8 6
WEDNESDAY. OCTOBER 16, 1963
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD. OREGON
Duncan Amendment Assists Recreation Area Sticker Fee
A. ROliRT
SMITH
Mail Tribun
Waihinfton
Corraipondtnt
WASHINGTON Congress,
after stalling through the spring
and summer vacation months, is
moving at last toward a new law
requiring every citizen to buy
an auto slicker irom uncie aam
in order to use federal recrea
tion areas, such as national
Darks.
Such a sticker would cost
about $7 per year, according to
Government officials who are
working on the scheme.
The idea of the new law is to
raise revenue for a land and
water conservation fund in the
federal treasury from which ad
ditions to the nation's strained
outdoor recreation areas can be
financed.
Congress last year refused to
create such a fund when the
Kennedy administration p r o
Dosed a motor boat license fee
to help bring in revenue. Ameri
ca s growing numoer ot Doaung
enthusiasts protested this idea
to congress ana congress in
effect told the administration to
have another idea.
Motor Boat Gal Tax
This year's revamped bill pro
poses to raise nearly siao mil
lion yearly for the conservation
fund through three main sources
nearly $60 million through
sale of auto stickers, admission
fees and user charges in federal
recreation areas; another $60
million from sale of surplus gov
ernment property; and $30 mil
lion by adding 4c per gallon tax
on motor boat gasoline. .
The surplus property Isn't re
lated to recreation in any way,
but Interior Secretary Stewart
Udall got the administration to
agree to allocate revenue irom
such sales to meet what he calls
"the quiet crisis" the short
age of outdoor public play areas.
The bill is still encountering
hostility from certain interests,
such as lumbermen who are
fearful the fund will be used to
expand the national forests by
acquiring adjacent private tim
berland. Thn House Interior Commit
tee, before approving a modified
version of the administration's
nrnnosal. made clear that ad
ditions were to be limited to
wilderness type areas of those
primarily of value for scenic
purposes.
The committee also modiled
the bill to satisfy nunters ana
shipping interests that use tne
nat on's mlana waterways, jne
hunters didn't want to have to
pay a federal fee to snoot fleer
or rabbits in national forests or
other public land where Hunting
is permitted in season; ana uie
waterway users feared the bill
might be a step in the direction
of barges having to pay for
using waterways built at federal
expense an oft - repeated pro
posal they have successfully
blocked to date.
Rep. Robert B. Duncan, D
Ore., took care of both these
nrablcms with an amendment
which states that fees can be
charged only in areas where a
federal agency has provided
recreation facilities or services
at federal expense, and that no
fee of any kind can be charged
for non-recreation use ot waters,
reservoirs, canals or waterways.
This won't rule out fees for
boat-launching ramps, for ex
ample, which may have been
built along federal reservoirs.
The Duncan amendment help
ed substantially to swing a 20
to 6 vote in favor of the bill in
the House Interior Committee.
The same bill has been stalled
in the Senate Interior Commit
tee for six months.
As presently envisioned, the
auto sticker would admit the
auto's occupants to any federal
area which charges admission
fees. If the visitor didn't have
the annual sticker, he would
simply pay the admission fee
every time he entered such an
area. In addition, whether he
had the sticker or not, he would
PMT Challenges
Law Interpretation
SALEM UPI) - Pacific Mo
tor Trucking, a subsidiary of
boutnern racinc railroad, has
challenged the Public Utility
Commission interpretation of a
law exempting mail carrying
vcnicies irom payment of high
way roan use taxes.
SP Attorney Oglesby Young
claimed the 1961 law, introduced
by the late Rep. W. 0. Kelsnv
(D-Roseburg) was intended to I
exempt any PMT trucks hauling
man Detwecn Portland and Ash
land from payment of highway
use taxes. The trucks operate
under contract to SP. which has
a contract with the postal serv
ice to carry mail over the route.
Young said the PUC is billing
PMT $30,000 for mileage run up
by trucks used to haul mail and
freight interchangeably. He
claimed the intent ot the law
was to exempt mail hauling
trucks irom all taxes.
The PUC has ruled that if the
trucks are used both for mail
and regular freight, the tax is
I pay user charges for such spe
cial uses as camp grounds or
Datmng facilities.
A number of states already
have adopted the auto sticker
tax idea to raise funds for ex- state raised it to $2. Michigan
pansion of state parks. Min- and Wisconsin subsequently in-
nesota pioneered the idea in traduced $2 state auto stickers
1953, starting with a $1 annual in lieu of admission charges to
windshield sticker. In 1961 the state parks.. Illinois. had a $2
sticker for nearly five years un
til it was repealed in 1961 due
to public resistance and difficul
ty of enforcement. Nebraska had
a $1 sticker for several years
but it was discontinued when
other taxes were increased to
provide for park improvements.
Stales Favor Program
The states are virtually all for
the new federal program be
cause they will share in the con
servation fund. As the bill now
stands, 60 per cent of the rev
enue will be allocated among the
states for recreation projects
and the balance will be used by
federal agencies. To secure
their allocations, the slates must
match the federal grant 50-50.
Cities or counties with park
projects can get in on the fund
only through the state.
If enactment of the conserva
tion fund doesn't entirely solve
the money problem behind the
nation's expanding need for
more outdoor recreation facili
ties, it at least promises a
steady source of revenue which
itself will increase as the num.
ber of outdoor recreation users
increases throughout the coun
try. .
COATS & CLARK-RED HEART
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