[Ski]

The Forest Service is eliminating $5 and $10 recreation fees it charges at about 500 picnic areas and trailheads – including 69 in Washington – after outdoor enthusiasts and Western lawmakers complained. http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/4953239p-4530216c.html

[Dante]

Yea, I saw that. The article mentioned Congress had "raised the bar" for the amenities the FS has to provide in order to charge a fee (Parking Lot, Bathrooms, etc.). That is consistent with the text of the statute authorizing the Recreation Access Tax discussed in another thread. The statute has a bunch of exemptions that made it sound like hiking from an unimproved trailhead would not be subject to a fee...

[Scout]

I've also heard that they are raising the ticket price for non-payers. So watch out.

[Slugman]

Even worse than raising the penalty, they have made it a crime. And the crime is for "failure to display", so thoeretically you could end up with a criminal record for simply forgetting to place it in a viewable location. The FS also tells us not to leave anything of value in our cars, then they force us to display a $30 pass in our window. And if it's stolen, they say "don't come crying to us!" I think we should start a national movement to use the new eminent domain powers to sieze the personal houses of all congressmen and senators that vote for this nonsense and turn them into pig farms, since pig farms generate more tax money than private residences. That would "learn them"!

[oosik]

For eminent domain seizure, you only need one to send a message on the whole trail fee fiasco. Ralph Regula from Ohio. He alone managed to push the idea as a rider on other bills. It never had the opportunity to be voted on as a single issue based on the merits (or lack thereof). There is one patchwork of land termed a "National Forest" in Ohio, and guess what, no fees are required for hiking there.

[aestivate]