S. Senator Craig Thomas said today.
“Folks in Sheridan shouldn’t have to pay to go fishing in the Big Horns. It only makes sense to have a fee where there are visitor facilities,” Thomas said.
“Can you imagine trying to charge a fee to ride an ATV around the Sand Dunes in Southwest Wyoming? There’s 100,000 acres of sand – no fences, no roads. I don’t see that BLM is offering an enhanced service on that land worth paying an additional fee.”
“The public lands fee issue is very different from the parks-only version which I authored and worked hard to get implemented. My parks-only demo had widespread support,” Thomas said after the rider was placed in the Omnibus Appropriations bill last year to expand the fee to all public lands.
“I supported making the authority permanent for the National Park Service, but opposed it for the other Federal land management agencies. I have ongoing concerns about the collection of fees on Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service land, and especially how these agencies are implementing their new authority.”
The National Parks Subcommittee Chairman believes in having sound criteria – fees should only be charged for legitimate, improved visitor services; market analysis should be done prior to implementation; and no increase or fee structure should take place without advanced notice to the general public.
“Further, there needs to be a serious business model adopted to account for fees collected and distributed,” he said. He believes Congress should have advance notice of specific projects in the pipeline. “We must have the ability to oversee the obligation and the expenditure,” Thomas said.
The Senate Energy Committee held a hearing today to look at how land agencies have reacted since the new law took effect.
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| 26th - |
current Press Release |
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