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- Newsgroups: rec.climbing
- Path: sparky!uunet!pmafire!mica.inel.gov!guinness!usenet
- From: jahn@guinness.Idbsu.EDU (Greg Jahn)
- Subject: Re: USFS Backcountry Fees
- Message-ID: <1992Nov18.155522.8499@guinness.idbsu.edu>
- Sender: usenet@guinness.idbsu.edu (Usenet News mail)
- Nntp-Posting-Host: guinness
- Reply-To: jahn@guinness.idbsu.edu
- Organization: BSU - Data Center
- References: <1ebq8hINNm63@morrow.stanford.edu> <1992Nov18.000127.8587@leland.Stanford.EDU>
- Distribution: na
- Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 15:55:22 GMT
- Lines: 44
-
- In article <1992Nov18.000127.8587@leland.Stanford.EDU>,
- garth@leland.Stanford.EDU (Douglas Garth Jensen) writes:
- |>In article <1ebq8hINNm63@morrow.stanford.edu>
- |>AS.MSW@forsythe.stanford.edu (Marc Whitney) writes:
- |>>I have just seen a news report on a proposal to charge user fees for
- |>>backpacking and hiking use of the National Forests. My first
- |>>response was negative. However, to say that the money collected
- |>>would be used to replace logging revenues. The implication was that
- |>>for every $1 collected from backpackers there would be $1 less in
- |>>timber sales. If this is true I would be inclined to change my
- |>>view.
- |>
- |>If the National Forest Service was really so interested in reducing
- |>logging
- |>and maintaining revenue, it should simply increase the cost of trees
- |>to the
- |>timber companies to a price which more reasonably represents their
- |>true value.
- |>As I understand it, the NFS now sells trees on NFS land to the timber
- |>|>companies for something like 1 dollar per tree. As if that isn't
- |>already
- |>enough of an insult, the cost to U.S. taxpayers of making those trees
- |>|>available to the timber companies (by building roads and taking care
- |>of
- |>paper work) is about $1.40 per tree. In other words, we actually PAY
- |>the
- |>timber companies to take the trees. I'm skeptical that the NFS would
- |>use
- |>fees from backpackers in a productive way.
-
- If I follow this correctly, and, based on my understanding of the
- issue, wouldn't it be reasonable to propose to the forest service
- that they stop ALL welfare logging, and, with the money that they
- SAVE because of not paying the loggers to cut trees, ... shouldn't
- they PAY US a $1 for every time we go hiking? If they did this,
- maybe I could more easily understand the life of a timber industry
- executive.
-
- --
- Greg Jahn Boise State Univ.|>>>>>>>Official Disclaimer <<<<<<<<<<<<
- / jahn@guinness.idbsu.edu /|" Only the names here are fictitious.
- / dosjahn@idbsu.bitnet /| The story, unfortunately, is
- / (208)385-3891.thephone /| absolutely true. " - Joseph Brodesky
-
-