For Immediate Release June 13, 2002	Contact: Rex Holloway 503-808-2241 Roger Peterson 360-891-5195

Recreation Fees Serve Public, Forests

PORTLAND, OR - Summer is here and the Northwest Forest Pass has undergone a few changes. They include:

• Reducing the number of sites where the pass is required,
• Increasing our partnership involvement with youth employment crews,
• Testing pass reciprocity with Oregon State Parks in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, and
• Accepting the Northwest Forest Pass at the Bureau of Land Management's Wildwood Recreation Site in Oregon.

"This year, after several rounds of testing the recreation demonstration fee program in the Pacific Northwest, the Forest Service is offering some significant changes for the better," said Kimberly Bown, Director of Recreation for the Pacific Northwest Region. The primary change is that there will be fewer sites that require the pass. This year, 50 percent of sites in the Northwest (primarily trailheads) are free. The other 50 percent require a Northwest Forest Pass, which funds improvements to local sites.

Bown explains: "Our research and public feedback clearly show that people are willing to pay for more developed and more visited sites, but not the less developed sites where there are few or no improvements. We heard the feedback, and we're refining our program," said Bown.

On the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, the number of fee sites has been reduced from about 200 to 158. The Forest last year made $908,700 worth of improvements using recreation fee dollars. These ranged from resurfacing the rugged South Climb Road at Mt. Adams to improving trails and providing interpreters at Mount St. Helens.

A portion of the funding from the Northwest Forest Pass will provide trail maintenance jobs for Northwest youth. That means the agency can care for more trails while young people learn to care for their environment.

"One of the significant but often unnoticed benefits of the fee program has been the ability to partner with youth organizations to provide trail maintenance and reconstruction work while growing kids," said Jocelyn Biro, Fee Program Coordinator for the Pacific Northwest Region.

In 2001, $500,000 of the $3 million generated by the Northwest Forest Pass went to youth job programs such as those hosted by Earth Corps, Student Conservation Association, and NW Youth Corps. Many of these programs supported by the Pass serve underprivileged youth. This year the Forest Service intends to contribute $650,000 toward youth employment, and has a goal of a million dollars worth of jobs for youth in 2003.

"Engaging youth corps with recreation fee projects gets trails and facilities restored, keeps wages in the local area, and develops the next generation of forest stewards. We think these youth-based projects can only be seen as a win-win decision for local communities, our youth, and the health of our public lands," said Arthur Pope, executive director of Northwest Youth Corps.

In the interests of streamlining pass systems in the region, the Forest Service and the Oregon State Parks agency have worked out a reciprocal agreement to honor State and Northwest Forest Passes in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. No extra purchase needed! At the Wildwood Recreation Site, located off Highway 26 east of Portland and managed by the Bureau of Land Management, the Northwest Forest Pass will be honored through the end of September.

"These are two tests we are doing with Oregon State Parks and the Bureau of Land Management to see what the demand is for an interagency pass," Biro said.

Additional facts about the Northwest Forest Pass:

• By law, Northwest Forest Pass dollars are distributed according to where people recreate. "Where you play is where the money goes," notes Bown, who explains that 80 percent of fees collected return to the site. "In addition, the public has a direct say into setting priorities for fee expenditures. Priorities are based on primarily two feedback efforts: surveys completed cooperatively with universities, and comment cards provided when a pass is purchased," she adds.


• Northwest Forest Passes ($5 per day or $30 per year) are available at more than 85 Forest Service offices, 240 commercial outlets, over the Internet at www.naturenw.org, and by telephone at 1-800-270-7504. The Pass does not cover camping fees at developed campgrounds, cabin and lookout rentals, wilderness and river use permits.


• When Congress provided the first opportunity to supplement the diminishing supply of federal dollars available to care for recreation facilities, the USDA Forest Service stepped forward with a variety of pilot programs to find ways to ensure that the places where we love to recreate continue to be tended well.

Note to editors: Interested in more news about how the Northwest Forest Pass is providing jobs for your area's local youth, making the pass system easier to use, or ensuring access for all to national forest lands? Contact Jocelyn Biro, Fee Program Coordinator at (503) 808-2411 for story ideas, contacts in your local area, and more.

Other Contacts: Art Pope, Executive, Director of Northwest Youth Corps, Eugene, OR (541) 349-7500

Pieter Bohen, Director of Programs, Earth Corps, Seattle, WA (206) 322-9296

Gifford Pinchot National Forest
13 June 2002