SEELEY LAKE - While Tim Love worked with the Forest Service as the Seeley Lake District Ranger, the Region was encouraged to consider concessionaire management to maintain recreation sites. While the District decided against the use of concessionaire management, the Regional Office recently proposed a fee increase to several campgrounds, cabin rentals and day-use sites across the Lolo National Forest. The public has until Sept. 30 to comment on the proposal.
Love said when Region 1 was considering concessionaires, two Forest Service employees were sent out to survey concessionaire programs in at least four National Forests to help make a decision for the District. In order to objectively consider the programs, they looked at the overall quality of the sites, talked to concessionaire employees and site users.
“They came back with the recommendation that not all that glitters is gold,” said Love. “Based on that, and fee demos coming into play where we could keep a good share of our revenues to manage our own facilities, we thought we’d just do that.”
The “fee demo program” is now known as the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (REA). Through the REA a large percentage of money collected at developed recreation sites stays at the same site it was collected in for maintenance and other improvements. According to the Forest Service, the REA retains nearly 95 percent of recreation fees at its sites. Typically, fees are collected at developed sites such as campgrounds, day use areas, cabins and lookouts.
“I think there’s probably places where concessionaires may be the right thing, I just didn’t think it was the right thing for us,” said Love.
Love’s decision to go with the REA management program instead of a concessionaire also hinged on the fact that concessionaires are for-profit entities.
“That’s the relationship that the [Forest Service] has with communities and with the people is that we don’t need to find every possible way to justify collecting fees. I think the more we do that the more we create a gap between the people that we serve,” said Love.
Due to the decision to go with the REA management route, Seeley Lake is able to maintain a strong volunteer program to manage its sites. According to Love, the District averaged 20-25 volunteers each year. The Forest Service does not pay volunteers, but instead provides them with water, sewer and electric RV hookups, and other amenities in exchange for their service.
“They are great ambassadors,” said Love. “They aren’t doing it for pay, they are doing it because they want to do it.”
Though the Lolo National Forest made an effort to minimize concessionaire management at its developed sites, it is now considering a fee increase in order to support its ability to provide “high-levels” of service. Seeley Lake District Ranger Quinn Carver explained that the “high-level” of service could include enhanced maintenance and sanitary services, improved walking paths and increased amenities such as bear-safe storage containers.
According to Forest Service officials, fees collected at these sites will stay within the district in which they were collected and then reinvested into recreation sites. Fees will be collected at fee collection boxes similar to those found at Forest Service campgrounds already.
The proposed fee increase would cause the campground fees at Big Larch, Lake Alva, River Point and Seeley Lake to go from $10 to $20. Group campsites at Lake Inez, Lake Alva and Big Larch could grow to $50 with the proposed fee increase.
According to Carver, the Big Larch Campground could see additional boat parking areas and camping areas for long-distance cyclists, through the high-levels of service brought from the proposed fee increase.
“None of that stuff is locked in stone but they’re ideas that we’ve been tossing around on how to improve the experience out there,” said Carver.
Day-use sites at Big Larch, Seeley Lake Campground and the Seeley Creek Winter Sports Site could go from being free to costing $5 a day, or $35 for a season pass. The $35 season pass is valid at each day-use site in the Lolo National Forest for each winter season and summer season.
The Seeley Lake Nordic Club maintains the ski trails at the Seeley Creek Winter Sports Site including trail grooming, clearing and maintenance. The Forest Service is responsible for maintaining the road and parking area and servicing the outhouse.
It is unclear if money made at the Seeley Creek Winter Sports Site would go to support the Seeley Lake Nordic Club. Forest Service Public Affairs Officer Kate Jerman said these decisions will be considered if the fee increase is placed in effect.
“We will consider all of that in our decision making around these fees,” said Lolo National Forest Supervisor Carolyn Upton. “I know the public is concerned about fees and I take that very seriously. We do expect to get a wide range of comments on fees because people have a wide variety of feelings about the amount of services we currently provide and the services we could provide.”
Also on the Seeley Lake Ranger District, the Double Arrow Lookout rental is proposed to increase from $45 a night to $75 and the Monture Cabin will increase from $60 to $75.
The public has until Sept. 30 to provide feedback about the proposed fee increase. More information can be found at https://www.fs.usda.gov/lolo/ and clicking on Lolo National Forest Recreation Fee Proposal.
Comments can be submitted electronically via the interactive website http://www.fs.usda.gov/goto/r1recfee emailed to r1recfee@fs.fed.us or mailed to Lolo National Forest, Attn. Rec Fee Proposal, 24 Fort Missoula Road, Missoula, MT 59804.
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