Extortion Pass

[Pain Freak]

Today as we were getting ready to head out and ride Chantry the local ranger came out and started writing tickets. I told him to go ahead, but I didn't think he should waste his time or energy as I wasn't going to pay it. I have strong feelings about paying for something that is already ours and now the government has decided to charge us to use it. He said effective as of last June 30th the enforcement will begin with fines. I told him I didn't feel it was right and I'm sure I'll be getting a notice in the mail soon as I've received over a dozen of these since June. I look foward to my day in court, even though I'm sure I'll get stuck paying, I'll still get to voice my displeasure.

So beware folks, they are now enforcing the Adventure Pass.

[Rossage]

I just got one last week at Millard. I basically had the same conversation with the ranger and told him to go ahead and write the ticket. He walked away, but when I returned to my car after the ride, the ticket was there, timed for two minutes after I had left. what a joke! Free lands for Free people!

[Schecky]

As far as your day in court, just tell the judge that you were excercising your first amendment rights by protesting the program and not participating.
Somewhere I have downloaded a sheet for leaving on your dash that basically states 'I am not in the forest for recreational purposes. I am here for religious/political/spiritual/scientific purposes and the demo fee program does not apply to me.'

I have a day pass that doesn't have a date scratched off, thanks to the nice lady at a local forest general store. It works well.

[mytrustysteed]

The whole program is a joke, but isn't the fine the same price as the pass?

[CalEpic]

Just write down the number off someone's pass you see hanging in their window, write it in on your ticket and mail it back.

C

[1000-oaks]

They changed the law on Adventure Passes last summer, now you don't need one in nearly as many places BUT they really cranked up the price of the fine. Check into it, before I had the same "f-em" attitude but not anymore. Some hikers accumulated hundreds of tickets and got away without paying them, so they changed the law. As I recall fines for repeat offenders is $1,000 or something crazy. (Hope you don't need a lawyer PainFreak.)

It also really ticked me off that the parking lot monkeys at the Mountain High ski area would tell people they "need to go buy an Adventure pass to park on the road." Completely untrue, if you're buying a lift ticket you're ALREADY paying to use that section of National Forest. So if you buy an Adventure Pass you're paying three times: income taxes, lift ticket, and Adventure Pass. And the extortionists in the ranger station KNOW you're there to ski, yet they still sell you a pass instead of telling you that you don't need one.

Grrrr...

[SIZE=4](from the Sierra Club web site, not that I like the Sierra Club)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=4][/SIZE]
[SIZE=4]FOREST SERVICE GUIDELINES REVEAL PLANS FOR ILLEGAL FEE SITES[/SIZE]
Unprofitable Recreation Sites Nationwide To Be Closed

The U.S. Forest Service has issued Interim Implementation Guidelines to local forest managers instructing them on how to implement the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (FLREA), better known as the Recreational Access Tax (RAT). These guidelines purport to guide managers in following congressional intent as they transition from the previous Fee Demo program to the new law.
Instead, they do just the opposite. They instruct local managers on how to bypass congressional constraints and illegally charge fees for dispersed areas, general access, and recreational use of undeveloped land. The guidelines are written so as to modify existing fee programs as little as possible, while extending new fees to millions more acres of public land. Fees will be charged for whole or nearly whole National Forests in California and Arizona as well as vast tracks of forests in Colorado, Washington, Oregon, New Hampshire, and other states. Fees will be charged for trailheads, OHV routes, mountain biking trails, equestrian trails, and wilderness areas. All of this is in clear contradiction to congressional intent and to the letter of the law.
The Western Slope No-Fee Coalition has released an analysis of the Forest Service guidelines. It charges that the Forest Service is inventing two categories of fees that are not authorized in the law: High Impact Area Fees and Recreation Permit Fees. These categories are being used to bypass the restrictions in the law that forbid the agency from charging entrance fees for National Forests or for "dispersed areas with low or no investment." The restrictions were meant by Congress to rein in the agencies from having broad, unlimited fee authority.
At the same time, the Forest Service has undertaken a nationwide review of all recreation sites under their management. Those that cannot achieve "financial sustainability" will be slated for closure. This program, Recreation Site Facility Master Planning (RS-FMP) calls for Regional and Forest managers to identify all the sites in their jurisdiction that do not meet standards for sustainability and mark those less profitable for closure. And, in a concept borrowed straight from Madison Avenue, each Forest must identify its marketing "niche" and consider closing any sites that do not fit that niche. The process is already underway and will be completed by 2007. The scale of closures on National Forests appears to be vast with campgrounds, access points, visitor centers and trailheads reportedly on the block.
The relationship of the RS-FMP to the fee program is clear. The agency will be denying access to more and more of the National Forest system outside of fee areas. Even fee areas will be closed if they are not sufficiently profitable or don't fit the marketing niche. RS-FMP documents state that "Recreation fee authority has created higher visitor expectations," resulting in a ratcheting-up effect of higher fees chasing higher expectations. By allowing a public agency to tax the public directly, Congress has changed the incentive of forest managers from land stewardship to revenue generation.
Congressional funding of recreation budget line items has not kept up with inflation, but these operations and maintenance budgets have not been heavily slashed either. The biggest obstacle to the maintenance of Forest Service areas is the systematic de-funding of operations and maintenance by the agency themselves. While appropriations from Congress go up, generally 1% or 2 % annually, funding from the Washington Office and the Regions to the Forest and District levels has been dropping by double-digit percentages every year. Some Forests report drops as high as 20% last year. So where are the funds going? Indications are that money is being pulled from recreation and maintenance budgets and used for weed programs, relocating staff and for fire-fuel reduction. Some managers claim that the cost of administration has risen. Whatever the reason, the bottom line is that the Forest Service's priority is not the public's use of their public land. Closing recreation sites and trails will cause enormous harm to local economies. Before limiting public use, an outside audit of all related budget line items should be conducted to find out where the money has gone. Past audits of the Forest Service by the Government Accountability Office have revealed widespread financial mismanagement that has never been corrected.

