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Show THE ZEPHYR/DECEMBER 2006-JANUARY 2007 accordance with guidelines established by the Secretary. (c) Administration, Overhead, and Indirect Costs- The Secretary may use not more than an average of 15 percent of total revenues collected under this Act for administration, overhead, and indirect costs related to the recreation fee program by that Secretary. TTR BULLETS Consider the examples I’ve provided above and then relate those example to the requirement of the law. I suggest that the corporate promo deals make it difficult to comply with provision (3), extremely difficult to comply with provision (A), and surely violate the requirement of poe (c). An important court case was decided in Tucson Arizona recently, one that will likely have major repercussions. A woman was ticketed by the USFS for failure to pay a recreation fee. The judge did not merely find the woman By Scott Silver innocent, he found the USFS guilty. AC taai ee Rl a: USFS GUILTY!!! PARK PASSPORTS & CORPORATE TIES? I’m onto a scent I’d like to share. It has to do with National Park passes, corporate tieins and discounted promo deals. It has to do with reducing the amount of money the NPS receives from the sale of park passes and allowing special interest groups to siphon money from park pass sales. It may also be evidence of illegal behavior. With the links that follow I’ve marked a trail. I invite the curious to explore. An important court case was decided in Tucson Arizona recently, one that will likely have major repercussions. A woman was ticketed by the USFS for failure to pay a recreation fee. The judge did not merely find the woman innocent, he found the USFS guilty. I’ve made the judge's ruling available on the Wild Wilderness website. U.S. judge’s ruling could end forest user fees A federal magistrate’s ruling could end, or scale back the scope of, the $5 daily user fees charged on Mount Lemmon and in Sabino and Madera canyons. The case could set a national precedent, possibly ending fees in other national forests around the country, said the chief Forest Service official for the Mount Lemmon-Sabino Canyon area. Start down the trail by reading through this online discussion. It is about National Park passes, discounted Promo Codes, mailing fees, and the benefits of buying your NPS pass (and a whole lot of gear) at ones local REI store. http: /iwww. dgrin.com/showthread. php?t=31463 Then have a look at this weblink paying attention to the top banner and the reference to the Outdoor Industry Foundation. https://buy.nationalparks.org/default.asp?ref=oif .. then read this page from the Outdoor Industry Foundation’s own website http:// dat ¢/programs.parks.html. It appears that if you purwww.outdoorir idustryf chase a National Park pass at the buy.nationalpark.org webpage that sports the OIF logo, as contrasted with purchasing your pass at a national park or from the NPS, -- instead of the National Park System getting all of the $50 you pay, they get just $40. OIF and the National Park Foundation get $10 of YOUR money with which to promote themselves and their programs. Here’s an second example of a “Targeted” website for buying a pass. https://buy.nationalparks.org/default.asp?ref=target Here’s another https://obuy.nationalparks.org/default.asp?ref=xanterracl There are, in fact, quite a few buy.nationalpark websites, each one having a different sponsor and each one potentially offering different deals! Here’s what you get it you type the Orwellian phrase “MyFord” into the promo code line http://forums.dealofday.com/ showthread.php?t=117771 If you type myford into the promo code line, apparently you don’t pay $50 and you don’t pay the shipping and handling fee either. You pay just $40 and someone else pays the shipping. There is, however, a problem with all of these promo deals. The purpose of the National Park Pass has always been to generated money for the parks. It was never intended to serve as the basis of advertising campaigns for retail stores or car companies. It does not exist to enrich trade associations. Yet the fee program now does all of these Magistrate Charles Pyle ruled that the Forest Service went beyond its congressional authorization when it charged fees for parking to use a trail, for roadside or trailside picnicking, for camping outside developed campgrounds and for roadside parking in general. The federal government hasn’t decided whether to appeal the ruling. But if the ruling stands, it appears that the Forest Service will have to charge fees only for use at specific sites - not for driving up the mountain and parking at certain areas, as it does now. Opponents of the fees both locally and nationally call a: case a landmark. READ RULING AT: hitp://www.wildwilderness.org/i LACEORDERreMtntoDismiss.pdf — t 5 OE Wallace’s case is indeed a landmark. I do not expect the USFS will appeal because they have no grounds upon which to do so. They were caught breaking the law. My worry is that Congress will now change the law. There will certainly be much pressure to do so. It will thus be up to the citizens of this nation to convince their elected officials not to yield to that pressure. afoul of the law; the relevant portions of which I’ve quoted here: http://www.wildwilderne (A) RETENTION OF REVENUES- Not less dan /docs/therat.htm 80 peicele of the oo fees and site-specific agency pass revenues collected at a specific unit or area of a Federal land management agency shall remain available for expenditure, without further appropriation, until expended at that unit or area. (3) OTHER AMOUNTS- Other amounts col- lected at other locations, including recreation fees collected by other entities or for a reservation service, shall remain available, without further appropriation, until expended in EMAIL YOUR FEEDBACK TO THE ZEPHYR Send your comments to The Zephyr cezephyr@frontiernet.net or write to us P.O. Box 327, Moab, UT 84532 OPEN 24 HOURS ° SELF SERVE 588 Kane Creek Bivd. SEASONS GREETINGS “Bring Your Dirty Laundry.” Country Clean Laundromat & Car Wash Behind McDonalds, Next to the Cinema Sore No More! ae Pain Relieving Gel Soothing & Penetrating saueio hs— Geil provides effective relief *Arthettie« Over-Exerted & sob Muscles & Promotes Healing with All-Natural Ingredients! Available all over Moab, or Call OPEN 24 HOURS -SELF SERVE 588 Kane Creek Blvd. “Sling Your Mud Our Way.” | =o Magistrate Charles Pyle ruled that the Forest Service went beyond its congressional authorization when it charged fees for parking to use a trail, for roadside or trailside picnicking, for camping outside developed campgrounds... things --- and the story gets even worse. It appears that these deals and oe IWA. VEN: 1-800-842-6622 sorenomore.com “Feel Your Soreness Melt Away.” |
