There’s at least one way to get around the
government’s recreation fee-demonstration program. Just one week
before the Forest Service installed signs telling visitors that
they’d have to pay to enjoy the Snake River in Wyoming, an
anonymous donor offered $50,000 to keep river access free. Then the
nearby Jackson, Wyo., community added its donation of
$17,000.
That was two years ago. Now, instead of
visitors paying to park their cars, they donate a few bucks to
what’s called the Snake River Fund. All donations to the fund are
managed by the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole, a nonprofit
organization. Supporters note that the Forest Service gains access
to the money only after a committee of river users and community
residents approves river projects. None of the funds are used for
administrative costs. So far, donations have paid for training of
search-and-rescue volunteers and for cleaning restrooms along the
river, among other projects.
River manager David
Cernicek says if the Snake River were now a “fee demo” site,
everybody would have to pay. “My ranger would have to be more law
enforcement than friendly and helpful,” he says. “It would
definitely change how we do business here.”
Without continued support from river users,
however, fees might come back. Agency officials say they need
$100,000 for river projects, but only $78,000 – without any large
donations – was contributed to the fund in 1999. Meanwhile, the
Bridger-Teton National Forest’s budget is about $1 million less
than it was last year.
Still, river users remain
hopeful. “If we can prove that a voluntary donation system is
working on a very heavily used river,” says outfitter Aaron Pruzan,
owner of Rendezvous River Sports in Jackson, “hopefully that will
catch wind and go to other areas.”
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline No recreation fees – for now.
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