Post by mike on Mar 9, 2007 12:35:28 GMT -5
*FEDERAL COURT FINDS FOREST SERVICE FEE PROGRAM IS ILLEGAL*
*Hiking and Parking Fees Are Not Authorized In Fee Law***
A mild-mannered, churchgoing, Tucson legal secretary has pulled the legal rug out from under a major Forest Service fee program, and potentially from hundreds of similar programs nationwide.
When Chris Wallace decided to fight the two tickets she received last September for going on backcountry hikes on Mt Lemmon without displaying a $5 access pass on her parked car, the Forest Service got more than they bargained for. With the help of California attorney Mary Ellen Barilotti, she challenged whether the Forest Service has legal authority to charge the fee.
On September 5, United States Magistrate Judge Charles R. Pyle agreed with Wallace. He dismissed both her tickets because the Mt Lemmon fee does not meet federal requirements. The Court found that:
-The legal prohibition on fees for certain activities applies even within a High Impact Recreation Area
-The Forest Service does not have authority to charge a fee for parking along roads, or for undeveloped, minimally developed or semi-developed sites
-The Forest Service has no authority to charge fees for trails, trailsides, or developed trailheads
-The agency is prohibited from charging for camping at undeveloped sites.
Wallace's case hinged on the restrictions spelled out in the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (FLREA), which was passed by Congress as an appropriations rider in December 2004. The FLREA repealed the unpopular Fee Demo law and replaced it with a permanent, but more restrictive, fee authority for the Forest Service, BLM, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and Bureau of Reclamation. The FLREA specifically prohibits fees merely for parking, for hiking through Forest Service lands, or for access to undeveloped backcountry.
After passage of the FLREA, the Forest Service issued internal guidelines that allow parking, hiking, and access fees in areas designated as "High Impact Recreation Areas" or HIRAs. Under these guidelines, fees are being charged nationwide for parking at undeveloped areas, trailheads, and along state highways and county roads.
The Western Slope No-Fee Coalition has challenged the concept of HIRAs, pointing out that they are not authorized in the FLREA and in fact are being used to skirt the restrictions in the law. A WSNFC Report to Congress documenting widespread non-compliance with the FLREA by the Forest Service was published in October 2005, in conjunction with a hearing by the Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests. The Mt Lemmon fee area was one of many identified in the Report as non-compliant with the FLREA. The Report can be read at www.westernslopenofee.org/NoF...vey_Report.pdf
Following the Senate hearing, Undersecretary of Agriculture Mark Rey produced for Congress a list of 1,339 sites located within HIRAs. Of those, 739, or 75%, do not qualify individually for fees under the FLREA. The Wallace case challenged whether the Forest Service has authority to ignore the law's restrictions just because a site is within a HIRA.
Judge Pyle's ruling confirms that they do not. The ruling says, "With respect to the 20 developed trailheads [on Mt Lemmon], never in the 42 year history of fee-charging on federal lands has fee-charging for trailheads ever been contemplated by Congress. . .Of the 48 sites identified by the USFS, only nine picnic areas are appropriate for a standard amenity recreation fee, the fee at issue in this case, assuming they are in fact developed sites, and not roadside picnic tables and trash cans."
Other similar fee programs that are potentially affected by the ruling include Mt Evans in Colorado, Sandia Byway in New Mexico, American Fork Canyon in Utah, the Northwest Forest Pass in Washington and Oregon, and the Adventure Pass in Southern California.
"For them to continue to charge fees for parking, hiking, and backcountry access after this ruling is inexcusable," said WSNFC President Robert Funkhouser. "This decision confirms that the Forest Service is not above the law."
Judge Pyle's ruling concurs, stating "The USFS needs to abide by the constraints of Congress and allow reasonable access to dispersed areas for low impact activities."
The Western Slope No-Fee Coalition is a national organization based in Durango, Colorado that has called for repeal of the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (FLREA)."
*Hiking and Parking Fees Are Not Authorized In Fee Law***
A mild-mannered, churchgoing, Tucson legal secretary has pulled the legal rug out from under a major Forest Service fee program, and potentially from hundreds of similar programs nationwide.
When Chris Wallace decided to fight the two tickets she received last September for going on backcountry hikes on Mt Lemmon without displaying a $5 access pass on her parked car, the Forest Service got more than they bargained for. With the help of California attorney Mary Ellen Barilotti, she challenged whether the Forest Service has legal authority to charge the fee.
On September 5, United States Magistrate Judge Charles R. Pyle agreed with Wallace. He dismissed both her tickets because the Mt Lemmon fee does not meet federal requirements. The Court found that:
-The legal prohibition on fees for certain activities applies even within a High Impact Recreation Area
-The Forest Service does not have authority to charge a fee for parking along roads, or for undeveloped, minimally developed or semi-developed sites
-The Forest Service has no authority to charge fees for trails, trailsides, or developed trailheads
-The agency is prohibited from charging for camping at undeveloped sites.
Wallace's case hinged on the restrictions spelled out in the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (FLREA), which was passed by Congress as an appropriations rider in December 2004. The FLREA repealed the unpopular Fee Demo law and replaced it with a permanent, but more restrictive, fee authority for the Forest Service, BLM, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and Bureau of Reclamation. The FLREA specifically prohibits fees merely for parking, for hiking through Forest Service lands, or for access to undeveloped backcountry.
After passage of the FLREA, the Forest Service issued internal guidelines that allow parking, hiking, and access fees in areas designated as "High Impact Recreation Areas" or HIRAs. Under these guidelines, fees are being charged nationwide for parking at undeveloped areas, trailheads, and along state highways and county roads.
The Western Slope No-Fee Coalition has challenged the concept of HIRAs, pointing out that they are not authorized in the FLREA and in fact are being used to skirt the restrictions in the law. A WSNFC Report to Congress documenting widespread non-compliance with the FLREA by the Forest Service was published in October 2005, in conjunction with a hearing by the Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests. The Mt Lemmon fee area was one of many identified in the Report as non-compliant with the FLREA. The Report can be read at www.westernslopenofee.org/NoF...vey_Report.pdf
Following the Senate hearing, Undersecretary of Agriculture Mark Rey produced for Congress a list of 1,339 sites located within HIRAs. Of those, 739, or 75%, do not qualify individually for fees under the FLREA. The Wallace case challenged whether the Forest Service has authority to ignore the law's restrictions just because a site is within a HIRA.
Judge Pyle's ruling confirms that they do not. The ruling says, "With respect to the 20 developed trailheads [on Mt Lemmon], never in the 42 year history of fee-charging on federal lands has fee-charging for trailheads ever been contemplated by Congress. . .Of the 48 sites identified by the USFS, only nine picnic areas are appropriate for a standard amenity recreation fee, the fee at issue in this case, assuming they are in fact developed sites, and not roadside picnic tables and trash cans."
Other similar fee programs that are potentially affected by the ruling include Mt Evans in Colorado, Sandia Byway in New Mexico, American Fork Canyon in Utah, the Northwest Forest Pass in Washington and Oregon, and the Adventure Pass in Southern California.
"For them to continue to charge fees for parking, hiking, and backcountry access after this ruling is inexcusable," said WSNFC President Robert Funkhouser. "This decision confirms that the Forest Service is not above the law."
Judge Pyle's ruling concurs, stating "The USFS needs to abide by the constraints of Congress and allow reasonable access to dispersed areas for low impact activities."
The Western Slope No-Fee Coalition is a national organization based in Durango, Colorado that has called for repeal of the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (FLREA)."