San Bernardino National Forest  

History and Design of the Recreation Fee Program in Southern California

• History of Enterprise Forest
• A unique design meets the needs of urban national forests - Birth of the Adventure Pass
• Helping our local forests by keeping the revenue at home!
• The Fee Program continues to evolve with REA

History of Enterprise Forest

During 1994 and 1995, the southern California National Forests (Angeles, Cleveland, Los Padres, San Bernardino) were working together on several ideas for pilot programs. These pilots involved innovative proposals dealing with “reinventing government” to become more effective and service oriented. Pilot projects were authorized through Vice President Al Gore’s National Performance Review. With the support of Anthony Williams (Chief Financial Officer and Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Agriculture), a regional recreation fee project for southern California was accepted as one of the proposals. This multi-forest effort became known as “Enterprise Forest”.

Part way through the initial planning for Enterprise Forest a new separate authority for national testing of recreation fees was enacted in Public Law 104-134, the Omnibus Rescissions and Appropriation Act of 1996. A decision was made to convert the pilot test of Enterprise Forest (a Vice Presidential Initiative) over to the new statutory authority in PL 104-134, which is referred to as the "Recreation Fee Demonstration Program". Enterprise Forest project #501 became one of the first Fee Demonstrations authorized in the Forest Service.

A unique design to meet the needs of urban national forests - The Adventure Pass is Born!

The national forests in coastal and southern California are some of the last islands of open space in a sea of urban development. People from all cultures and beliefs make up the nearly 25 million who reside within a two-hour drive of the California National Forests. On a typical Sunday, thousands of locals will visit what they consider to be their own back yard. They crowd into the canyons of the forests, seeking shade and water in the summer and snow for sledding and snow play in the winter. As soon as this first group packs up their picnic baskets and heads for their car another wave flows in to take their place.

The simplest of challenges seemed insurmountable over this 3.6 million acre landscape. Think of the drain on staff hours and budget resources! The Forest Service tries to stay ahead of litter and graffiti; combat vandalism; maintain overused support facilities like restrooms and keep them available; and protect streams and the natural resources from erosion and the other effects of continuous impacts from millions of visitors. The Adventure Pass program was in-part designed to provide funding for the impacts that are spread over parts of these 4 national forests. All recreation visitors create impacts to natural resources and the financial viability of these forests—some more than others. It takes everyone (all recreation visitors) paying a small fee to fund the collective costs associated with use of these "High Impact Recreation Areas". No recreation activities were singled out, as all forest visitors enjoy a clean, healthy and safe national forest experience.

These factors present both opportunities and dilemmas. In short, managing recreation in Southern California requires new and innovative approaches to meet visitor expectations and maintain the health of the land.

Helping Our Local Forests by Keeping the Revenue at Home!

The 1996 legislation authorized federal agencies to keep 80 percent of the revenue to reinvest in the area where the fees were collected. Prior to passage of this law, fees were returned to the U.S. Treasury. The southern California’s national forests have been able to keep more than 95% of all revenues collected! From May 1997 through September 2006, more than $26,633,000 has been collected and retained for improving these 4 national forests.

The Adventure Pass concept was developed based on information from surveys conducted with a diverse array of people visiting the forests between 1996 and 1997. Seventy-seven percent of the people surveyed stated they were willing to pay a fee if the money was returned to the forests and used to improve recreational opportunities. The Adventure Pass price structure was developed based on these forest visitor surveys. Visit the Recreation Research Section for more details.

The Fee Program continues to Evolve:

On December 8, 2004, the President signed 2005 Consolidated Appropriations Act (PL 108-447) which includes the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (REA). The Act permits federal land management agencies to continue charging modest fees for recreation use of high impact recreation areas and certain developed sites like campgrounds for an additional 10-years.

The Adventure Pass continues to be a vital part of the recreation fee program for these national forests. The pass is displayed on a parked vehicle while the occupants recreate in designated sites and areas of the 4 coastal-southern California National Forests. The pass is designed to be bought in advance of the visit, or while in route to the forest destination. There are over 400 sales outlets conveniently available. First-time visitors often arrive in the forest without a pass, and only informational warning notices are given to them (unless they are repeat violators). The Adventure Pass was designed to return revenues to these four forests to help defray the costs of massive visitor impacts associated with the use of High Impact Recreation Areas and many developed recreation sites. Prior to the Recreation Fee Program there was no funding source available for managing the impacts created by visitors to these areas. The National Forest Adventure Pass is a perfect example of successfully testing new approaches to meet the special needs of the Southern California visitor.