Proposed fee increase

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Subzilla

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Joined
Jun 13, 2011
Location
Triad - Mt. Pleasant, Concord & Georgeville
Saw this on Uwharrie FS FB:
The U.S. Forest Service is proposing to change fees at recreation areas on the Uwharrie, Pisgah, and Nantahala National Forests.

These proposed fee increases are subject to public comment and review by the Southern Region Recreation Resource Advisory Committee. If approved, the Forest Service will implement the fee changes in mid-2020. The public is invited to provide input to proposed fee changes from now to May 31st, 2019.

The Forest Service recognizes how important the National Forests in North Carolina are to our local communities and the citizens who recreate on the forest. Increased fee collections would help to improve visitor experiences and enables the Forest Service to be more strategic in planning and developing a sustainable recreation program. These fee changes will help us maintain our sites and trails at the level and quality our visitors have come to expect, especially at a time when we are experiencing increases in recreation use and operating costs. Under the 2004 Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act, up to 95 percent of fees collected at recreation sites may be used locally to operate, maintain, and improve these sites, so fee increases will translate directly to improved facilities and trails across the forest. Proposed fee changes also will move us closer to fee levels charged by other nearby public and private recreation providers, as shown by our market analysis. Specifically, we propose the following fee changes in the Nantahala, Pisgah, and Uwharrie National Forests:

Day Use Areas
Uwharrie
Kings Mountain Point – new $5/vehicle fee or $30 annual pass*
*Fee is waived for visitors that have paid for a campsite at any of the Uwharrie campgrounds during their
duration of stay

Campgrounds
Uwharrie
Yates Place – new $10/site per night fee
Cabins
Nantahala
Swan Cabin – increase from $25 per night to $50 per night

Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Trails
Pisgah
Brown Mountain OHV Trail Complex – increase from $5 to $15/vehicle per day, and increase from $30 to $60 for annual pass*
Nantahala
Wayehutta OHV Trail Complex – increase from $5 to $15/vehicle per day, and increase from $30 to $60 for annual pass*
Uwharrie
Badin Lake OHV Trail Complex – increase from $5 to $15/vehicle per day, and increase from $30 to $60 for annual pass*
*As proposed, these OHV trail fees would be phased-in over a two year period.

Specialized Mountain Bike and Equestrian Trails
Nantahala
Tsali Mountain Bike and Equestrian Trail Complex – increase from $2 to $5/rider per day, and increase from $15 to $30 for annual pass

For more information or to provide comments about these fee change proposals, please contact nfsncfeeproposals@fs.fed.us.
 
Stuntman Autoworks said:
I wouldn't mind it if we could get Kodak reopened, new trails made and prevent future BS closures.
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Not going to happen. I told them the best way to slow the impact of OHV use on the trail system was more miles. URE has been hammered since Tellico closed. Just my .02J
 
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Rather than type the stuff I commented on the post and when I shared the post, my lazy fat ass is about to do some copying and pasting from the stuff I said yesterday on the book of faces, lol.

Comment on the post itself:
So let me get this straight, less and less available trail to ride for the OHV group, but we will be paying $15 per day or $60 per year? Well, I guess that is one way to keep people off the trails, over charge. Thanks for nothing.

Comment when I shared the post:
I might upset some of you by my thoughts on this, but so be it. I admit that I havent been able to volunteer out at URE like I used to and I really dont even wheel as much as I used to (I havent even made it to the trails this year yet), but this price hike seems messed up. Less and less trail space to ride on, less maintenance being done to the trails by the people actually getting the money, users of the other areas of the forest not being made to pay their fair share, and now the OHV group will have to pay (at some point in the near future) $15 per day or $60 per year for a trail system that gets worse every year. By worse, I dont mean more challenging, I mean less area to wheel on, less scenic, and less maintained. I know that the volunteers who give up their Saturdays work their asses off to do what they can with limited resources and that is not the maintenance I am complaining about. I am complaining about the forest service not doing what they are paid to do. Paid do to with our tax money and the revenue that the forest generates. If you feel I am wrong in my opinion, thats fine, I wont take offense but I am thinking that I need to find a new place to wheel when I can actually go out and wheel instead of URE.

Response to others who have no problem with the fee increase:
I guess its not the price itself that bothers me, its the lie behind it. It seems like the forest service gets slacker and slacker about maintaining the OHV trails and give limited support to the volunteers who are actually maintaining the trails. Just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I am not and wont try to persuade anyone to not go to URE anymore, I am just venting my opinion on the matter. From what I have seen in the comments on the main post, I am not the only one feeling this way.
 
I'm not surprised. It has been $5/day and $30/yr for a LONG time.
 
Like @drkelly I don't see the $15/$60 fee as being the issue considering it's been $5/day for the 20 years that I've been going there. The problem is the way the funds are used, even at a dollar a day. I can't tell you how many times I've heard about patrol vehicles and erosion control, but all I've seen is guardrails and volunteer work.
 
I ran into a ranger on Saturday who was working on Dutch John. He seemed like a nice enough guy, and was willing to chat. I asked him about the purposed increase, and he became very defensive. I am guessing that they have heard alot of negative input so far??
 
junkxj said:
I ran into a ranger on Saturday who was working on Dutch John.
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This amazes me, I thought there was a better chance of seeing Big Foot out there than this.
 
superman27344 said:
This amazes me, I thought there was a better chance of seeing Big Foot out there than this.
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I know from the workday this past weekend there was two rangers in the forest working. One was cutting trees out of the trail the other one was actually helping us dig holes and move gaurdrail on dickeybell. Apparently it was odd for the ranger to be helping but this guy had only been working in ure since October.

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Keith Odom said:
only been working in ure since October.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
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That explains it, he hasnt been broken in yet. His co-workers and superiors will put a stop to that working stuff before too long.
 
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Every work day I have been to we have had Rangers working with us.
 
Chris_Keziah said:
Ditto, if you consider supervising working
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This is true, they can stand around and watch, or sit on their side by side, or take their lunch while the volunteers work like real professionals.
 
Im perfectly fine with fee increase, actually even more then that. It will likely remove some of the riff raff and in turn lower the chances of stuff being closed because of assholes trashing the place. (Theoretically at least...)
 
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