LOS ANGELES COUNTY : Supervisors Reject Hiker Fee Discounts

After another extended argument over the merits of charging hikers, bikers and equestrians a $23 annual fee to use county trails, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday rejected attempts to water down the program by giving price breaks to families, groups and senior citizens.

The supervisors, saying they were tired of wrangling over the controversial issue for several weeks in a row, set a March 4 date to give final approval to the plan to charge people an annual fee to use the county’s 330 miles of trails. Their vote also ended an effort by Supervisor Mike Antonovich to have the annual trail fee replaced by an adopt-a-trail program, in which corporate and private sponsors would get credit for trail upkeep by adopting mile-long segments of trails for $500.

The supervisors refused to vote on motions by Antonovich and Supervisor Deane Dana to provide discounts of up to 50% to people over age 65 and an undetermined discount to families and groups to entice them to buy the passes.

Under a policy that went into effect Jan. 1, the county planned to sell the permits to raise $150,000 a year for upkeep of the trail system, which has been threatened with closure due to county budget cutbacks. Enforcement of the permits has been put on hold, however, while the supervisors have argued the merits of the program after public outcry over having to pay to use parks.

Antonovich and county Parks and Recreation Department officials said they would pursue the adopt-a-trail program in the hopes that it could replace or augment the permit fee at some later date.

Parks and Recreation Director Rodney E. Cooper opposed Antonovich’s proposal to provide discounts for families, groups and senior citizens, saying it would make it hard for the county to come up with the $150,000 each year. Antonovich told his fellow supervisors they were making “a terrible mistake” because such discounts would help the county raise more money than a rigid $23 annual fee.

Under the proposal to be considered by the supervisors March 4, youths 16 and under would be exempt from the fees, and three-day passes would be sold for $6.