[pct-l] America the Beatiful
Jim and/or Ginny Owen
spiriteagle99 at hotmail.com
Wed Dec 13 15:34:07 CST 2006
Where we live you don't have to pay to use the forests, however I think that
in California and perhaps Oregon and Washington there is an annual permit
required to park at national forest trailheads. Perhaps New Hampshire as
well? I think I remember that the passes were only good for certain
forests, and that if you traveled to another part of the state or to a
different state you had to buy another permit. Is that right?
If so, this permit could save you money and would simplify the process a lot
since one permit would work for all areas. It would especially be handy for
people traveling who may not know that they need a special permit to hike.
For those of us who live in areas that don't charge for parking (yet) - it
is an added cost. But we can choose whether or not to use the National
Parks or to hike elsewhere.
I do agree that our taxes are supposed to pay for upkeep of the national
lands - but they don't and haven't for a lot of years. "Temporary" funding
programs have become permanent, but it still doesn't begin to cover the
costs. As the federal land base has expanded, the money to maintain the
lands has decreased. Every time there is a new monument, wilderness area or
park, the money comes out of some other park's budget. That budget isn't
growing and isn't likely to under the new Congress. The number of people
using the public lands is not growing and there are too many other
priorities that will garner more votes. People who don't use the public
lands are quite happy to see those who do pay for the use of them. Like it
or not, it's likely to stay that way.
Ginny
http://www.spiriteaglehome.com/
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