BLM Press Release: Contract for Surveying and Mapping Assessment Activities

The Bureau of Land Management

NEWS

BLM Seeks Public Input for Test Projects That Seek To Improve Facilities, Services at 17 BLM Recreation Sites

The Bureau of Land Management announced today that it is seeking public input as it considers collecting recreation fees at 17 BLM sites in 10 Western states for the purpose of improving facilities and visitor services at those sites.

The BLM will evaluate the public's reaction as part of a congressionally initiated three-year demonstration program. The program, authorized under a 1996 appropriations bill, is intended to generate revenues for improvements and maintenance needed at Federally managed recreation sites.

"We want to hear from the public as we determine the feasibility of collecting recreation fees at these 17 sites," said BLM Acting Director Mike Dombeck. "We want to assess public support for making these sites less dependent on congressional appropriations, the costs involved in collecting the fees, and the on-site benefits the public would gain from paying such fees."

Dombeck added, "One hundred percent of the recreation fees collected at the 17 test sites would be used to enhance visitors' experiences at these same sites. That would include improving or maintaining access roads, campgrounds, boat ramps, bathroom facilities, picnic areas, and parking lots."

"It's important to realize that we are at the beginning, not at the end, of a process," Dombeck said. "Our aim is to be fair to those who recreate on the public lands and to all Americans, whose taxes support the BLM's management of these lands."

The three-year demonstration program initiated by Congress supplements the BLM's existing authority to collect recreation fees, which the agency already does at many sites, most of which are campgrounds. The 17 test sites, all of which will be collecting fees for the first time, are located in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming.

Click here for a listing of the recreation fee demonstration projects on BLM lands.

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