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Wednesday, October 23, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
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Editorial…
The antidote to cynicism
It9s enough to make the most ardent patriot
a cynic. Our national politics are in a con-
stant, chaotic roil and rank hypocrisy and dou-
ble standards are the coin of the realm. The
worst part is that we feel helpless to affect any
change, to even make our tiny voices heard
through the constant braying din.
Shouting about it all on social media may
provide that delicious momentary shot of
dopamine, but it wears off quickly and we
all know that it doesn9t really accomplish
anything.
So what9s a good citizen to do?
Sisters has no shortage of opportunities for
people who want to make a difference. A city
councilor recently noted that he9d like to see
more citizens show up for meetings when they
don9t have a dog in a particular fight. Over
the next couple of months, the Sisters City
Council will be taking on questions of public
safety and transient merchant policy 4 both
of which have a real and immediate impact on
our quality of life right here at home.
The city council and the school board wel-
come input from citizens, and they pay atten-
tion. And it9s pretty easy to hold our elected
officials accountable when we see them in the
grocery line and run into them at the coffee
shop.
If politics 4 even of the local variety
4 isn9t your thing, you can still make a big
difference in the life of our community. The
Sisters Schools Foundation is in the midst of
its annual giving campaign (see story, page 9).
The foundation funds enrichment opportuni-
ties that are outside the scope of the regular
school budget; the funds they raise have a
direct, often life-changing impact on young
lives. Sisters Kiwanis Club is ramping up for
its holiday food drive and the food bank is
always in need of assistance in providing for
those in the community who need a helping
hand.
This all may seem like small-ball when the
whole civic fabric seems to be unraveling, but
that9s an illusion. What we do right here, right
now, in our own communities is what keeps
that civic fabric intact, even when forces
beyond our control and influence seemed to
be doing their damnedest to tear it apart.
Building a resilient community a bit at a
time, shoulder to shoulder with our neighbors,
is noble work 4 and a whole lot better for us
than impotent rage or bitter cynicism.
So if your sense of civic duty needs an
outlet but you just can9t take any more of the
national scene, spend your energies in the local
arena. We need you.
Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief
Letters to the Editor…
The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer9s name, address and phone number. Let-
ters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor.
The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be
no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday.
To the Editor:
Democrats must be thoroughly depressed
watching their team of minions debate with
promises of destroying our country and the
freedoms we enjoy under the Constitution. But
alas, slowly but surely emerges a diamond in the
rough, Tulsi Gabbard. She is smart, articulate,
level-headed, and a veteran. She presents her-
self with a maturity and sane presence not seen
in any of the other Democratic candidates.
And does this woman ever know how to
put in words what we9ve needed expressed for
See LETTERS on page 24
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The Nugget Newspaper, LLC
Website: www.nuggetnews.com
442 E. Main Ave., P.O. Box 698, Sisters, Oregon 97759
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Editor in Chief: Jim Cornelius
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N
Wilderness fees
are a kind of tax
By Art Pope
Guest Columnist
The Deschutes and
Willamette National Forests
have recently released their
proposal to charge the pub-
lic to use three of Oregon9s
most popular wilderness
areas. Next year you will
have to apply for a permit
to hike or camp in the Three
Sisters, Mount Jefferson and
Mount Washington wilder-
ness areas.
The fee proposal is pain-
fully brief. Youth under 12
will not be charged a fee
but will need a permit. Day
hikes will cost you a user fee
of $3 per day and overnight
camping will cost you $5
per day. In addition, rec.gov
will charge you a service
fee of $1 per person for day
hikes and $6 per party for
camping.
The proposal does not
address how this money will
be used or provide an anal-
ysis of how much money
will be collected annually.
It offers no discussion of
how fee levels were deter-
mined or how much will be
dedicated to administration.
It fails to provide informa-
tion on how our fees will
be used or any assurance
revenues will not be used to
shift current congressionally
dedicated funds to other
programs or administra-
tive overhead. Without this
information any thought-
ful assessment of this fee is
nearly impossible.
How much will these fees
cost the average wilderness
user? The Forest Service
proposal does not address
this issue, however expect
the fees you pay to be sig-
nificant. Personally, I did six
day hikes on the Deschutes
National Forest last year.
Under the new fee schedule
the cost for two of us would
be $36 in user fees plus the
rec.gov $12 service fee.
We also did four overnight
trips totaling eight nights
of camping. Cost for two,
with the new fees; $80 in
user fees plus $18 to rec.gov.
The total, $146 annually.
Add in the annual $30 for a
Northwest Forest Pass and
you get a whopping $1,760 in
fees over the next 10 years!
User and service fees
of this type are becoming
increasingly common and
act rather like tax assessed
by a federal agency to back-
fill congressional budget
reductions. If you travel,
remember that other for-
ests and national parks also
charge fees and many more
are working to tap into this
new source of revenue.
Whether this trend is
good or bad depends on your
perspective. Supporting
management of our federal
lands through user fees is
rather like the difference
between public and private
schools. While we all sup-
port public schools through
taxes should you prefer
to attend a private school,
your taxes will still sup-
port public schools and you
will pay an additional fee
to attend a private school.
Likewise, everyone9s taxes
support Forest Service wil-
derness management nation-
wide; however, if you want
to hike in the Three Sisters
Wilderness you now must
pay additional fees to do so.
Do you prefer many small
fees, sort of like a sales tax,
or one annual tax bill?
The Federal Lands
Recreation Enhancement
Act (FLREA), first passed
in 2005, defines criteria for
the assessment of user fees.
(b) Basis for recreation
fees
Recreation fees shall be
established in a manner con-
sistent with the following
criteria:
(1) The amount of the
recreation fee shall be com-
mensurate with the benefits
and services provided to the
visitor.
(2) The Secretary shall
consider the aggregate effect
of recreation fees on recre-
ation users and recreation
service providers.
(3) The Secretary shall
consider comparable fees
charged elsewhere and by
other public agencies and
by nearby private-sector
operators.
(4) The Secretary shall
consider the public policy
or management objectives
served by the recreation fee.
(5) The Secretary shall
obtain input from the appro-
priate Recreation Resource
Advisory Committee, as
provided in section 6803(d)
of this title.
(6) The Secretary shall
consider such other factors
or criteria as determined
appropriate by the Secretary.
At a minimum the Forest
Service should publicly
demonstrate compliance
with these criteria before
implementing any fee-based
program.
Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and
are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.