I’m following the debate about bicycles vs.
horsepackers vs. hikers with the same bemusement that I do the
debate of wilderness vs. protected vs. multiple use.
The
real essence of the debate is that some fat guy in a quad runner
with a case of Bud Lite, a carton of Marlboros, and an AR15 is
paying exactly the same to run roughshod over the land as I am to
run over it … uh … soft-shod with my ultralight backpacking
gear. The obvious solution is to make users pay in proportion to
their impact.
The BLM and Forest Service already have a
model in place: The AUM, or Animal Unit Month. That’s the
forage needed to sustain one cow and her calf, or one horse, or
five sheep or goats, for one month. We could open all public lands
to recreationists, and fund programs for them, too, if we use fees
based on Land Use Unit Days.
A foot traveler for a day
would be one LUUD, provided he isn’t bolting a climb. Add an
animal, skis, or a bike for another five LUUDs. Five hundred LUUDS
seems fair for the guy on the quad. Motor homes would be assessed
100 LUUDs per foot, helicopters should be about 25,000, and a tank
battalion on maneuvers or a timber sale would add up to at least a
few million LUUDs.
The LUUD rate could float by both
condition and location. A premium area like Yosemite would be rated
at $5 per LUUD, while the country around Denio Junction, Nev.,
would be worth about 15 cents. Profits would be cycled back into
the program, buying land to create wildlife corridors between
federal lands and acquiring water rights to ensure some streams
actually have water in them. To be fair, we could buy an abandoned
strip mine or two for the motorheads. Maybe pick up a retired Air
Force base for the RV crowd to park on for cheap, since they seem
to favor pavement.
We could also keep a few areas as true
wilderness, limiting access to people who are buck-naked, or with
at most a loincloth, digging stick, gourd canteen and flint blade.
For such undomesticated recreation, there would be no charge to get
in. These users would probably get along pretty well, too, because
when you shuck your stuff, a lot of attitude goes with it.
Bryan Burke
Eloy, Arizona
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline It’s time to pay in proportion to our impacts.
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