New Parks Pass--Pretty--But Controversial

"Deputy Secretary of the Interior Lynn Scarlett and Under Secretary of Agriculture Mark Rey last announced a new interagency recreation pass that will benefit visitors to national public lands. The new pass, authorized by the Congress in 2004, combines the benefits of existing recreation passes from five federal agencies into one comprehensive pass, the "America the Beautiful - National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass."

"The new pass covers recreation opportunities on public lands managed by four Department of the Interior agencies (National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, and the Bureau of Reclamation) and by the Department of Agriculture's U.S. Forest Service.

"Access to most public lands remains free. The pass applies to those locations that currently have entrance or standard amenity fees."

So reads the media release regarding the new recreation pass. But while the new pass has a pretty picture, not everybody's jumping on the bandwagon. Recreation activists, many who feel American's are being "feed" out of their own public lands are already blogging and editorializing up a storm. The new pass, which will cost the typical purchaser $80--up from the old parks' pass of $50--and senior Americans $10 for a "lifetime" version--grants access to some areas which are already free. Quietly authorized by Congress a couple of years ago, opponents point to the 'stealth bomber' approach in actually putting the new pass in place.

Whatever your views are regarding public policy and entrance fees, you'll get an earful from Bill Schneider in his column in The New West.