[House Hearing, 113 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
CITIZEN AND AGENCY PERSPECTIVES ON THE FEDERAL LANDS RECREATION
ENHANCEMENT ACT
=======================================================================
OVERSIGHT HEARING
before the
SUBCOMMITTEE ON PUBLIC LANDS
AND ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION
of the
COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
__________
Serial No. 113-24
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Natural Resources
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.fdsys.gov
or
Committee address: http://naturalresources.house.gov
----------
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
81-516 PDF WASHINGTON : 2013
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing
Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800;
DC area (202) 512-1800 Fax: (202) 512-2104 Mail: Stop IDCC,
Washington, DC 20402-0001
COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
DOC HASTINGS, WA, Chairman
EDWARD J. MARKEY, MA, Ranking Democratic Member
Don Young, AK Peter A. DeFazio, OR
Louie Gohmert, TX Eni F. H. Faleomavaega, AS
Rob Bishop, UT Frank Pallone, Jr., NJ
Doug Lamborn, CO Grace F. Napolitano, CA
Robert J. Wittman, VA Rush Holt, NJ
Paul C. Broun, GA Raul M. Grijalva, AZ
John Fleming, LA Madeleine Z. Bordallo, GU
Tom McClintock, CA Jim Costa, CA
Glenn Thompson, PA Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan,
Cynthia M. Lummis, WY CNMI
Dan Benishek, MI Niki Tsongas, MA
Jeff Duncan, SC Pedro R. Pierluisi, PR
Scott R. Tipton, CO Colleen W. Hanabusa, HI
Paul A. Gosar, AZ Tony Cardenas, CA
Raul R. Labrador, ID Steven A. Horsford, NV
Steve Southerland, II, FL Jared Huffman, CA
Bill Flores, TX Raul Ruiz, CA
Jon Runyan, NJ Carol Shea-Porter, NH
Mark E. Amodei, NV Alan S. Lowenthal, CA
Markwayne Mullin, OK Joe Garcia, FL
Chris Stewart, UT Matt Cartwright, PA
Steve Daines, MT
Kevin Cramer, ND
Doug LaMalfa, CA
Jason T. Smith, MO
Todd Young, Chief of Staff
Lisa Pittman, Chief Legislative Counsel
Jeffrey Duncan, Democratic Staff Director
David Watkins, Democratic Chief Counsel
------
SUBCOMMITTEE ON PUBLIC LANDS AND ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION
ROB BISHOP, UT, Chairman
RAUL M. GRIJALVA, AZ, Ranking Democratic Member
Don Young, AK Peter A. DeFazio, OR
Louie Gohmert, TX Niki Tsongas, MA
Doug Lamborn, CO Rush Holt, NJ
Paul C. Broun, GA Madeleine Z. Bordallo, GU
Tom McClintock, CA Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan,
Cynthia M. Lummis, WY CNMI
Scott R. Tipton, CO Pedro R. Pierluisi, PR
Raul R. Labrador, ID Colleen W. Hanabusa, HI
Mark E. Amodei, NV Steven A. Horsford, NV
Chris Stewart, UT Carol Shea-Porter, NH
Steve Daines, MT Joe Garcia, FL
Kevin Cramer, ND Matt Cartwright, PA
Doug LaMalfa, CA Edward J. Markey, MA, ex officio
Doc Hastings, WA, ex officio
----------
CONTENTS
----------
Page
Hearing held on Tuesday, June 18, 2013........................... 1
Statement of Members:
Bishop, Hon. Rob, a Representative in Congress from the State
of Utah.................................................... 1
Prepared statement of.................................... 2
Grijalva, Hon. Raul M., a Representative in Congress from the
State of Arizona........................................... 2
Prepared statement of.................................... 3
Statement of Witnesses:
Benzar, Kitty, President, Western Slope No-Fee Coalition..... 38
Prepared statement of.................................... 39
Haze, Pamela K., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Budget,
Finance, Performance and Acquisition, U.S. Department of
the Interior............................................... 4
Prepared statement of.................................... 6
Ledford, Lewis, Director, North Carolina State Parks and Vice
President, National Association of State Park Directors.... 16
Prepared statement of.................................... 18
O'Toole, Randal, Senior Fellow, Cato Institute............... 28
Prepared statement of.................................... 30
Stahl, Andy, Executive Director, Forest Service Employees for
Environmental Ethics....................................... 31
Prepared statement of.................................... 33
Weldon, Leslie, Deputy Chief of the National Forest System,
Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture............. 11
Prepared statement of.................................... 12
Additional materials submitted for the record:
Brown, David L., Executive Director, America Outdoors
Association, Prepared statement of......................... 64
Crandall, Derrick, President, American Recreation Coalition,
Prepared statement of...................................... 66
Forest Magazine, Summer 2008, Fee Demo: a Promising Program
Falls Short, by Ed Becker.................................. 35
Reese, Marily, Executive Director, National Forest Recreation
Association, Prepared statement of......................... 69
OVERSIGHT HEARING ON CITIZEN AND AGENCY PERSPECTIVES ON THE FEDERAL
LANDS RECREATION ENHANCEMENT ACT
----------
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
U.S. House of Representatives
Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation
Committee on Natural Resources
Washington, D.C.
