Forest Fees

Re “Trail Boss: Los Padres Forest Director Looks After ‘People’s Backyard,’ ” Oct. 14.

“I struggle trying to understand why people don’t want to support eco-tourism,” says Jerome Caston, acting director of the Los Padres National Forest in Ventura County.

What Mr. Caston and many others in the U.S. Forest Service fail to understand is that it is our backyard. We have already paid for it with both the taxes we pay and the state and local taxes foregone by having it as federal land. I do not appreciate having to pay for it again.

I was born and raised in Ventura County. I spend a fair amount of time in the “people’s backyard,” and I give some back as an active volunteer for search-and-rescue in the county. I have seen a steady decline in the condition of the trails in the Los Padres. The fee has done little that I can see to improve the safety of the trails in the forest.

Now, I note that President Clinton is proposing a moratorium on new road construction too.

Let me see if I have this right: You want to charge me to get into my backyard that I have already paid for and then prevent me from being able to access it. If that is eco-tourism, I can understand why people do not support it.

HAROLD PARKER

Pasadena