National Forest Fees Rants
I took a drive up to Collins Campground the other day (June 2009). Collins is along the Duckabush River near Hood Canal. I was headed up to the campground to check things out for a trip later this summer.
The road on the way in is heavily potholed. I noticed this area requires a federal parking pass for day use. (Web info makes it look like passes are required at trailheads only.) At the campground there was a sign that said camping fees had recently gone up. At least one of the camp sites had a large pile of gravel where you would normally park a vehicle. There is no trash pickup at Collins- pack it out. No camp host at Collins. No water at Collins- go down the road and draw water at the cabin. Went to the cabin- water is shut off because it does not meet health dept. standards.
Drove back up the road towards the bridge. I stopped (Violating policy since I didn’t have a day pass? Spoke to a nice person on the phone at the Quilcene ranger station who said the pass is not required except at the trailheads.) to see a very gorgeous deep river gorge full of crystal clear water. I looked from the bridge into the deep pool- someone had dumped a lawnmower in there- this is in the vicinity of the day use fee area- if they want a fee- they should haul out the mower.
I have always been happy to pay a fee to stay overnight in a campground. The fee at Collins is $14.00 per night. With no water or trash pick up in the campground, the fee should be maybe $5.00 per night, not $14.00.
I object to daytime parking fees on public lands. These areas belong to us- nothing new about it. We already pay for them with federal taxes- the same way we pay for the war in Iraq.
The National Forest Service Northwest Forest Pass is the permit required to park a car for a few hours on some federal Forest Service lands in our state. Parts of these lands may be leased for mining, logging, cattle grazing, etc., but Joe Six-Pack and the family still need to pay to visit here.
I have no beef with the people who work for the Forest Service. My beef is with the federal government collecting tax money, then telling us we must pay a fee to visit public lands for a few hours during the day.
Best case scenario- writing to elected officials may be effective. My experience in the past is that it has not changed things.
