ANGELES FOREST FEE TO STAY; SERVICE REJECTS BOARD PLEA TO END CHARGE.

Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Daily News Staff Writer

The U.S. Forest Service has rebuffed a call from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to drop the $5 daily fee for outdoors enthusiasts who use the Angeles National Forest.

The ``Adventure Pass,'' available annually for $30, and charged per carload, has helped the forest service expand services, despite a 30 percent cut in the recreation budget for Southern California's national forests, said Michael J. Rogers, supervisor for the Angeles Forest.

Since the pass was instituted in June 1997, the Angeles has received $600,000 to finance picnic tables, grills, walkways, information signs, facilities for the disabled, portable toilets and longer hours at visitors centers, Rogers said. The money also has covered the costs of supplies for trash collection, graffiti removal, bear-proof garbage bins and repairs.

But county Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, who led the board's protest of the fee, said forest passes are difficult to find and that the program discourages low-income families from using the facilities.

``It's very simple,'' Antonovich aide Cam Currier said. ``He basically feels that funding for the national forest should be provided by Congress, not by individuals who want to use our trails and campgrounds.''

Currier said the supervisors have had a tremendous number of complaints from constituents about the fee itself and the fact that Adventure Passes are difficult to find. The forest service issues a list of dozens of public and private agencies that sell the passes, Rogers said.

Still, Currier said, ``this was a bad idea.''

The fee is similar to one approved in 1996 by Antonovich and other supervisors at two county parks - the Placerita Canyon Nature Center and Vasquez Rocks County Natural Area - where parking costs $3 a day.

``About three years ago, the board was told we either close those facilities or charge for parking,'' Currier said. ``What we plan on doing is take steps to eliminate that fee.''

Rogers calls the program an experiment and said the forest service anticipated protests. What surprised him was the support for the plan.

Hikers interviewed recently in the Bouquet Canyon area of the forest said the sum wasn't prohibitive, but both noted they had often forgotten to buy daily passes and finally opted for the yearly one.

``I don't think it's that big a deal to pay $30 a year to hike or camp,'' said Melanie Keel of Sylmar, who bought a pass at a Saugus gas station. ``I took the kids to play in the snow, we hike. The trails are in pretty good shape now.''