<b>Pay to play history</b>
The Forest Service manages 14.5 million acres and the Bureau of Land Management manages 8.3 million acres of public land in Colorado.
The fee program caused controversy from its inception in the late 1990s, when it was approved for a limited number of sites with the proviso that most of the revenues improve the sites where they are collected. Public land managers said that the fees help close the gap between increased demand for recreation and dwindling budgets. Critics of the program see the fees as a step toward the privatization of public lands.

<b>Panel members: </b>
• Janelle Kukuk (Creede), winter motorized
• Robyn Morrison (Paonia), winter non-motorized
• Kenneth Emory (Montrose), summer motorized
• John Vankat (Boulder), summer non-motorized
• Thomas Brown (Golden), hunting and fishing
• Steve Pittel (Vail), motorized outfitters and guides
• Leslie Miller (Eagle), non-motorized outfitters and guides
• Vera Smith (Golden), local environmental groups
• Kevin Schneider (Carbondale), tourism official representing the State|
• Ernest House (Aurora), affected Indian tribes
• Mike Blanton (Walden), affected local government interests

SUMMIT COUNTY — A newly formed citizens group will help determine the future of recreation fees at national forest and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) sites in Colorado.

Eleven people, representing diverse public land stakeholder groups, will begin meeting in October to give oversight on recreation fee issues, the Forest Service announced this week.

The advisory group has been in the making for about a year. Among other things, the panel will look at local Forest Service plans to raise some fees at Green Mountain Reservoir. The Dillon Ranger District wanted to up camping rates this summer, but couldn’t do so until the advisory group had a chance to scrutinize the plans.

Winter day-use and parking fees at Vail Pass and Cataract Lake are also administered under the program.

“We are thrilled to have had such a diverse and high-caliber pool of applicants,” said Rocky Mountain regional forester Rick Cables.

The advisory group includes representatives from motorized and non-motorized user groups, as well as from hunting and fishing interests, outfitters, environmental groups, the state tourism office, Native American tribes and local governments.

|The pane was established as part of a requirement under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act. It will make advisory recommendations to the regional forester and the state BLM director on the implementation or elimination of fees at specific sites.

More generally, the group will also offer input on the expansion or limitation of the recreation fee program and on the relationship of fees to commercial uses of public lands.

<i>Bob Berwyn can be reached at (970) 331-5996, or at bberwyn@summitdaily.com.</i>