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[pct-l] Fees, Cows, and Sheep

Fees:  A couple years ago, the National Park Service implemented a
backcountry user fee system in Olympic National Park.  From the people in
the park that I talked to:

- The fees were supposed to generate about $200,000 per year.
- The cost of managing the program ($40,000 /yr Director, vehicles,
propaganda materials, etc) was $100,000 per year.

Though the National Parks are different from the National Forests/Wilderness
areas, they are still government agencies.  One of the great unreported
stories of last year (by the mainstream media) was a certain bill that
recently got defeated in Congress.  The bill would have permitted
Corporations to "Sponsor" our beloved National Parks. (Grand Canyon brought
to you by John Deere, Niagara Falls brought to you by AT & T, Mt Rainier
brought to you by McDonalds).  So basically, you still have to keep tabs on
the woods.

Cows/Sheep-  You might not see the sheep until the North Cascades, but cows
are everywhere.  Many in Oregon.  In Northern California, I fell asleep in a
meadow, just on my therm-a-rest.  At 3am I awoke to a clanking sound, and
discovered about 20 cows all standing around me, wondering who or what I
was.  I did love the posting of charging humans the same rate as cows,
pretty creative thinking.  I'll have to bring some nickels for next time I
go hiking.

Craig Giffen

Portland "Icy and everything is closed" Oregon.



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