*** ALERT!!! *** House Fee Bill HR 3283 *** Act Now ***

Hanson

HR 3283 would eliminate the Golden Age Pass, .........
Penalties for walking on public lands (NOT in PARKS) without
a pass will increase to a class B misdemeanor punishable by
6 months in jail and/or a $5,000 fine.

-------- Original Message below -------- Subject: ALERT!!!
House Fee Bill-Act Now Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2004 21:11:10 -0400
From: "Robert Funkhouser" <rfunk9999@earthlink.net> To:
"Robert Funkhouser" <rfunk9999@earthlink.net>

June 28, 2004 WESTERN SLOPE NO-FEE COALITION
P.O. Box 403, Norwood, CO 81423

******* ACTION ALERT ******* HOUSE RESOURCES COMMITTEE
PREPARING PERMANENT FEE BILL FOR COMMITTEE VOTE!!

YOUR AND YOUR ORGANIZATION'S INPUT NEEDED NOW!! PLEASE PHONE
AND FAX THE COMMITTEE TODAY!!!!

The House Resources Committee staff is right now preparing
permanent fee legislation to be pushed through on a fast
track for a Committee vote soon. It is imperative that
Committee members hear loud and clear that the taxpaying
public will not stand for a permanent fee system like Fee
Demo for the BLM, Forest Service, US Fish and Wildlife
Service, Bureau of Reclamation, and the US Army Corps of
Engineers. Indications are that this legislation will be
closely modeled on HR 3283, introduced last October by Fee
Demo's original architect Rep. Ralph Regula, (R-OH). That
bill would require Americans to pay a fee, before they set
foot or tire on any of 640 million acres of public lands. HR
3283 will create a new annual nationwide "America the
Beautiful" pass, costing $85 or more, as well as multiple
layers of fees. Basic fees will be levied for access to all
Forest Service, BLM, US Fish & Wildlife Service and Bureau
of Reclamation lands and lakes, not just for the Park
Service lands. On top of these basic fees, expanded fees
will be required for campgrounds and boat launches and
special recreation permit fees will be needed for motorized
recreation and for group activities. HR 3283 would eliminate
the Golden Age Pass, currently available to senior citizens,
that allows them a lifetime of entry into the National Parks
and a 50% discount at campgrounds for a one-time charge of
$10. Penalties for recreating without a pass will increase
to a class B misdemeanor punishable by 6 months in jail
and/or a $5,000 fine.

HOW IN THE WORLD COULD SUCH AN EXTREME PROPOSAL EVER SEE THE
LIGHT OF DAY?

Unbelievably, Ralph Regula, a Republican from central Ohio
who has NO public lands in his district, is actually proud
to claim authorship of this shameful legislation, and he has
strong Administration support in pushing it forward. Regula
created the infamous Recreational Fee Demonstration Program
(Fee Demo) in 1996, as a pilot program for the measures he
has now written into HR3283. He's proud of that, too.

This bill is an outrage and an insult to the American public
that owns these lands and has paid taxes to maintain them,
even through two World Wars and the Great Depression. Here
in the West, where public land is over every hill and around
every bend, we would need a pass to leave the city limits.
Access fees to public lands are a regressive tax that puts
the burden of public land management on the backs of rural
Americans who live adjacent to or surrounded by land managed
by the three agencies, and for whom they are an integral
part of life. They are held in trust for the citizens of
this nation and are maintained through our taxes. To mandate
that those local residents carry a heavier tax burden of
funding of our land management agencies is just wrong.

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR WHO TO CONTACT AND WHAT TO SAY! WE
NEED BOTH CALLS AND FAXES TO DC THROUGH MID-JULY! BACKGROUND

The Senate recently passed S. 1107, which calls for
permanent recreation fees for only the National Parks and
allows the program to expire for the BLM, Forest Service and
US Fish and Wildlife Service. While the Senate action is a
major victory for Fee Demo opponents, we are only halfway to
our goal. We must now persuade the House Resources Committee
to also pass legislation very similar to S. 1107!

THE PUSH FOR HR 3283 HR 3283's author, Rep. Ralph Regula (R-
OH), is in line to be chair of the House Appropriations
Committee next year - a powerful position controlling all
the money that Congress distributes. It is risky for
Congressmen to oppose him on legislation he's introduced -
such as HR 3283 - as Rep. Regula is in a position to
retaliate later by restricting funds for programs supported
by his opponents. The Administration was unable to get
congressional sponsorship for HR3283 from any western
Representative, so they have turned to this guy from Ohio to
do their bidding. Rep. Regula is actively twisting arms on
the House Resources Committee to try and get HR3283 passed,
and he may succeed.

It is a sad day when someone so hostile to rural and
western values can rise to such a position of power in
Washington that he actually might be able to make this
happen. Our challenge is to show the House Resources
Committee that the American people want an end to Fee Demo,
regardless of Rep. Ralph Regula's wishes. It's a delicate
situation for Committee members, and only strong pressure
from across the nation will succeed. Let's help our
Congressmen stand up to Regula.

