Forestry To Seek Out Ideas
The public
Is asked to comment March 1 on the Red Rock Pass required by the Coconino National Forest in Sedona.
Flagstaff's U.S. magistrate judge found the Red Rock Ranger District's requirement of a fee to use some backcountry areas illegal under federal law last year, and now the Forest Service is attempting to decide what to do as a result.
It has suspended the requirement of a Red Rock Pass in some areas.
Red Rock District Ranger Heather Provencio will take comments on March 1, beginning at 4 p.m., at Red Rock High School, 995 Upper Red Rock Loop Road (West Sedona) Map.
The Forest Service is also accepting comments by e-mail, at http://www.redrockcountry.org/, by following the link under "Red Rock Pass Changes."
BACKGROUND
The region is the destination of a large number of visitors, many of them coming to hike in the Coconino National Forest or stay at the campgrounds in Oak Creek Canyon. While the Forest Service has for a long time charged fees for use of the campgrounds, the agency established the Red Rock Pass Area after the passage of the Recreational Fee Demonstration Program (RFDP) by Congress in 1996. This large 160,000 acre area included all of the National Forest land around Sedona, and for the first time hikers had to pay a fee just to park on National Forest land and go hiking. The new fee program was controversial. In 2002 the Sedona City Council passed a resolution by a 5-2 vote to request that the U.S. Congress end the RFDP. One of the two dissenting council members opposed the fees but voted against the resolution because he thought it was ineffective and "says nothing."
Congress responded to widespread opposition to the new recreation fees by repealing the RFDP in 2004, and in its place enacted the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (FLREA). The FLREA authorizes the Forest Service to charge an amenity fee for an area that has a required list of amenities, such as picnic tables and a permanent toilet, all of which must be present. In the FLREA, there are specific provisions that prohibit the Forest Service from charging a fee solely for parking in an undeveloped area, or for hiking across the National Forest.
The Coconino National Forest issued a news release in June 2005 stating that the Red Rock Pass Area qualified as a High-Impact Recreation Area (HIRA) under new agency guidelines, and that a recreation fee would continue to be charged whenever a person parked on National Forest lands. As far as the Forest Service is concerned, the 160,000 acre Red Rock HIRA is a qualifying "area" under the FLREA, since there are places within the HIRA that contain picnic tables, public toilets, etc. The prohibitions on charging fees for parking at undeveloped trailheads and walking across National Forest land are ignored.
On November 2, 2009, Jim Smith from Sedona received a violation notice while parking at the Dry Creek/Vultee Arch trailhead without displaying a Red Rock Pass. The closest picnic tables, public toilet and trash receptacle--all amenities required for charging an amenity fee under the FLREA--are 7 to 10 miles away from this trailhead. Since the Flagstaff court is closed during the winter, Jim used the winter months to prepare a Motion to Dismiss (MTD) challenging the legality of the Forest Service's use of the HIRA to charge a recreation fee. His MTD was submitted to the court in April 2010. Following the filing of a series of legal documents by both sides, Magistrate Judge Mark Aspey dismissed the citation on September 14th, and ruled that the Forest Service's use of the HIRA designation to charge fees throughout the entire Red Rock HIRA is contrary to the clear statutory language of the FLREA.
You can read the legal filings in the case and media hole storie HERE
See You On The Trails!
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