[TN-Bird] Re: birders asked to satisfy greed for revenue ?

  • From: "Mark " <benn5609@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>, "'TN-birds'" <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 23:14:00 -0600

Fees are very common, if not expected, in many western parks and WMAs.
I personally feel that such areas should be free to public access and
would be willing to pay taxes for that right.  Pay as you go is simply
not the correct way to proceed with access to PUBLIC lands.

 
Mark Bennett
benn4509@xxxxxxxxxxxxx


-----Original Message-----
From: tn-bird-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tn-bird-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Wallace Coffey
Sent: Friday, January 14, 2005 10:12 PM
To: TN-birds
Subject: [TN-Bird] birders asked to satisfy greed for revenue ?


TN-Birders:
In my opinion, one of the major threats ahead for birders is the
tremendous greed that local, state and federal agencies have for
revenue.  How long will it be before Tennessee public lands have
outrageous charges to go birding on state wildlife areas, national
forest or national parks or even TVA owned land and such?

Would it be unreasonable to be asked by the Tennessee Department of
Conservation to pay  $200 a year to go birding in a state park or the
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency to want $190 to go on one of their
properties?  What if each of those also want a $65 per year each for you
to park on those properties ?  What if they also want $9 per day to just
walk on state land to view birds, + the parking fee.

What if we have to pay a $30 per day fee to see the Sandhill Cranes and
Whooping Cranes near Chattanooga ?  What if there is an annual fee of
$300 per person to see the cranes and a $50 parking fee to bring your
car on the area? 
Read on about what is going on in California...........

Mary Weston/Staff Writer
Friday, January 14, 2005 - 

Complaints about fee increases on Lake Oroville have prompted a local
recreation committee to explore the issue. 

Members of the Oroville Recreation Advisory Committee (ORAC) agreed to
ask California State Department of Parks and Recreation to look into the
fee structure and consider ways to resolve complaints that it's too
expensive to fish on the lake. 

"People are coming into my sports shop and saying, No way in #$@^ am I
going to pay $200 a year to fish on Lake Oroville,"' said Don Reighley,
a representative member of ORAC. 

Reighley said Butte County is probably one of the lessor economic areas
in the state with many people retired and living on limited incomes. He
questioned that high fees were consistent with mitigating the impacts of
the dam on the community that's part of relicensing negotiations. 

Other members of ORAC said they've been getting a lot of complaints
about the fee increases that went into effect last June. The committee
members expressed concern that fees could affect lake usage and impact
the economy in Oroville. 

"It is contrary to what we're doing in relicensing, and we need to work
on it," said Bob Sharkey, the city's representative on ORAC. 

An annual boat launch pass now costs $125 a year, and an annual parking
pass costs $75. Daily use went from $4 to $9 not including parking fees.


ORAC Chair Kevin Zeitler said years ago, state parks was going to raise
fees at the lake and people protested on top of the dam. ORAC was formed
in part because of local protests to fee increases. 

If fee increases effect lake usage, that could affect the area
economically, Zeitler said. Especially since the city has spent money
attracting bass tournaments, and some of the anglers talk about
boycotting Lake Oroville. 

However, Zeitler suggested the best way to handle the issue was to talk
to state parks first, get more information and give the agency the
opportunity to handle the issue internally. Maybe communication with
state parks could resolve the issue and avoid turning it into a hot
issue with people making inflammatory statements, he said. 

State parks books between 40 to 48 bass tournaments on Lake Oroville
every year, according to Bob Grisak, a retired park supervisor who works
as a volunteer to coordinate special events on the lake. 

That equates to one tournament every week-end of the fishing season, and
bass tournament sponsors have to stand in line to make a reservation. 

Tournament sponsers have to get a permit from the California Department
of Fish and Game, Grisak said, and that agency allows only one
tournament at a time on the lake. Now, sponsors have to book events
eight to nine months in advance. 

Although tournament participants have to pay launching and parking fees,
the tournament fees are set by the sponsor. ORAC will be looking into
the fee issue and reporting back at a future meeting. 

---------------END OF Article

Let's go birding......

Wallace Coffey
Bristol, TN


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         Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
                 wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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     Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical
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=================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER=====================

The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with
first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation.
-----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
To post to this mailing list, simply send email to:
tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
----------------------------------------------------- 
To unsubscribe, send email to:
tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

  TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society 
       Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s)
        endorse the views or opinions expressed
        by the members of this discussion group.
 
         Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
                 wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
     Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
          web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

    ========================================================


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