[Senate Report 108-233]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                       Calendar No. 443
108th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session                                                     108-233

======================================================================



 
                 RECREATIONAL FEE AUTHORITY ACT OF 2004

                                _______
                                

                 March 9, 2004.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

   Mr. Domenici, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 1107]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 1107) to enhance the Recreational Fee 
Demonstration Program for the National Park Service, and for 
other purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably 
thereon with amendments and recommends that the bill, as 
amended, do pass.
    The amendments are as follows:

    1. On page 1, line 5, strike ``2003'' and insert ``2004''.
    2. On page 1, lines 7 and 8, strike ``in Fiscal Year 2004 and 
thereafter,'' and insert ``on January 1, 2006,''.
    3. On page 3, lines 7 and 8, strike ``October 1, 2003'' and insert 
``January 1, 2006''.
    4. On page 3, line 20, strike ``October 1, 2003'' and insert 
``January 1, 2006''.
    5. On page 6, line 14, strike ``2006'' and insert ``2009''.

                         PURPOSE OF THE MEASURE

    The purpose of S. 1107 is to provide permanent fee 
authority for the National Park Service, including guidelines 
and criteria for the collection and expenditure of revenue 
collected under this authority.

                          BACKGROUND AND NEED

    In 2001, there were approximately 583 million visits to 
areas administered by the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the 
Forest Service. These visits generated almost $200 million in 
fee revenues for the four agencies.
    Section 315 of the FY 1996 Interior and Related Agencies 
Appropriations Act (Public Law 104-134) directed the National 
Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife 
Service, and Forest Service to implement a fee program ``to 
demonstrate the feasibility of user generated cost recovery for 
the operation and maintenance of recreation areas or sites and 
habitat enhancement projects on Federal lands.'' Each of the 
four agencies was directed to identify between 10 and 50 pilot 
projects for the demonstration project, known as the Recreation 
Fee Demonstration Program. The program was originally 
authorized for 3 years, but has subsequently been extended 
through December 30, 2005, with fee revenue remaining available 
for expenditure through the end of fiscal year 2008. In 
addition, each agency is now authorized to include up to 100 
sites in the program.
    Under this program (commonly referred to as ``Fee Demo''), 
the four agencies are authorized to charge fees, 
notwithstanding any other law, ``for admission to an area, or 
for the use of outdoor recreation sites, facilities, visitor 
centers, equipment, and services by individuals and groups, or 
any combination thereof.'' The existing fee authority in the 
Land and Water Conservation Fund Act limited how much, and for 
what activities and services fees could be charged. Under the 
Fee Demo program, the agencies were granted complete discretion 
to establish both the amount and type of fees with respect to 
the pilot project sites.
    Prior to the enactment of the Recreation Fee Demonstration 
Program, most fee revenues were deposited into the Treasury. 
The Fee Demo program, however, authorized the four agencies to 
retain all of the fee revenues for expenditure without further 
appropriation. Of the total fee revenues, 80 percent are 
retained at the site of collection and 20 percent are returned 
to the agency for expenditure on national priorities. In fiscal 
year 2002, the National Park Service collected $125.7 million 
in recreation fee revenue and obligated $101.9 million or 81 
percent of the total for projects that include addressing the 
deferred maintenance backlog, rehabilitating historic 
structures, encouraging volunteer services, improving 
interpretive exhibits and enhancing the safety of visitors.
    The recreation fee program has proven vital to the ability 
of the National Park Service to provide quality recreational 
facilities and services. It has significantly enhanced the 
Department's efforts to address the deferred maintenance 
backlog in National Parks and has enabled the Service to better 
manage park lands. Authorizing a permanent program would allow 
the Park Service to better serve visitors by making long term 
investments, streamline the fee program and create more long 
term partnerships. Fulfilling the mission of the National Park 
Service requires that visitor facilities and services be 
maintained, that historic and natural resources be preserved 
and that visitor opportunities to experience parks be enhanced. 
These efforts require an adequate and steady source of funding 
which would be greatly enhanced under S. 1107.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    S. 1107 was introduced by Senator Thomas on May 22, 2003. 
The Subcommittee on National Parks held a hearing on S. 1107 on 
September 9, 2003. S. Hrg. 108-193. At the business meeting on 
February 11, 2004, the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources ordered S. 1107, as amended, favorably reported.

             COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS AND VOTE TABULATION

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open 
business session on February 11, 2004, by a unanimous vote of a 
quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 1107, if 
amended as described herein.
    The rollcall vote on reporting the measure was 23 yeas, 0 
nays, as follows:

        YEAS                          NAYS
Mr. Domenici
Mr. Nickles
Mr. Craig
Mr. Campbell*
Mr. Thomas
Mr. Alexander
Ms. Murkowski
Mr. Talent
Mr. Burns
Mr. Smith*
Mr. Bunning
Mr. Kyl*

Mr. Bingaman
Mr. Akaka
Mr. Dorgan*
Mr. Graham of Florida*
Mr. Wyden*
Mr. Johnson*
Ms. Landrieu*
Mr. Bayh*
Mrs. Feinstein*
Mr. Schumer*
Ms. Cantwell

    * Indicates voted by proxy.

                          COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS

    During consideration of S. 1107, the Committee adopted 
several amendments. The amendments delay implementation of the 
Act until January 1, 2006, so that this law will not become 
effective until after the expiration date of the Recreation Fee 
Demonstration Program.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

    Section 1 entitles the bill the ``Recreational Fee 
Authority Act of 2004''.
    Section 2(a) authorizes the Secretary of the Interior 
(Secretary), beginning January 1, 2006, to establish, modify, 
charge, and collect fees for admission to a unit of the 
National Park System and the use of the National Park Service 
(Service) administrated areas, lands, sites, facilities, and 
services. The Secretary is directed to analyze the 
establishment of fair and equitable fees, including the 
Government's costs and revenues and the cumulative effect of 
fees charged to the public.
    Subsection (b) requires the Secretary to establish the 
minimum number of fees and directs that the collection of 
multiple and layered fees be avoided.
    Subsection (c) directs the Secretary to report to Congress 
the results of the analysis and the determination of 
appropriate fee levels. This subsection also directs the 
Secretary to publish new fees or changes in fees in the Federal 
Register at least 12 months prior to the changes taking effect.
    Subsection (d) authorizes the Secretary to enter into 
agreements, including contracts to provide reasonable 
commissions with any entity for reservation services, fee 
collection and/or processing services.
    Subsection (e) authorizes the Secretary to provide 
discounted or free admission days or use, modify the National 
Park Passport, and directs the Secretary to provide information 
to the public about the fee programs and the costs and benefits 
of each program.
    Subsection (f) authorizes the Secretary to enter into 
revenue sharing agreements with State agencies to accept their 
annual passes for National Park Service units within the State 
and convey the same privileges, terms, and conditions as 
offered under the National Park Passport.
    Section 3 directs the Secretary to retain all receipts 
collected pursuant to this Act or from sales of the National 
Park Pass and for expenditure may be expended as follows: (1) 
at least 80 percent of the fees collected at an area, site, or 
project shall remain available for use at that area, site, or 
project, except that units participating in revenue-sharing 
agreement with a state (as authorized in subsection (f)) may 
retain 90 percent of fee revenues; (2) the balance of the 
amounts collected shall remain available for use Service-wide; 
(3) revenue from sharing agreements established pursuant to 
section 2(f) may provide for a fee-sharing arrangement; and at 
least 50 percent of the fees collected as a result of the sale 
of the National Park Passport are to remain available for use 
at the area where they were collected with the balance 
distributed in accordance with section 3(2).
    Section 4(a) directs the Secretary to separately account 
for the amounts available for expenditure at a specific area, 
site or project. Fee revenues may be used for (1) maintenance 
and facility enhancements, media services, projects and 
expenses relating to visitor enjoyment, visitor access, 
environmental compliance, and health and safety; (2) 
interpretation, visitor information, visitor service, visitor 
needs assessments, monitoring, and signs; (3) habitat 
enhancement, resource assessment, preservation, protection, and 
restoration related to recreation use; and (4) law enforcement 
relating to public use and recreation.
    Subsection (b) prohibits the Secretary from using more than 
15 percent of total revenues to administer the recreation fee 
program including direct operating or capital costs, cost of 
fee collection, notification of fee requirements, direct 
infrastructure, fee program management costs, bonding of 
volunteers, start-up costs, and analysis and reporting on 
program accomplishments and effects.
    Section 5 directs the Secretary to submit a report every 
three years, beginning January 1, 2009, to Congress outlining 
and detailing the status, evaluation, description of projects, 
accomplishments, and recommendations for changes to the 
program.

