Forum Index > Public Lands Stewardship > No More Northwest Forest Pass Starting May 1, 2004
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Plinko
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Plinko
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PostSun Apr 04, 2004 12:54 pm 
March 29, 2004 The Associated Press Forest Service drops 385 sites from controversial fee program Associated Press EUGENE, Ore. - Hikers, birders, and picnickers will no longer have to buy a Northwest Forest Pass to visit 385 sites in Oregon and Washington, starting May 1. The U.S. Forest Service will drop that many trailheads and other areas from the fee program, reducing the total number of day-use sites that require a fee payment to 679 in the two states. No-fee sites in the two states will rise to 1,681. The revision - one of the biggest changes since the agency began imposing the fees six years ago - is part of a new policy to make the fees more consistent nationwide, and to mainly have fees at sites with more amenities, such as restrooms, picnic tables and fire rings. Agency officials say the changes have nothing to do with the bitter complaints about the fees from Oregon and Washington residents. In the past two years, the Forest Service has issued hundreds of tickets to residents for failure to display the passes. Some residents have spent months fighting the citations. As part of the latest change, forest officials added a few pay sites after the review showed they should be charging fees in places that they weren't, including some locations in the Umpqua and Siuslaw National Forests. Although scaling back the region's fee sites is bound to be popular with the public, it will leave forests with fewer dollars that directly benefit those recreation areas, said Laurie Thorpe, an assistant recreation fee director at the agency's regional headquarters in Portland. "Most of them will be scrambling to look for other funding sources," she said. "Our appropriated sources are just not adequate, so we'll be looking for partners, grants, that sort of thing. But over time, our backlog of maintenance grows." In some cases, trails dropped from the pass program may not be maintained at all. "We just won't have the funds to do it," Thorpe said. If you are interested, you could contact: USDA Forest Service - Pacific Northwest Region PO Box 3623, 333 SW First Avenue Portland, Oregon 97208-3623 USA (503) 808-2468 http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/

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Plinko
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PostSun Apr 04, 2004 1:00 pm 
Plinko wrote:
Although scaling back the region's fee sites is bound to be popular with the public, it will leave forests with fewer dollars that directly benefit those recreation areas, said Laurie Thorpe, an assistant recreation fee director at the agency's regional headquarters in Portland. "Most of them will be scrambling to look for other funding sources," she said. "Our appropriated sources are just not adequate, so we'll be looking for partners, grants, that sort of thing. But over time, our backlog of maintenance grows."
Good thing they'll have all that extra money they've been wasting on making "NWFP Required Here" signs and printing up booklets of "golden tickets" rolleyes.gif

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forest gnome
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forest gnome
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PostSun Apr 04, 2004 1:47 pm 
yeah! The confusion grows....by the way there is no real trail maint. being done to any trails past the first few miles, bad sections on the Necklace valley ,Snoq. lakes , ect ...ect....no new bridges in the last 30 years...other than the first few miles on the popular trails like lk. Dorothy.

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polarbear
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PostSun Apr 04, 2004 2:17 pm 
Hmmm....a few years ago I saw a ranger with a shovel up at one of the Necklace Lakes--not exactly a work party but he may have been doing maintenance. hmmm.gif

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Allison
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Allison
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PostSun Apr 04, 2004 2:22 pm 
Has anyone seen a complete list of the places that will not require a fee? I have plans to write a piece on free hikes for the mag soon and would like to get my hands on that list....

www.allisonoutside.com follow me on Twitter! @AllisonLWoods
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kleet
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PostSun Apr 04, 2004 5:14 pm 
Here's a link to fee/free sites in Mt. Baker/Snoqualmie NF and one for Wenatchee NF but with this latest word, who the hell knows? dizzy.gif Someone please check out the above amazing chart and help meeee figure out what pass I no longer need!

A fuxk, why do I not give one?
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polarbear
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PostSun Apr 04, 2004 5:40 pm 
It's mental gymnastics like that which make people throw their hands in the air and say "just give me one $1000 pass that covers everything!" shakehead.gif

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sarbar
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sarbar
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PostSun Apr 04, 2004 6:34 pm 
Love the chart! lol.gif

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-lol-
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PostSun Apr 04, 2004 6:44 pm 

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Backpacker Joe
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Backpacker Joe
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PostSun Apr 04, 2004 7:01 pm 
Quote:
Try the Dutch Miller trail this summer. Plenty of 'real' trail maintenance done there - new bridges, turnpikes, treadwork, brushing, etc. continuous for about 6-7 miles up the trail
Oh brother. We cant afford to maintain trails for PEOPLE, but we can sure spend a million bucks for HORSEEEEEEEEEEEES! I cant WAIT to see how they are going to RAPE the land trying to make it EASY for horseeees to get down to, and then around Ivanhoe. They are going to have to blast for that one. TB

"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide." — Abraham Lincoln
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PostSun Apr 04, 2004 7:36 pm 

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Tom
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PostSun Apr 04, 2004 8:09 pm 
Who you callin' bubba? embarassedlaugh.gif As far as the DM maintenance, when we were camping at the TH in October we talked with one of the FS workers doing mantenance. He indicated they were doing all the work because it was their last chance to get that far in with the road closing and all. So it seems to jive with observation that the FS doesn't generally do much maintenance beyond a couple miles.

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Backpacker Joe
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PostSun Apr 04, 2004 8:23 pm 
DR, I was told by the North Bend ranger district station person that all of the renovation to that trail is to make it Horseeeee happy. The plan is to connect the DMG trail with the Waptus lake trail. Make it a round tripper if you will. Mostly I was just funnin anyway. I dont have any REAL problem with horsee hikers. sometimes they trash an area. Sometimes hikers do too. The difference is that the horseeee hikers can and do bring in WAY more stuff than hikers do. It is going to be interesting to see how they make the trail up/down to Ivanhoe horseeeee happy. TB

"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide." — Abraham Lincoln
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Newt
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Newt
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PostMon Apr 05, 2004 6:17 am 
Ya gotta wonder who does the most trail work. The FS or volinteers. Besides, if they aren't going to maintain them they shouldn't charge for them. er parking that is. I was hoping to keep the security, armed guards, toilets and expresso stands. Dang. Newt

It's pretty safe to say that if we take all of man kinds accumulated knowledge, we still don't know everything. So, I hope you understand why I don't believe you know everything. But then again, maybe you do.
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GrizzDaddy
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GrizzDaddy
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PostMon Apr 05, 2004 7:41 am 
Darn.. I should have waited to buy mine. I probably shouldn't get my hopes up for a refund.

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Forum Index > Public Lands Stewardship > No More Northwest Forest Pass Starting May 1, 2004
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