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Under the warm-and-fuzzy euphemism of “public-private partnerships” a huge federal contractor famous for spying on Americans is in control of your access to public lands. Want to get a permit to hike Mt Whitney, enter Arches or Zion National Park, visit the world famous Coyote Buttes rock formation, or obtain a permit to float down a river? First you must pay The Man – Booz Allen Hamilton.

Public Lands Have Been Ticketmastered

Booz Allen Is Renting Us Back Our Own Land

Lawsuit Filed Challenging Booz Allen Junk Fees

Complaint in Wilson et al v Booz Allen Hamilton

Lawsuit Could Upend Operations Of Rec.gov

The White River National Forest is going ahead with a fee for overnight use in the Maroon Bells Wilderness, despite over 80% public opposition. Soliciting public comments is simply checking a box in their procedure manual. They never don’t go through with a fee proposal; the fix is in from the start. Applies to all National Forests, and Bureau of Land Management as well.

Maroon Bells Fee Approved

The Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest in Utah is trying to blanket their recreation sites with new and increased fees. And of course they’ve gotten the usual suspects to say what a great idea that is.

Utah Has Gone Fee-Crazy

Aspen Times takes a look at how the National Forests in Colorado are increasingly using fees and permits to control overcrowding. In other words, access is for those who can pay, all others drop dead.

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Adventure Journal essay looks at how fees impact peoples’ ability to visit and enjoy their public lands.

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Local governments, the Aspen Chamber, and the USFS have hired a consulting group from the US Dept of Transportation to study the Maroon Bells area and propose a management plan. Their report is not due until December 2023 – so maybe they just gave the public two more summers before we have to start paying to access the Wilderness Area! So generous of them.

Consultants to study Maroon Bells

A proposed fee for entering the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness has been “put on hold” for now. The Forest Service says that’s because they need more time to “educate” the public. It has nothing, of course, to do with the fact that they got 83% of comments in OPPOSITION to the fee. Nah. Couldn’t be that.

2022 04 07 Wilderness Fee On Hold

A proposed $12/person/night fee for backpackers in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness has hit a wall of strong opposition. Will the Forest Service go back and re-think this misguided and greedy proposal? Not holding our breath.

2021 11 04 Maroon Bells Fee Hits Opposition

The National Parks have been transformed from our Best Idea to our Worst Nightmare. And if you think one political party or the other is to blame, you have another think coming.

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The Forest Service insists it can’t afford to run its own campgrounds. But if a private company can operate them, use the revenue to pay the expenses AND make a profit, why can’t the agency operate them, use the revenue to pay the expenses and do it at a lower price because they don’t have to show a profit? Answer: the FS cares more about the profitability of their private “partners” than they do about serving the public.

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