White Mountain National Forest proposes fee increase

[bikehikeskifish]

http://www.wmur.com/escape-outside/white-mountain-national-forest-proposes-fee-increase/41053688


CAMPTON, N.H. —The White Mountain National Forest is seeking public comments on plans to increase fees for 2017 recreation passes.

The cost of a daily recreation pass would go from $3 to $5. An annual pass would increase from $25 to $30, and there would be an elimination of the weekly and household passes.

The federal proposal is aimed at realigning fees to be more consistent with other sites offering the same services and facilities and to enable more of the revenue to be used at recreation sites.

This includes the proposed elimination of fees at nine trail heads.


... (See the link for the rest of the story)

Tim

 

[DayTrip]

Wasn't this proposed in 2015 for 2016 implementation? I remember reading about this the first time I got my annual pass. How long do these things typically take to actually pass?

 

[egilbe]

even at $30, its still a good value.

 

[Becca M]

I am guessing it would now be $30 for EACH car since they are eliminating the household pass? EEEEK!!!! Sucks to have this many cars!!! Just kidding,,, hmmmm, 1st hikesafe card or 2nd WMNF sticker......

 

[TDawg]

Just curious, whats the fine for parking without a pass?

 

[JustJoe]

Just curious, whats the fine for parking without a pass?

$75. Maybe that has gone up as well.

I was told when buying a pass in Lincoln at least 6-8 years ago that they'd be going up the next year. So I look at it as several bonus years of $25 for 2.

 

[peakbagger]

Not a lot of parking lots left that require them. Many of the lots to be taken off the list were somewhat bogus as they didn't have the "services" required to collect a fee. The FS got around it by posting a notice that the services were available at another facility in the vicinity. 19 mile brook was mostly on the state of NH highway right of way, had no services except for a sign board, a fee tube and a sign directing parkers to go to the Great Gulf parking lot for "services".

The remaining lots are all high revenue lots including the ones extracting a few more bucks out of AMC hut folks (Crawford path, Ammo, Gale River, Zealand). I talked to a FS volunteer a few years back at one of the lots. He had a FS truck and his job was to clean the outhouses and make sure there was toilet paper. He got a free campsite for the summer for pay. He claimed that the fees allowed the FS to fund an officer on weekends, of course all this officer did was drive around and issue tickets but the officer could be available for emergencies.

There was claim at one point that no one who cared to actually contest the ticket in court had ever paid the actual fine The claim was that the court has no interest in wasting their time and that the tickets are not legit due to some flaw in the method they use to write them.

 

[egilbe]

I am guessing it would now be $30 for EACH car since they are eliminating the household pass? EEEEK!!!! Sucks to have this many cars!!! Just kidding,,, hmmmm, 1st hikesafe card or 2nd WMNF sticker......

I wonder if they are going to a hang tag like the passes for the National parks? my GF was active duty so the National Parks pass was free and it covered national forests, too. It was a hang tag that hooked to the rearview mirror mount.

 

[Stan]

Still a bargain in my opinion.

There are interagency passes good at national forests, parks, seashores, BLM etc., many free such as military, disabled, 4th graders and volunteers, a modest $10 lifetime pass for seniors and, if you frequent such places, an $80/year annual pass if you are not in one of the above groups or accompanied by a holder of one of the above. That's a bargain, too, compared to the cost of comparable passes in the Canadian system.

 

[CaptCaper]

Being a senior I have a lifetime pass for NF Parks,etc. I travel across the USA often and camp for $7 per night at the parks..so nice. And get in free at Yellowstone,etc.
And being I live in NH I find the $30 a great price for a seasons pass and or $5 or a day. I mean I was just on Cape Cod last weekend..you don't want to know what that was like in cost's and finding a parking spot. It always reminds me of why this ole Captain moved out of there. Enjoy NH and National Forests,etc. pricing.

 

[richard]

senior pass

Being a senior I have a lifetime pass for NF Parks,etc. I travel across the USA often and camp for $7 per night at the parks..so nice. And get in free at Yellowstone,etc.
And being I live in NH I find the $30 a great price for a seasons pass and or $5 or a day. I mean I was just on Cape Cod last weekend..you don't want to know what that was like in cost's and finding a parking spot. It always reminds me of why this ole Captain moved out of there. Enjoy NH and National Forests,etc. pricing.

I`m also a senior citizen. (67 yrs.). Where and how do I apply for a lifetime pass?

 

[DayTrip]

$75. Maybe that has gone up as well.

I was told when buying a pass in Lincoln at least 6-8 years ago that they'd be going up the next year. So I look at it as several bonus years of $25 for 2.

Three or four years ago when I first started hiking I inadvertently forgot to pay the fee and they left an envelope on my car to mail in the amount or buy an annual pass. Never had a fine. I don't recall which trail head I was at. I wonder if enforcement has changed since.

 

[JustJoe]

I`m also a senior citizen. (67 yrs.). Where and how do I apply for a lifetime pass?

You can buy annual or weekly passes online. But I think you may only be able to get the senior lifetime pass at a park. I got mine in Acadia's visitors center. Quick and easy.

 

[Stan]

I`m also a senior citizen. (67 yrs.). Where and how do I apply for a lifetime pass?

You can buy them at most park and forest visitor centers ... the Lincoln exit off I-93 for one.

BTW, many state park systems have similar passes, Mass. for one.

 

[Mike]

I`m also a senior citizen. (67 yrs.). Where and how do I apply for a lifetime pass?

Richard, I also live in southern NH and obtained my lifetime pass in Lowell, MA at the Lowell National Historic Park located at 67 Kirk Street, Lowell, MA. If you go in person you don't need to fill out an application, just bring a photo ID

 

[jniehof]

Lifetime pass is $20 online, link. If that doesn't work, details are here.

 

[sierra]

Not a lot of parking lots left that require them. Many of the lots to be taken off the list were somewhat bogus as they didn't have the "services" required to collect a fee. The FS got around it by posting a notice that the services were available at another facility in the vicinity. 19 mile brook was mostly on the state of NH highway right of way, had no services except for a sign board, a fee tube and a sign directing parkers to go to the Great Gulf parking lot for "services".

The remaining lots are all high revenue lots including the ones extracting a few more bucks out of AMC hut folks (Crawford path, Ammo, Gale River, Zealand). I talked to a FS volunteer a few years back at one of the lots. He had a FS truck and his job was to clean the outhouses and make sure there was toilet paper. He got a free campsite for the summer for pay. He claimed that the fees allowed the FS to fund an officer on weekends, of course all this officer did was drive around and issue tickets but the officer could be available for emergencies.

There was claim at one point that no one who cared to actually contest the ticket in court had ever paid the actual fine The claim was that the court has no interest in wasting their time and that the tickets are not legit due to some flaw in the method they use to write them.

I just started buying the pass 3 years ago, I never received one ticket before that. Although, I did find envelopes on my truck on occasion, I just never looked inside, just threw them away.

 

[richard]

Thanks guys.

 

[CaptCaper]

Any Ranger station will have them. I paid $10... maybe they've gone up.

 

[dave.m]

I think the Whites need permits to limit hiker visits per trailhead.

IMO, fees are a canard. The USFS recreational budget should be funded through taxes just as public libraries are and for the same reasons. This is a left over from an old move to privatize many aspects of USFS back in the 90s.