Board OKs Sale of 3-Day Passes for Public Trail Users : Supervisors: Enforcement of $23 annual fee to hike, bike or ride horses on county paths also begins April 1.

After more than a month of delays, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved $6 passes for hikers, bikers and horse riders who want to use county trails for up to three days.

The board’s action, effective Monday, also reinstated the $23 annual trail passes required for use of the 330 miles of county trails. The passes were approved last year and took effect Jan. 1, but were put on hold by the board at the end of January because of questions about their cost and about the fairness of charging for public trail use. Youths under 16 are exempt.

Passes now will be required on all county trails, and users caught without them can be fined $54. Enforcement will begin April 1.

“I want to give people a chance to start digesting this,” county parks Director Rodney E. Cooper said Tuesday. “There’s been a lot of back and forth.”

Only Supervisor Mike Antonovich opposed the fees. Earlier Antonovich had proposed that instead of user fees, private companies and organizations be asked to fund trail upkeep through an adopt-a-trail program, similar to that instituted on the state’s freeways. County parks officials maintain that despite some efforts to contact potential donors, no one has agreed to pay the suggested $500 to adopt a mile of trail.

Cooper said his department lacks staff to organize such a program and he is considering hiring a private firm to recruit donors.

In a compromise motion, the board asked Cooper to complete a thorough report on adopt-a-trail possibilities within the next three months.

Antonovich failed in attempts to persuade a majority of his colleagues to exempt people 18 and under and establish a reduced fee for senior citizens, families and groups.

“If you make it compatible, more people will purchase them,” he reasoned.

Cooper said he would oppose any proposals to reduce fees because they could hamper his ability to raise the money he needs to maintain the trails: $150,000 this year and $450,000 next year. Cooper suggested the board collect the fees for a year before considering any discount alternatives.

Trail use fees were established during last year’s difficult budget negotiations as part of a compromise to keep the trails open. For the second year in a row, county administrators had recommended their closure.

For the first year, $150,000 was to come from the trail pass fees and $300,000 from a one-time-only transfer from the county Department of Public Works.

The passes as well as county trail maps are available at regional parks, nature centers and recreation offices. A number of private animal feed and bicycle stores also have agreed to sell them.