ADVENTURE PASS INVESTS IN FOREST, FUTURE; SURVEY, OTHER COMMENTS DETERMINE PRIORITIES FOR REVENUE FROM PASSES.

Byline: Michael J. Rogers

I would like to take this opportunity to share with the people in the Los Angeles basin why the National Forest Adventure Pass is beneficial and virtually necessary to the national forests of Southern California.

Recently, the U.S. Forest Service rebuffed a call from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to abolish the Adventure Pass, which is a fee of $5 a day or $30 a year for outdoor enthusiasts who use the Angeles National Forest.

The Angeles National Forest makes up a quarter of the acreage of Los Angeles County, providing residents with the largest remaining open space for recreational activities. In other forests around the nation, timber, grazing and mining ores are the products. In Southern California, water is the only national forest commodity more important than recreation to a public eager to escape the hectic demands of urban life.

On a typical summer Sunday, thousands of visitors will crowd into local canyons, searching for shade and water. In the winter, at the first major storm, thousands pack up their sleds or inner tubes and head for the mountains. Some open their picnic baskets at developed recreation sites, but most simply park at the first sign of water or snow along one of the many roads or highways that crisscross the forest. When they leave, too often they leave their trash behind.

This unique pattern of use creates a challenge unlike that in any other forest. The Angeles National Forest is the most heavily used federally administered public land in the nation. The work of staying ahead of litter and graffiti, combating vandalism or the blatant disregard of forest regulations and ensuring protection of the natural inhabitants, including threatened and endangered species, and their habitats has expanded far beyond what our federal funding can support. Add to this the conflicts over differences in recreation preferences, the lack of respect or awareness for a surprisingly rugged terrain, and a spillover of social ills from the surrounding areas - including gang activity, drug manufacturing and cultivation, theft, etc. - and you have a clearer picture of what national forest managers face on a daily basis in an urban region.

Over the past several years, national forests in Southern California have witnessed at least a 30 percent decline in the recreation budget. Even if the budget had remained level, skyrocketing costs would have left many maintenance projects undone as urgent new problems outpaced those in the backlog. The Angeles National Forest infrastructure - buildings, water and septic systems designed and built years ago by forest managers planning for visits in the thousands - is now straining to accommodate more than 30 million visits a year.

In 1996, Congress passed legislation authorizing the national forests to test the feasibility of charging fees for recreation use. The four forests in Southern California presented a unique idea, a pass for recreation use, designed to meet the special needs of the region with extraordinary geography. The Adventure Pass was developed based on information from surveys of people visiting the forests in 1996 and 1997. Seventy-seven percent of those surveyed stated they were willing to pay a fee if the money was returned to the forests and used to improve recreational opportunities.

Additionally, those surveyed identified what services and goods were most important to them: better maintenance, more frequent trash pickups, cleaner restrooms, better service, better signs and better trail conditions.

Since the implementation of the National Forest Adventure Pass in June 1997, the Angeles Forest has received nearly $600,000 to invest directly in those items identified as priorities by those who use the forest. With these funds, we are addressing changes you can see:

New picnic tables, grills and walkways.

Additional information signs at trailheads and rest stops.

Walkways, picnic tables and grills that are accessible to the handicapped and benefit not only the disabled, but also the growing number of senior citizens.

Portable toilets where people might have used the stream in the past.

Visitor centers open longer hours.

More field officers available to respond to questions and concerns.

We are also accomplishing things you don't see:

Supervision and supplies for volunteer crews, resulting in larger amounts of trash collected and more miles of trail maintained.

Graffiti removed more frequently from more locations.

New bear-proof bins installed across the forest, preventing upended trash cans.

Toilets cleaned more frequently.

Quick repair of vandalized facilities.

The Angeles National Forest is a precious, unique resource, an island of untamed beauty within a sea of dense urbanization, worth preserving, worth investing in. Your purchase of a National Forest Adventure Pass for $30 a year is an investment of about 8 cents a day, which we are leveraging with the tax dollars we receive to reinvest directly back into your own back yard: the Angeles National Forest.

An important part of this experiment is public comment. We expected there to be those who would oppose the pass. Many more have expressed support. This process needs the public to provide feedback on the pros, the cons and how we can improve, as well as where the funds should be invested, so we can work together to ensure the Angeles National Forest will be here for our children and our children's children.