Salmon-Challis National Forest

National Recreation Fee Demonstration Program

What is the fee demo program?

In 1996, Congress authorized the Recreation Fee Demonstration program ("Fee Demo"). Public Law 104-134 (as amended) allows the Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to retain fees at the sites at which they were collected for the protection and enhancement of resources. Without Fee Demo, funds are returned to the National Treasury. Fee Demo allows agencies to direct money where it is most needed to take care of deteriorating facilities or resources at risk. It also allows the public to insure their money is spent on programs and resources they care about personally. In 2003 the Forest Service tested fees at 106 projects on 123 Forests in 44 states and Puerto Rico.

National Fee Demo web site

Idaho National Forests Recreation Fee Demo 2003 Summary

Utah National Forests Recreation Fee Demo 2003 Summary

The Salmon-Challis National Forest is currently using the Fee Demo program for Heritage Expeditions, permits on the Middle Fork and Main Salmon Rivers, and sales of Golden Passports. To learn more about these three programs on the Forest click on the links below.

Heritage Expedition -- Sextants to Satellites

This nationwide Forest Service program enables the public to take part in archaeological and historical projects on National Forests. The goal is to provide opportunities to learn about and help conserve non-renewable heritage resources, and for fees from those experiences to fund protection and continued public access to those sites. Fees collected on Heritage Expeditions are used to buy materials to restore historic structures for public use, support volunteer programs like Passport In Time that are aimed at protection of heritage resources, support American Indian interns learning historic preservation skills, and preserve sites that are visited by hundreds of people every year.

The Salmon-Challis National Forest offers a Heritage Expedition called "Sextants to Satellites". Participants from all over the country compare the navigational tools used by Lewis and Clark with modern-day Global Positioning Systems.

Twelve people attended the 5-day session in September 2003. The Expedition combined hiking portions of the Lewis & Clark Trail with experimentation of the kinds of navigation used by the Corps of Discovery and technology available today. The fee was $345/person, not including travel to Salmon. Of the Fee Demo funds collected, over $2300 was spent to pay the local businesses that provided food, housing, and logistical support. Five miles of National Historic Trail were re-inventoried and monitored. The Forest expects to offer the program again in 2004.

For more information on Heritage Expeditions nationally, check out www.fs.fed.us/recreation/programs/heritage/expeditions or
contact the national Heritage Expeditions Program Manager Jill Osborn at 208-373-4162.

Middle Fork and Main Salmon River Fee Demo Program

The Salmon-Challis National Forest collects fees for recreation use on the Middle Fork and the Main Salmon Rivers in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness. Fees from lottery applications and permits are used to improve the services provided for users of the Middle Fork and the Main Salmon Rivers. The non-refundable lottery application fee is $6/application; if granted a permit, the Forest charges a per-person, per-day user fee. Season Passes entitle the pass holder to float the Middle Fork and/or Main Salmon Rivers without further payment for one year from the date of purchase.

Information on the river permit system is available on the Four Rivers Lottery web page, or by contacting the North Fork or Middle Fork Ranger Districts, 208 865-2700 or 208 879-4101.

News Release, December 2003, Daily River Fees Reduced:

December 2003, Salmon, ID - River users will be paying less per day to float the Salmon and Middle Fork of the Salmon Rivers this summer. Spike Thompson, Acting Forest Supervisor of the Salmon-Challis National Forest, reduced daily use fees to $4.00 per person per day. This is a reduction of one dollar per person per day. Season pass prices were also reduced and are now available for $40 per year. (click here for full article)

Golden Passports

The Golden Passport Program is a federal interagency recreation pass program. Under Fee Demo, the Salmon-Challis National Forest keeps 80% of the money collected from the sale of Golden Eagle, Golden Age, and Golden Access passports. To date, the Forest has collected approximately $2,000; most of the collections have been used to purchase Smokey Bear interpretive materials that are given out free to the public. Other purchases have included materials and supplies that help receptionists do their job efficiently and securely to better serve the public.

---

Your Fees at Work

Investing in a Healthy Environment and Quality Recreation Services
on the Salmon-Challis National Forest

USDA Forest Service - Salmon-Challis National Forest
Last Modified: Thursday, 22 April 2004 at 13:13:38 EDT