                   COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

    The Congressional Budget Office estimate of the costs of 
this measure has been requested but was not received at the 
time the report was filed. When the report is available, the 
Chairman will request it to be printed in the Congressional 
Record for the advice of the Senate.

                      REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION

    In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following 
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in 
carrying out S. 1107. The bill is not a regulatory measure in 
the sense of imposing Government-established standards or 
significant economic responsibilities on private individuals 
and businesses.
    No personal information would be collected in administering 
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal 
privacy.
    Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the 
enactment of S. 1107, as ordered reported.

                        EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

    On July 7, 2003, the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources requested legislative reports from the Department of 
the Interior and the Office of Management and Budget setting 
forth Executive agency recommendations on S. 1107. These 
reports had not been received at the time the report on S. 1107 
was filed. When the reports become available the Chairman will 
request that they be printed in the Congressional Record for 
the advice of the Senate. The testimony provided by the 
Department of the Interior at the Subcommittee hearing follows:

    Statement of P. Lynn Scarlett, Assistant Secretary for Policy, 
           Management and Budget, Department of the Interior

    Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to present the 
Department of the Interior's views on S. 1107, a bill to 
enhance the Recreational Fee Demonstration program for the 
National Park Service. We thank the Subcommittee for the 
opportunity to discuss this very important issue.
    The Department supports S. 1107 if amended to provide 
interagency authority and to address other issues identified in 
this testimony. The recreation fee program is vital to our 
ability to provide quality recreational facilities and 
services. It significantly enhances the Department's efforts to 
support the President's initiative to address the deferred 
maintenance backlog at our National Parks and enables us to 
better manage other federal lands. Authorization of a permanent 
program would allow the agencies to better serve visitors by 
making long-term investments, streamlining the program, and 
creating more partnerships.
    Our federal lands boast scenic vistas, breathtaking 
landscapes, and unique natural wonders. On these lands, many 
patriotic symbols, battlefields, memorials, historic homes, and 
many other types of sites tell the story of America. Federal 
lands have provided Americans and visitors from around the 
world special places for recreation, education, reflection and 
solace. The family vacation to these destinations is an 
American tradition. We want to ensure that the federal lands 
continue to play this important role in American life and 
culture. Fulfilling this mission requires that we maintain 
visitor facilities and services, preserve natural and historic 
resources, and enhance visitor opportunities. Such efforts 
require an adequate and steady source of funding.
    Although recreation fees date back to 1908, Congress first 
established broad recreation fee authority in 1965 under the 
Land and Water Conservation Fund Act (LWCFA). In enacting this 
authority, Congress acknowledged that the visitors to federal 
lands receive some benefits that do not directly accrue to the 
public at large and that charging a modest fee to that 
population is both equitable and fair to the general taxpayer. 
In 1996, Congress took that idea one step further when 
establishing the Recreation Fee Demonstration (Fee Demo) 
program for the National Park Service (NPS), the Bureau of Land 
Management (BLM), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Fish and 
Wildlife Service), and the U.S. Forest Service (Forest 
Service). During the 105th Congress, a House Appropriations 
Committee Report noted that the Fee Demo program was developed 
in direct response to the federal agencies' concern over their 
growing backlog maintenance needs. Thus, the Fee Demo program 
allowed participating agencies to retain a majority of 
recreation fees at the site collected and reinvest those fees 
into enhancing visitor facilities and services. This authority 
was deliberately broad and flexible to encourage agencies to 
experiment with their fee programs.
    Our testimony today and suggested amendments to S. 1107 are 
the result of a great deal of analysis and discussion through 
the Interagency Recreation Fee Leadership Council (Fee 
Council), which was created last year to facilitate 
coordination and consistency among high level officials of the 
Department of the Interior and U.S. Department of Agriculture 
(USDA). These concepts were developed from the lessons we have 
learned in administering the Fee Demo program.
    S. 1107 would authorize the Secretary to establish, modify, 
charge and collect recreation fees for the National Park 
Service, provided that they meet certain criteria. We agree 
with these criteria, as they are similar to the guiding 
principles espoused by the Department. Through the Fee Council 
and in testimony before this Committee last Congress, the 
Department identified seven principles that are critical to a 
successful fee program. These guiding principles indicate that 
fees should be: (1) beneficial to the visiting public; (2) fair 
and equitable; (3) efficient; (4) consistent; (5) implemented 
collaboratively; (6) convenient; and should (7) provide for 
accountability to the public. The Department has committed to 
applying these guiding principles to any administrative or 
legislative effort concerning the recreation fee program.


