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Arizona Star article
On September 5, a federal magistrate dismissed Forest Service charges for two $30 fines for failure to purchase a $5 day use pass for the Mount Lemmon-Sabino Canyon area of the Coronado National Forest.
Magistrate Pyle ruled that the Forest Service exceeded its congressional authorization when it charged fees for certain things that parallel the WMNF fee system: parking to use a trail, for roadside or trailside picnicking, for camping outside developed campgrounds and for roadside parking in general.
As you might recall, the "fee demonstration program" was initiated following a 1996 law. Over 4,500 sites around the USFS system started charging fees pursuant to that law. In 2004, another law was enacted limiting the USFS's right to charge fees, but by 2005 less than 500 of the 4,500 had dropped their fees.
One upshot of all this is that those who protest the fees in the WMNF may have a better chance of fighting their fines, though there is likely to still be a fight. On the other hand, if the WMNF changes its practices to eliminate the forest pass system, user fee revenues are likely to plummet, leaving the WMNF underfunded and thus either unable to carry out its services or hungry for revenues from other sources such as timber harvesting.
On September 5, a federal magistrate dismissed Forest Service charges for two $30 fines for failure to purchase a $5 day use pass for the Mount Lemmon-Sabino Canyon area of the Coronado National Forest.
Magistrate Pyle ruled that the Forest Service exceeded its congressional authorization when it charged fees for certain things that parallel the WMNF fee system: parking to use a trail, for roadside or trailside picnicking, for camping outside developed campgrounds and for roadside parking in general.
As you might recall, the "fee demonstration program" was initiated following a 1996 law. Over 4,500 sites around the USFS system started charging fees pursuant to that law. In 2004, another law was enacted limiting the USFS's right to charge fees, but by 2005 less than 500 of the 4,500 had dropped their fees.
One upshot of all this is that those who protest the fees in the WMNF may have a better chance of fighting their fines, though there is likely to still be a fight. On the other hand, if the WMNF changes its practices to eliminate the forest pass system, user fee revenues are likely to plummet, leaving the WMNF underfunded and thus either unable to carry out its services or hungry for revenues from other sources such as timber harvesting.