Appeal Tribune
| WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2021 | 1B
OUTDOORS
Feds propose increased
fees at 18 campgrounds
Yellowbottom Recreation Site in the Quartzville Corridor, which stretches between Sweet Home and Marion Forks in the western foothills of the Cascades.
ZACH URNESS / STATESMAN JOURNAL
Bureau: Funds
needed for upkeep,
improvements
Zach Urness
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
The Bureau of Land Management is
proposing new and increased fees at 18
current and future recreation sites in
northwest Oregon, and they’re looking
for public feedback, the agency said last
week.
The plan would increase the cost at
campsites and group facilities while
creating new fees at a number of sites
that don’t currently charge fees, the
agency said. The plan also puts fees in
place for campgrounds and cabins ex-
pected to open in the future.
The public can comment on the plan
by calling (503) 315-5935 or emailing:
BLM_OR_NO_REC_publiccom-
ments@blm.gov.
“These fee changes are being pro-
posed because maintenance needs at
these sites are not being fully met due to
increased operating costs,” BLM said in
a news release. “It has been more than
ten years since fees at these recreation
sites were changed and most fees have
not been updated in over two decades.”
BLM said the news fees would go to-
ward improved services and creating
new amenities at current sites.
The plan also creates an annual pass
that would cost $30 per year and is de-
signed to make it easier for frequent vis-
itors while creating a cost savings, they
said. The pass could also be obtained by
doing 12 hours or more of volunteer ser-
vice in the Northwest Oregon District
each year.
In general, the fees would increase to
$5 for day-use at sites such as Yellow-
bottom, Clay Creek and Sandy Ridge
recreation sites, which do not currently
require day-use fees.
The cost of camping would increase.
At Alsea Falls, the cost of a basic camp-
site would increase from $12 to $20
while at Yellowbottom, a primitive
campsite would go from $10 to $15 per
night.
The plan also covers campsites, cab-
ins and other sites that are planned in
the future.
At Wildwood Recreation Site, the
cabins and yurts planned for the site,
that are not yet built, would cost $45 to
$80, depending on amenities.
Three of the sites where fees were
planned to increase, including Fisher-
men’s Bend Recreation Site, Elkhorn
Valley Campground and Canyon Creek
Day-use Area, were burned in the 2020
Labor Day Fires. It’s unclear when those
sites will be rebuilt or reopen, but it’s
unlikely to occur in 2021.
See below for a full breakdown of the
fee increases and proposals. For even
more detail, see the business plan
online.
Zach Urness has been an outdoors re-
porter, photographer and videographer
in Oregon for 12 years.Urness is the au-
thor of “Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon”
and “Hiking Sothern Oregon.” He can be
reached at zurness@StatesmanJour-
nal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on
Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors.
A camping trip during the riots a long time ago
Fishing
Henry Miller
Guest columnist
The events of Jan. 6 in the nation’s
Capitol reminded me about … a camping
trip.
It was during a sweltering August, the
tail end of summer vacation when I was
a kid.
My friend Ed’s dad drove the pair of
us and our camping gear to a sun-baked
patch of parched dirt with a picnic table
in a smattering of oak trees to hell and
gone off State Route 154 near the Santa
Ynez River in Southern California.
Really a seldom-used day-use area,
our “camping” spot featured do-it-your-
self (take a shovel and bring your own
paper) toilet facilities and no water other
than the river, which was a sluggish
green stream with occasional deeper
pools at that point in the summer.
There were no other humans within
miles.
For a couple of tweener males who
had read way too many adventure nov-
els, though, a tent, sleeping bags, fishing
poles, bait, a gallon jug of water and a
green, steel Coleman cooler with ice, kid
food and 12 cans of Shasta soda, it was a
slice of heaven.
Our only nod to technology was a
small blue-and-white cracked-plastic
General Electric transistor radio that ran
on a 9-volt battery that hadn’t been
changed after the previous weekend’s
Dodgers game.
Being in the middle of nowhere in a
river valley didn’t help the reception.
Or as the old joke about being in such
places goes, “the stronger the signal, the
more religious the station.”
I digress.
Anyway, fishing for smallish bass and
panfish was fairly productive, and we
settled in under a bowl of stars for the
night after a hearty fry-up of fish and po-
tato chips.
Because it was so hot, we stretched
out the sleeping bags on a dry patch of
grass.
According to a dispatch on the weak,
scratchy, intermittent signal on the ra-
dio, the world we left behind was in
flames.
The 1965 Watts Riots had erupted in
Los Angeles.
Contemplating the apocalypse and
based on our avid reading of adventure
fiction, Ed and I didn’t panic and go
“Lord of the Flies.”
But in the interests of full disclosure,
we definitely went a little feral.
Ed’s dad wasn’t scheduled to pick us
up for a couple of days, if he was still
alive.
After parking the cooler in the shade
of an oak in the morning of Day 2, be-
cause of the heat and our inattention to
the Earth’s rotation, the Coleman baked
in the sun all afternoon while we were
fishing.
It was as hot as an engine block at the
end of the Indy 500.
Our bait, mealworms and red wig-
glers, had expired putridly in their card-
board containers, and the cans of crème
soda and root beer were floating in a hot
tub of melt water in the cooler along with
most of the food.
As the signal on the radio faded, then
died that night, Ed and I called a tribal
council of two about our next move.
Hike to the highway and see if anyone
drives by? We figured about 10 miles.
Stay put and see what transpires?
Being Day 2 of 4, and not knowing if
marauding bands were out on the roads,
we decided on the latter course of action.
Not to say that we were complacent.
Ed and I pivoted into survival mode.
We figured there were enough grass-
hoppers to use as bait to keep us going.
The two lost boys also used fishing
line to attach a couple of forks to sticks
to make primitive spears for fishing or to
stab at ground squirrels if we really got
really desperate.
Right on schedule, Ed’s dad showed
up to find two relieved, sunburned ju-
nior-league survivalists, makeshift
spears leaning against the picnic table.
Things, he assured us, were fine at
home.
Looking back, there may be some
larger lessons about human resiliency
and American strength and resolve in
the wake of civil unrest.
The whole “better angels” argument.
Another narrative could be how a lack
of facts and information causes people
to think the worst.
I leave it to others to search for the
deeper meanings.
My take is that you can weather just
about anything with a reliable friend and
some fishing gear.
Along with fresh batteries for the ra-
dio.
And also that the name “Santa Bar-
barians” would be excellent name for
our two-kid tribe.
Stay safe, and keep the faith.
Thought for the week: Innovation is
the mother of desperation.
Contact Henry Miller via email at
HenryMiller
SJ@gmail.com