                 AN INTERAGENCY RECREATION FEE PROGRAM


    S. 1107 would authorize recreation fee authority for NPS. 
The recreation fee program has been a key component in the 
National Park Service's ability to provide a quality visitor 
experience. In FY 2002, NPS collected $125.7 million in 
recreation fee demonstration revenue and obligated $101.9 
million or 81 percent of the total for projects that include 
addressing the deferred maintenance backlog, rehabilitating 
historic structures, encouraging volunteer services through the 
Public Land Corps, providing accessibility to visitors with 
disabilities, protecting natural resources, improving 
interpretive exhibits, and enhancing the safety of the 
visitors. In addition, NPS collected $21.7 million from the 
National Park Passport and other recreation fees. Over the life 
of the program, NPS has approved $457 million in projects to 
address the deferred maintenance backlog. NPS also has made 
efforts to continually improve the administration of the 
recreation fee program by implementing software upgrades, 
automated technologies for fee collection, and modern banking 
systems, and seeking out opportunities to collaborate with 
other agencies. NPS is improving its ability to target 
recreation fees to the highest priority projects by monitoring 
and prioritizing ongoing maintenance needs through the 
establishment of the Facility Management Software System.
    Mr. Chairman, we appreciate the strong support and that 
this Subcommittee has given to the National Parks. We agree 
that the National Park Service has built a successful program 
and deserves a permanent recreation fee program. Experience has 
shown us, however, that an interagency fee program makes sense 
and would significantly enhance our ability to serve the 
American public at recreation sites on national public lands. 
We have found that the visiting public does not distinguish 
between lands managed by different federal agencies. Enhancing 
coordination among agencies is extraordinarily important in 
creating a sensible, efficient, and coherent fee program with 
seamless services that is well-understood by the public. Thus, 
a critical component of the Department's support of S. 1107 is 
that it be amended to provide for interagency recreation fee 
authority.
    The basis for establishing a recreation fee program for 
National Parks also exists for other federal agencies. The 
pattern of recreation on our federal lands has changed 
dramatically. National Parks continue to be a destination 
favorite for American families. However, more than ever before, 
Americans also are choosing to recreate on lands managed by 
other federal agencies such BLM and the Fish and Wildlife 
Service. Since 1985, recreation demand has increased 
approximately 65 percent on BLM lands and 80 percent on 
National Wildlife Refuges. Over the same time period, the 
Bureau of Reclamation estimates an increase of 10 million 
recreation visits for a total of 90 million visits to their 288 
lakes. With this increase in visitation is an increase in 
visitor demand for adequate visitor facilities and services. 
Because our visitors do not distinguish among federal land 
management agencies, many expect to find the same amenities 
typically provided at National Parks, including hosted 
campgrounds, permanent toilet facilities, and potable drinking 
water. This increase in visitor use on these other federal 
lands also creates a greater need to expend funds to protect 
natural and cultural resources--the resources that are often 
the very reason visitors are drawn to the particular site.
    Although the geographic and logistical characteristics of 
some locations make the collection of recreation fees easier 
than for others, we believe that the relevant policy question 
of whether recreation fee authority should be given to an 
agency is whether the visiting public would benefit from 
enhanced recreation facilities and other visitor services that 
would result from such fees being charged. Visitors to these 
other Department of the Interior lands, as well as lands 
managed by other agencies, such as the U.S. Forest Service, in 
other Departments have and should continue to benefit from 
enhanced facilities and services.
    Through the Fee Demo program, BLM and the Fish and Wildlife 
Service have invested recreation fees to meet visitor demands 
and improve the recreation experience. For example, the BLM's 
Lake Havasu Field Office in Arizona has used recreation fees to 
replace 50 leaking and deteriorating fiberglass outhouses with 
36 block wall accessible restrooms. Recreation fees also 
contributed to the installation of 700 feet of river bank block 
walls, which will help protect the newly constructed restrooms 
as well as stabilize the campsites' eroding shoreline. The Fish 
and Wildlife Service also has used fees to offer some unique 
opportunities to visitors. At California's Modoc National 
Wildlife Refuge, the Fish and Wildlife Service used recreation 
fees to benefit hunters and photographers by replacing an old 
hay bale blind with a new wooden, more accessible hunting and 
photo blind, complete with access ramp. At the National Elk 
Refuge, the Fish and Wildlife Service collects an Elk hunt 
permit recreation fee of $1 per hunter at the weekly hunter 
drawings in October, November, and December. These recreation 
fees are used to rent a fair pavilion building from the county 
to conduct refuge hunt orientation and permit drawings at the 
beginning of each hunting season. Hundreds of hunters attend 
each year. In addition, the modest recreation fee allows the 
Fish and Wildlife Service to purchase retrieval carts and sleds 
for the hunters' use and shooting sticks to encourage ethical 
hunting.


