The Huron-Manistee National Forests have proposed a fee change to less than half of their 191 “developed recreational sites” to bring in more money for the maintenance and improvement of the sites.
The proposed fees are roughly an increase of between $5 and $40 depending on the maintenance needed and amenities provided by the forest service.
Public Affairs Officer for the Forest Service, Travis Owens, defines these spaces as areas with a designated purpose with amenities maintained by the forest service. Places like river access points, trailheads and campgrounds.
Owens says a developed recreational campground would have amenities like picnic tables, metal firepit rings, potable water and vault toilets.
“There are multiple National Forests going through the fee proposal change but here in the Huron-Manistee we sent out invites to try and get members of the public to participate in the Resource Advisory Committee,” said Owens. “That committee will get together, meet and review our proposal and make recommendations before it goes to our regional forester.”
Owens says the committee hopes to represent all recreational outdoor activities that would be affected by the proposal and offer something that will please the community.
According to Owens, the rising costs in the U.S. have made maintaining fee-less recreation sites difficult along with the rising national trend of increased outdoor recreation causing the sites to need more maintenance than in the past.
Owens says the Recreation Enhancement Act, passed in 2004, gives federal agencies the ability to charge a fee at National Forest recreation sites. The act requires that the revenue from fees must be used “to enhance the visitor experience.”
The forest will collect the fees in various ways. The traditional “fee tube” option is available at the sites, accepting cash or checks for day use or overnight fee payments. Owens says the forests recreation technicians who do the maintenance at the sites also monitor fee payments through the fee tubes.
“People can fill out an envelope, instructions are there, some have a hang tag that you can hang it from your rearview mirror so they can verify that the fee was paid for that day,” said Owens.
The forest has recently started offering more options for card payments, reservations can be made online for overnight sites, day use and overnight fees can be paid online through the forest website and a Huron-Manistee National Forest pass is available.
The fee price at each site is determined by the amenities provided and the fees of other nearby sites. Owens says currently the Huron-Manistee's fees are lower than others in the area, but they are hoping to align prices soon to provide quality maintenance.
“We have seen, nationally, a trend of increased recreation and the reality that as we see more use we see increased costs,” said Owens.
As of July 1, the Huron-Manistee National Forests are seeking public comments of the proposed fee changes on various “developed recreational sites.” The 60-day comment period will end September 1.
According to Owens, various comments have already been received, but it's too early in the comment period to see a generalized feeling toward the proposal.