----------
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:07 a.m., in
room 1324, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Rob Bishop
[Chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Bishop, McClintock, Tipton,
Grijalva, DeFazio, Sablan, Shea-Porter, and Garcia.
Mr. Bishop. Thank you. I didn't mean to interrupt the
mortuary here. The hearing will come to order. The Chair notes
the presence of a quorum. The Subcommittee on the Public Lands
and Environmental Regulations is meeting today to hear the
citizen and agency perspectives on Federal lands and recreation
enhancements.
Under the rules, the opening statements are limited to the
Chairman and Ranking Member. However, I do ask unanimous
consent to include any other Members' opening statement into
the hearing record if submitted to the clerk by close of
business today.
[No response.]
Mr. Bishop. Hearing no objections, so ordered.
STATEMENT OF THE HON. ROB BISHOP, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS
FROM THE STATE OF UTAH
Mr. Bishop. Last time we covered this particular subject
area was in 2008, and we have a program that is about to expire
in 2014. So the Federal Land Recreation Enhancement Act, which
is called FLREA, because we like to talk in acronyms around
here, expires next year. This program allows agencies of the
Interior Department and Forest Service--some are good, some are
bad, and I will let you decide which of those--to collect fees
for development of facilities that are providing special
services.
So, this agency can suspend the fees without further
appropriations. Most of them stay on the collection site. And
FLREA also authorizes the sale of nationwide permits.
Today we are going to hear from witnesses who represent the
Federal Government who administer FLREA. We are going to hear
from a State Park Director who will illustrate what is done on
the State government level. We also have with us critics of
FLREA, who will talk us through what they see as reforms that
should be enhanced with the program.
As I said, the authorization of this expires in 2014,
December of 2014. But since there are many activities that are
multi-year permits, the sooner that we can renew this act and
make changes to improve the act, the better it will be. There
are several important issues that need to be addressed, like
which agency should charge the fees, what types of fees should
be allowed. What is the oversight mechanism of the fees? Is
there correct pricing of the fees? How should the fee revenue
be used? Do the incentives in the program of fees promote the
best policies that we have, and are there adequate requirements
for transparency and efficiency? These are just some of the
questions this Committee will ask. And I think some of our
witnesses will talk about whether we should have them at all.
With that, though, there are a lot of things that we need
to talk about to be considered before we reauthorize FLREA,
which, in one way or another, has to be reauthorized. And I am
looking forward to this hearing as the opening phase, and
clearly having a better understanding of what this program
does, what it is intended to do, and what it actually can be,
or if it shouldn't be there at all.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Bishop follows:]
Prepared Statement of The Honorable Rob Bishop, Chairman, Subcommittee
on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation
The Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (FLUH-REE-AH, in
government-speak) expires next year.
This program authorizes the National Park Service, the Fish and
Wildlife Service, BLM, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Forest
Service to charge and collect fees at developed recreation facilities
on Federal lands and waters when special services are provided.
National Parks can charge an entrance fee, BLM and the Forest Service
cannot.
The agencies can spend the revenue from fees without further
appropriation, with most of the money retained at the collection site.
FLREA also authorizes the sale of nation-wide passes.
Today we will hear from witnesses who represent the Federal
agencies that administer FLREA and from a State park director regarding
recreation fees from the perspective of State government.
FLREA has its critics as well and we will hear from three
thoughtful advocates for reform of the program.
The authorization for FLREA expires in December of 2014, but
because some of the activities allowed under the act are multi-year, it
is best for us to act well before the expiration date. Before we extend
the program, however, we need to see what we can learn from the
successes and failures of the current program.
Several important issues still need to be addressed.
Which agencies should charge fees?
What types of fees should be allowed?
What is the correct pricing of fees?
How should fee revenue be used?
Do the incentives in the program promote the best policies, and are
there adequate requirements for transparency and efficiency?
These are just a few of the questions this Subcommittee will need
to consider as part of any FLREA extension.
Let us then begin the hearing. I look forward to hearing from
today's witnesses.
______