                 A NEW ANNUAL INTERAGENCY NATIONAL PASS


    S. 1107 would allow for modifications of the National Park 
Passport. For reasons that include those above, we propose 
creating a new annual interagency pass that would expand the 
National Parks Passport to cover all participating agencies and 
would consolidate the Golden Passes established under the Land 
and Water Conservation Fund Act. We believe that the National 
Park Passport developed by Senator Thomas a few years ago is an 
excellent model for such a program. We would like to expand on 
its successes--the image competition as well as the modern 
marketing techniques, and innovative, administration 
provisions. By consolidating these passes, the interagency pass 
would decrease visitor confusion about passes and shift the 
emphasis to recreation opportunities on our federal lands 
rather than an agency-centric view. We envision that the 
interagency pass would be provided to seniors at substantial 
discounts and to persons with disabilities free of charge. The 
interagency pass would retain the look and program qualities of 
the National Park Passport, and we would work to maintain the 
stream of revenue to NPS. As relevant data are collected, the 
distribution formula of interagency pass revenues would be 
periodically reevaluated through the Fee Council.


       STANDARDIZING RECREATION FEES AND MINIMIZING FEE LAYERING


    S. 1107 would direct the Secretary to establish the minimum 
number of fees and avoid fee layering where possible. The 
Department supports this goal. One problem that has led to 
increased fee layering is the absence of clear definitions of 
what activities are covered by ``entrance'' fees and those that 
are covered by ``use'' fees. This issue has been complicated by 
historical fee definitions in the LWCFA and differences among 
agencies in legislative fee authorities. The result has been 
that, at some sites, a use fee was established rather than an 
entrance fee, and at other sites, an additional use fee was 
charged for the primary attraction of the site when the 
activity should have been covered by an already-paid entrance 
fee. The lack of consistency among and within agencies has led 
to visitor confusion and some expression of frustration about 
fee layering and the related issue of when the Golden passes 
and the National Park Passport may be used.
    In the Department's testimony before this Committee during 
the 107th Congress, we proposed addressing these concerns by 
creating a new system of ``basic'' and ``expanded'' recreation 
fees that would be consistently applied across all agencies and 
would minimize fee layering by ensuring that the basic fee 
covers the primary attraction of the site. Under this system, 
restrictions would be put in place to ensure that the visiting 
public would not be charged if the agency is not making a 
certain level of investment in visitor services. All passes 
established under this system would have covered the basic 
recreation fee at all sites.
    The Department and USDA have moved forward to 
administratively implement such a system. Although we are 
retaining the LWCF terminology, the agencies are making 
adjustments to standardize the classification of fees to 
decrease visitor confusion about the passes and minimize fee 
layering. For example, the Forest Service is expanding and 
clarifying the benefits of the Golden Passes to include 1800 
additional sites. The previous pass policy at those sites was 
extremely confusing: the Golden Eagle Pass was not accepted, 
Golden Age and Access passholders were given a 50 percent 
discount, while a regional pass, the Northwest Forest Pass, was 
accepted in full. While NPS currently accepts passes at a 
majority of its fee sites, six sites that established use fees 
for the primary attraction to the site now accept passes. In 
addition, NPS is evaluating 14 sites where use fees should 
possibly be converted to entrance fees and passes should be 
accepted.
    The Department would like to make as many efforts as 
possible to streamline the recreation fee system. However, our 
experience has shown that eliminating all fee-layering or what 
might better be thought of as tiered fees is neither fair nor 
equitable, especially for specialized services such as camping, 
reservations, enhanced tours, or group events. The notion 
behind charging a fee beyond the basic recreation fee is that 
certain recreation activities require additional attention by 
agency staff or involve costs that should not be borne by the 
general public through taxpayer funds or by the rest of the 
visiting public through the basic recreation fee. The system 
must balance fairness and equity principles by carefully 
considering the relationship between who pays and who benefits.
    Another important consideration is fee levels. The 
Department is committed to revaluating the recreation fees 
charged and their impact on low- and middle-class visitors. 
First, recreation fees represent a small percentage of the out-
of-pocket costs that an average family spends on a typical 
vacation. Second, recreation fees are reasonable in comparison 
to those charged at other recreational activities. For example, 
in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, a family of four would pay $20 for a 
seven day pass to both Grand Teton National Park and 
Yellowstone National Park. In contrast, in Jackson Hole, the 
family would have to pay approximately $408 for two snowmobiles 
for a single day and $27.50 for 2-3 hours of entertainment at a 
movie theatre.


