IMPORTANT ALERT:
A bill has been introduced in the United States Congress, HB 5204, entitled The Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Modernization Act of 2014, which will allow fees to be collected for most of the “public land” that is controlled by the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. If the bill passes, it would allow the Federal Government to charge fees for any activity on land that we presently have access to for free. Fees could include a permit fee, day use fee, or a special use fee. There is the possibility that the bill could be attached to an appropriation bill, which would allow the bill to pass without public comment or debate.
It is time now to get involved and contact your congressman and senators where you have your domicile and let them know that HB 5204 should be defeated. In the past, public lands have been turned over to concessionaires that allowed them to charge fees or to refuse to give discounts for entering the federal lands. This bill may not pass, but don’t take a chance and let the other members contact their congressman or senators. It only takes a few minutes to let the representatives that we elected know how we feel.
To find your congressman, you can go to http://www.house.gov/, and for senators, you can go to http://www.senate.gov/.
If you would like to review the bill yourself:
https://beta.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/5204/text
This bill, which would allow USFS and other regulatory or management agencies to charge fees for any kind of use of your public lands. AMRA strongly opposes this bill and we are calling our Congressman tomorrow to tell them to vote no. Call your Congressman (link included to find your Representative) and tell them how you would like them to vote. Be heard, don’t just sit there and complain, make the call.