Not All Can Afford an ‘Adventure Pass’

Re “Free Access Offered on Last Saturday of Month,” Dec. 22: Is this an example of U.S. Forest Service philanthropy or simply a desperate attempt to mitigate the unavoidable exclusionary effect that fees have on the economically disadvantaged?

Twelve “fee-free” days out of the year is only 3%. The poor are still being barred from their public lands for 97% of the year. This is totally unacceptable. They cannot even take their children on a picnic in their local national forests without the rangers shaking them down for their hard-earned money.

And where does the Adventure Pass money really go? The rangers’ standard claim is that at least 80% of the money will be used for the upkeep of facilities and the protection of the forest. But judging by the proliferation of Adventure Pass propaganda, it seems a huge chunk of the money goes right into running the Adventure Pass program itself.

Deborah Y. Nakamoto

Temple City