USDA Forest Service continues with recreation fee proposal for Lincoln National Forest

The United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service announced a proposal of new, increased and decreased recreation fees on five national forests in New Mexico.

Those national forests are Carson, Gila, Lincoln and Santa Fe national forests as well as the Cibola National Forest and National Grasslands.

On Wednesday, the Forest Service Southwestern Region hosted a virtual public meeting to discuss the fee increases and allowed the public to ask questions concerning the changes. 

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Public comment centered on where increased or new fees would go and how the Forest Service structures those fees. 

"Our fee structure, is based on what we have been charging in the past, but then we actually go out and do an assessment based on what the private entities are charging as well," USDA Forest Service Public Affairs Officer Laura Rabon said.

"And we do some comparison to see if were affordable – if maybe we're charging too much, if maybe we're charging a little bit too little."

Santa Fe National Forest Recreation Program Manager Jeremy Golston said that under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act the Forest Service invests 95 percent of the revenue that is collected back into the forests. 

 "We need to focus on the maintenance hours that are required for the entire recreation site, and even digging down into items like the toilet paper and trash bags removed," Golston said.

"Our recreation fees are directly reinvested back into the annual operation maintenance of the site. These are items for visitor convenience, education, safety and enjoyment."

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Some other ways the recreation fees are reinvested are "mitigating damage such as graffiti, removing trash, making repairs, addressing safety concerns and also hiring seasonal staff to increase capacity and level of services" that are provided.

The next steps for this proposal is to make final revisions and then take it the Recreation Advisory Committee. Then the proposal will be taken to the Regional Forester Level, where it is either approved or rejected. 

"We've just seen expanses in our visitation across these national forests – as the COVID-19 response persists throughout the state, we continue to receive more and more visitation," Golston said.

Public comment is still available until Sept. 30. 

Jonah Gallegos is a reporter for the Ruidoso News. He can be reached at jjgallegos@ruidosonews.com, or on Twitter @jjgallnews.