El Dorado National Forest Looking At Fee Increases- Wants Your Opinion

Friday, 08 June 2007 02:16

El Dorado National Forest Looking At Fee Increases- Wants Your Opinion

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Recreation managers for the Eldorado National Forest want to learn what people think about proposed minor fee increases at 15 Forest Service operated recreation sites and three new fee sites beginning in 2008. The Forest Service is proposing that campers pay two dollars more next year to camp in five different campgrounds in the Eldorado National Forest. Two dollar increases are also proposed for four trailheads and separate 10, 20, and 25 dollar increases are proposed for three recreation rentals. The additional funds collected at each site will help pay for repair, maintenance, and enhancement of the recreation facilities and other activities such as interpretive programs, recreation site restoration, law enforcement, and facility improvements.

Several new fees have also been proposed for newly created reacreational sites. A “new” recreation rental cabin near Sly Park is scheduled to be available for reservation in 2008. The rental was formally known as the Sly Park Guard Station. The Forest Service is proposing to charge $65 per night to stay in the cabin. A five dollar day use fee is proposed for Woods Lake Picnic Area, located off Highway 88, and a 10 dollar camping fee and five dollar extra vehicle fee are proposed for Lover’s Leap Campground, located off Highway 50. “The Eldorado National Forest is fortunate to have many outstanding recreation facilities that serve a wide variety of visitors,” said Eldorado National Forest Recreation Officer Lester Lubetkin. “Our goal is to keep recreating costs in the national forest as reasonable as possible and the facilities in good shape for the increasing number of visitors who recreate every year in the Eldorado.”

For more information and to provide comments by July 10 about any of these fee change proposals, please contact Diana Erickson (530) 622-5061. Comments can be mailed to: REA Proposals; Eldorado National Forest; 100 Forni Road; Placerville, CA 95667. Comments received from the public will be considered locally by the Eldorado National Forest Supervisor and later forwarded to a citizen’s advisory committee, called a Recreation Resource Advisory Committee, or RRAC. Committee members represent a broad array of recreation interest groups to help ensure that the Forest Service is proposing reasonable and publicly acceptable fee changes. Committee members will help ensure that the Forest Service addresses public issues and concerns about recreation fees. The public is welcome to attend and comment at all advisory committee meetings. The first RRAC meeting is expected to be held in the summer of 2007. The exact meeting time, location and agenda will be announced on the Forest Service website at www.fs.fed.us/r5 and through local media. In 2004, Congress passed the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act which allows the Forest Service to keep 95 percent of fees collected at certain recreation sites and use these funds locally to repair, maintain and enhance recreation facilities and other recreation related activities. Information about Eldorado National Forest recreation sites and rental cabins can be found at www.fs.fed.us/r5/eldorado.