WHO TO CONTACT  PLEASE BOTH CALL AND FAX We're starting by
asking you to contact key Republican majority members of
the House Resources Committee. The majority Committee
members are the ones currently involved in preparing the
permanent fee legislation. Later on, after the legislation
is made public, we'll contact Democratic minority Committee
members too.

Please all contact Committee chair Richard Pombo and
Congressman Regula
- and as many of the others as you have time for. Please
pick names from your state and then others at random (i.e.
we don't want only the first listed names to get all the
calls and faxes). Please try and contact all listed below.
(Try faxes in the evening if fax lines are busy during
office hours in D.C.)

PLEASE MAKE CALLS AND FAXES NOW THROUGH MID JULY!

Richard Pombo, CA, Phone: (202) 225-2761, Fax: (202) 225-
5929 alternate Phone: (202) 225-1947; Fax: (202) 226-0861

Ralph Regula, OH, Phone: (202) 225-3876, Fax: (202) 225-3059

Elton Gallegly, CA, Phone: (202) 225-5811, Fax: (202) 225-
1100 Ken Calvert, CA, Phone: (202) 225-1986, Fax: (202)
225-2004 Devin Nunes, CA, Phone: (202) 225-2523, Fax:
(202) 225-3404

Scott McInnis, CO, Phone: (202) 225-4761, Fax: (202) 226-
0622 Thomas Tancredo, CO, Phone: (202) 225-7882, Fax:
(202) 226-4623

Jeff Flake, AZ, Phone: (202) 225-2635, Fax: (202) 226-4386
P.P. Hayworth, AZ, Phone: (202) 225-2190, Fax: (202) 225-
3263 Rick Renzi, AZ, Phone: (202) 225-2315, Fax:
(202) 226-9739

Wayne Gilchrest, MD, Phone: (202) 225-5311, Fax: (202) 225-
0254

Dennis Rehburg, MT, Phone: (202) 225-3211, Fax: (202) 225-
5687

Walter Jones, NC, Phone: (202) 225-3415 Fax: (202) 225-3286

Tom Osborne, NE, Phone: (202) 225-6435, Fax: (202) 226-1385

Stevan Pearce, NM, Phone: (202) 225-2365, Fax: (202) 225-
9599

Jim Gibbons, NV, Phone: (202) 225-6155. Fax: (202) 225-5679

Greg Walden, OR, Phone: (202) 225-6730, Fax: (202) 225-5774

John Duncan, TN, Phone: (202) 225-5435, Fax: (202) 225-6440

Rob Bishop, UT Phone: (202) 225-0453, Fax: (202) 225-5857
Chris Cannon, UT, Phone: (202) 225-7751, Fax: (202) 225-5629

Barbara Cubin, WY, Phone: (202) 225-2311, Fax: (202) 225-
3057

WHAT TO SAY--> Please ask that permanent recreation fees be
limited to National Parks, as in Senate bill S. 1107.

State your opposition to recreation fees for Forest Service,
BLM and US Fish & Wildlife Service sites.

SAMPLE LETTER TO FAX--> (PLEASE VARY AND USE YOUR OWN WORDS!
EXACT COPIES OF THIS SAMPLE LETTER WILL CARRY LESS WEIGHT!)

Dear Congressman,

I urge you to support adoption of S.1107, which would allow
the Recreational Fee Demonstration Program (Fee Demo) to
expire for the Forest Service, BLM, and Fish and Wildlife
Service. The Senate passed
Q.1107 in May by unanimous consent and has sent it to the
House for your consideration. It would allow only the
National Park Service to continue to charge entrance fees
and to use them within that agency without further
appropriation. I urge you to oppose HR 3283, or any
permanent Fee Demo type bill, which would force all
Americans to buy a pass before they set foot or tire on
any public lands. It would abolish the Golden Age Pass and
make anyone caught on public land without a pass subject
to criminal penalties. HR 3283 would destroy the American
heritage of shared ownership and shared access to our
.public lands. Access fees to use public lands are a
double tax.

Contrary to testimony by the Departments of Interior and
Agriculture, Americans do know the difference between the
National Parks and the vast tracts of undeveloped land
managed by the Forest Service, BLM, and Fish and Wildlife
Service. They do not want to see these lands developed with
the same level of service and infrastructure found in
National Parks, nor can we as a country afford that.

The Park Service, which accounts for 80% of Fee Demo
revenue, has a long history of charging entrance fees and
their fees have not been controversial with the public. It
is these new fees to access the large areas managed by the
other agencies that have proven very unpopular, and which I
oppose. I strongly urge you to end Fee Demo, or any similar
program, for the Forest Service, BLM, and US Fish and
Wildlife service. Sincerely,

For more information please contact: Robert Funkhouser,
President Western Slope No-Fee Coalition
Rfunk9999@earthlink.net <mailto:Rfunk9999@earthlink.net> 802-867-
2298 Kitty Benzar, Co-Founder WSNFC 970-259-4616