Who knows what message the U. S. Forest Service was trying to send last year with their proposed fee hikes for older and disabled campers. Was it: A sign of the times or All good things must come to an end? Or maybe The buck stops here.
Whatever it was, angry campers roared back by the thousands with a message of their own: “Read our lips: No fee hikes for seniors.”
Currently, campers 62 and older and those with disabilities qualify for passes good for a 50 percent discount in national forest campgrounds. The passes are issued for life, and provisions for them have been in place for decades.
An AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) bulletin notes that in 2008 more than 47,000 (62% of all the passes sold) went to those 62 and older. The passes sell for $10 each. Disabled campers bought almost 12,000 or about 15.5% of all passes sold.
The first signs of trouble appeared when private concession companies, which operate more than 80% of the reserve-able campsites in some 4,700 national forest campgrounds, began complaining they could no longer honor the discount cards.
According to Warren Meyers of the National Forest Recreation Association, “The problem is that we’ve had more and more people getting senior discounts.”
In response to the pressure, the Forest Service proposed in December of last year to cut the discounts from 50 to 10 percent for those with passes who wanted to camp at privately managed campgrounds.
Said one disheartened senior: “With the economy the way it is now, people have to cut back on everything except for necessities. Raising the cost probably will stop some people from going camping.”
The Forest Service proposal proved to be an opening salvo that reverberated throughout the camping world and touched off a heated war of words. By the time the smoke cleared at the end of the 60-day public notice and comment period, more than 4,000 comments had been registered.
In a press announcement on March 17, 2010, Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell announced his decision not to implement the proposed changes. “Each year more than 175 million people enjoy recreational opportunities on National Forests and Grasslands, and that includes more than 15 million visits to our campgrounds.
“Particularly in these difficult economic times, it is very important to maintain affordable access to our National Forests and Grasslands, giving people easy ways to recreate and find respite in the great outdoors.”
The decision leaves in place (at least for now) the deep discounts in campgrounds run by private concessions for holders of Golden Age and Golden Access Passports and Inter-agency Senior and Access Passes.
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