State Plans Fees for Wilderness Visitors to Meet Higher Costs

Burdened by the increasing cost of protecting endangered animals and an unprecedented drop in demand for hunting licenses, the state Department of Fish and Game has proposed to charge hikers and outdoor enthusiasts for using some of California’s largest wilderness areas.

The fees--$2 for day use and $10 for an annual pass--are expected to raise $5 million a year to be used to expand endangered species programs and build new facilities for hikers, bird watchers and other visitors.

For more than 25 years, the state Department of Parks and Recreation has charged fees to the roughly 65 million visitors it hosts annually in state parks, which encompass more than 1.2 million acres. Those fees range from $3 to $4 for day use and $40 to $65 for an annual permit.

By contrast, the only fees currently charged by the Department of Fish and Game are for licenses issued to hunters and anglers. Aside from testing the program last year at four wildlife areas, the deparment has not regularly charged so called “non-consumptive” users, such as hikers, photographers, bird watchers and natural history buffs.

Because California’s wilderness areas are reservations for endangered species, no overnight camping is allowed. However, officials say camping is available at nearby state parks.

The proposed fees would affect only the state’s nine largest wildlife areas and ecological reserves, representing about 20,000 acres. While the remainder of California’s 124 wilderness areas--all maintained by Fish and Game--will remain free to visitors at present, the department plans to expand the program to other areas.

“Our role is definitely changing,” said Chris Unkel, coordinator of the new program.

A bill giving the department authority to begin charging fees sailed through the Assembly and appears to be on its way to easy passage in the Senate with the support of major environmental organizations such as the Sierra Club and the Defenders of Wildlife.

“This is a visionary move,” said Nini Redway, the Sierra Club’s Sacramento lobbyist. “The department is always needing money.”

Sierra Club Chairman Mark J. Palmer said his organization has long urged the department to “put more resources into wildlife species and projects that are not just oriented to hunting and fishing, but to the wide range of public uses of wildlife.”

The bill also would provide the department a one-time loan of $2 million from the state’s general fund, to be repaid by 1993. In recent years, Fish and Game has had to dip into general fund money because of financial problems that officials predict will be erased by the new fees.

Traditionally focused on maintaining hunting and fishing facilities, the department has found itself responsible for the upkeep of more than 400,000 acres of California wetlands, ecological preserves and wildlife habitats, making it the largest owner of dedicated wildlife habitat in California. Unkel said the department purchases an average of 12,000 acres every year.

However, the cost of upkeep on the nine specified areas alone totals more than $2.8 million. With funding problems that peaked in 1985 with a $7.1-million budget deficit, Unkel said the new fees are crucial.

Underlying the financial problems is a 44% drop in the number of licenses issued to hunters in California over the last 16 years.

Olga Carmichael, chief of the department’s License and Revenue branch, blamed the declining interest in hunting on increased urbanization and the growing cost of guns, ammunition and other equipment.

Own Policies Involved

But the department’s own policies also contributed to its financial woes. As environmental and conservation concerns grew, the department raised license fees, limited hunting areas and alloted deer tags by lottery in order to address shrinking numbers of herds. “Gone is the time when you could get a tag to hunt anywhere in the state,” Carmichael said.

Nationally, hunting also has declined, but not as sharply as in California, where the number of resident hunting licenses issued between 1970 and 1986 dropped from an all-time high of 762,760 to 427,110--a 44% decline. During the same period, California’s population grew by 35%.

Coupled with the decline were ever increasing demands to preserve endangered flora and fauna throughout the state, Unkel said. The department, which initially catered to hunters and anglers, increasingly had to answer to environmental organizations with an agenda of preserving animals and their habitats.

Today, the department finds 15% more hikers and bird watchers using wildlife areas than hunters and anglers, even though the areas have virtually no facilities or programs for them.

“We changed quite a while back, but we have never been funded to (accommodate the) change,” said Fish and Game Director Peter F. Bontadelli.

Jan. 1 Start Date

Under the new fee program, which would take effect Jan. 1, hikers and other nature enthusiasts would be able to buy their day permits from automatic dispensers located on the periphery of the wilderness areas. Unkel said that there would be patrols to enforce the fee and offenders would be charged a fine.

To see whether the fee system would work, the department has charged for day use at four of the nine areas for the last year. The tests took place at Grey Lodge, Los Banos, Imperial and San Jacinto wildlife areas. Fish and Game officials said that although there was little or no enforcement, compliance ranged from 40% to 100%.

Initially, the additional money would be spent to promote the wildlife areas and improve facilities, including the development of interpretive centers and displays, signed nature trails and nature observation sites at the nine wilderness areas.

Only one area, Elkhorn Slough Ecological Reserve on the Monterey Peninsula, currently offers facilities such as a visitor interpretation center, nature trails, observation points and nature study aids.

The other eight areas included in the fee program are: Ash Creek Wildlife Area (Modoc-Lassen county line); Lake Earl Wildlife Area (Del Norte County); Gray Lodge Wildlife Area (Sutter and Butte counties); Grizzly Island Wildlife Area (Suisun Marsh in Solano County); Los Banos Wildlife Area (San Jose area); San Jacinto Wildlife Area (Riverside County); Imperial/Wister Wildlife Area (Imperial County) and Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve (Orange County).

WILDERNESS AREAS WHERE FEES PROPOSED

Visitors to these nine wilderness areas would have to pay a daytime fee beginning Jan. 1 as the Department of Fish and Game attempts to increase revenue for the maintenance and expansion of programs designed to save endangered species. If approved, the fees would range from a $2 daily fee to $10 for an annual permit. 1. Lake Earl Wildlife Area: Del Norte County. 2. Ash Creek Wildlife Area: Modoc-Lassen County line. 3. Gray Lodge Wildlife Area: Sutter and Butte counties. 4. Grizzly Island Wildlife Area: Suisun Marsh in Solano County. 5. Los Banos Wildlife Area: San Jose area. 6. Elkhorn Slough Ecological Reserve: Monterey Peninsula. 7. San Jacinto Wildlife Area: Riverside County. 8. Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve: Orange County. 9. Imperial-Wister Wildlife Area: Imperial County