New "Adventure Tax" proposed to walking in the forest

A newly proposed "adventure tax" may be charged for simply walking through a national forest or parking along any state highway, according to a report on Northland Cable News, March 3. Failure to do so could invoke a fine of up to $100., the report stated.

The U.S. Forest Service has proposed a fee to be implemented in 40 western national forests around the country. The new "adventure tax" would include a $5 daily fee for parking along any state highway, county road or forest road in any unimproved areas of the forests. The Forest Service has already begun charging a fee to park at trailheads as part of the so-called demonstration program last summer, the report stated.

Western forest managers are requesting a fee of $2 per day to walk in the forest; $7 a day to hike in the wilderness; $5 per night to camp in unimproved areas; $10 to ride a horse in the national forest; and $2 per day to hunt, fish or mountain bike.

For more information about the new proposed tax, contact Rep. Helen Chenoweth, US House of Representatives, Washington, D.C., 20515.
(from a Northland Cable News report, 3/3/98)