[Pain Freak]

It also really ticked me off that the parking lot monkeys at the Mountain High ski area would tell people they "need to go buy a pass to park on the road." Completely untrue, if you're buying a lift ticket you're ALREADY paying to use that section of National Forest. So if you buy an Adventure Pass you're paying three times: income taxes, lift ticket, and Adventure Pass. And the extortionists in the ranger station KNOW you're there to ski, yet they still sell you a pass instead of telling you that you don't need one.

Grrrr...



So let me get this straight....

We are also paying again for parking in a parking lot that was paid for with public funds?

If the Sierra Club could stop from considering themselves as the only ones with an idea of how the forests and wilderness should be maintained, and to stop thinking of themselves as a religion, I'd join them. They as much as any single group, probably have enough pull to find out and to make public the mismanagement of the funds allocated to the forestry service. It is my understanding that there are over 2 rangers behind a desk for every one in the field. They pay more to retired rangers then they do to their current payroll. Did you know that they can retire and start collecting a pension then return to work under a new classification which now pays them more then they were earning before they retired? Then they are literally collecting a pension and a salary and getting all the benefits of both. Is this mismangement? Our public and state angencies are so poorly run if they were any kind of real business they'd be bankrupt in a year. There is no accountability. I continually vote in each local and national election and I almost never get what I vote for, but of all the people I talk to, they say they are voting the same as I, but the results at the polls say something that is completely different.

Thomas Jefferson once said that every country needs a revolution every 100 years. I'm not a fan of violent upheavel, but I do vote against the estabished government and of the two party system every chance I get. Doesn't it seem strange that not another party ever makes any inroads into political office.

So sorry about the rant, just stating one mans opinion.

[Winger]

Originally Posted by Schecky

I have a day pass that doesn't have a date scratched off, thanks to the nice lady at a local forest general store. It works well.

All day passes come unscratched so you can pick the day you want to use it. You'll get ticketed if you don't scratch it yourself on the day you use it.

info: Adventure Pass - Passes&Permits - Pacific Southwest Region


$.02 - I don't agree with the law, but it seems like you're punishing yourself by "protesting". Your voice might carry further if you write letters. Plus, it is easier on the wallet.

Action Suggestions:
Free Our Forests - Adventure Pass and Northwest Forest Pass Page

I don't know why, but this guy comes to mind:
ThÃ*ch Quảng Ä�ức - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Schecky]

Originally Posted by Winger

All day passes come unscratched so you can pick the day you want to use it. You'll get ticketed if you don't scratch it yourself on the day you use it.

True dat. I try to park where it isn't easy to inspect. As long as there is a card hanging they generally move on to the next car.

Here is an Arizona based link that has the same exemption text as the document I have:
AZNoFee Forest Pass
AZNoFee Forest Pass

[dstepper]

[quote=Pain Freak;44465]Did you know that they can retire and start collecting a pension then return to work under a new classification which now pays them more then they were earning before they retired? quote]

It is not just rangers, I know more that a few Judges that are doing the same thing.

[dirttorpeedo]

mr pain,i too dislike and detest the govt. and the crap it likes to shove on down.voting hasnt done an efin thing for me.just look at how bush got into orfice.that kinda krap goes on in the lausd too. thats my 3 sentavoes......3 for inflayshun