            PARTNERSHIPS WITH STATES AND GATEWAY COMMUNITIES


    S. 1107 would authorize the Secretary to enter into 
agreements with public and private entities for visitor 
reservation services, fee collection or processing services. 
The Department supports this provision as it would allow us, 
among other things, to more vigorously seek out opportunities 
to engage gateway communities through the recreation fee 
program. Such efforts are consistent with Secretary Norton's 
``Four C's''--Communication, Consultation, and Cooperation, all 
in the service of Conservation. Given our experience with 
cooperative decisionmaking within the Fee Demo program, we 
believe that any future fee program should foster collaborative 
opportunities.
    Through these partnerships, the Department and gateway 
communities can work together to promote tourism and to better 
serve visitors. One example of the type of partnership that 
could flourish under a permanent recreation fee program is the 
Sand Flats Agreement entered into in 1994 by BLM and the 
gateway community of Grand County, Utah. Sand Flats is a 7,000-
acre BLM recreational area outside Moab, Utah. It is highly 
popular, particularly with mountain bikers. In the early 1990s, 
its popularity increased so much that the BLM was no longer 
able to manage and police the area. Looking for a creative 
solution, BLM entered into a cooperative agreement with the 
county under which the county would collect recreation fees and 
use them to manage and police the highly popular recreational 
area. The county and its citizens have benefited from a more 
vigorous tourist trade; the BLM now has a signature recreation 
area; and visitors can safely enjoy the Sand Flats area. We 
believe that the Sand Flats Agreement is an excellent model of 
a mutually beneficial partnership and that the opportunity to 
craft these types of agreements exists across the country. With 
a permanent recreation fee program, we will be better able to 
make the necessary investments to identify and move forward on 
such opportunities.
    S. 1107 would authorize the Secretary to enter into revenue 
sharing agreements with states to accept their state annual 
passes at National Parks and would direct that the NPS' share 
of the fees be distributed equally to all NPS units in the 
states that are party to the revenue sharing agreement. The 
Department recommends amending this provision. While we support 
the creation of passes that might allow entry to both state and 
federal recreation sites, the provision as drafted presents a 
number of problems. To be viable from a business perspective, a 
combined federal-state pass would have to be priced to capture 
the appropriate level of value from both state and federal 
systems. Unless the pass is priced appropriately, simply 
splitting the total revenues collected based on the price of 
existing state passes is likely to result in a net loss for 
both federal and state parties--the pie will be smaller for 
both federal and state parties. In addition, this provision 
would break the direct link between the site of collection and 
the site where a majority of the fees are expended. This link 
has served as the rationale for the recreation fee program and 
is strongly associated with the public's support of fees. 
Acceptance of a state pass to federal lands also presents 
valuation complications, including impacts on the value of 
federal passes, varying pricing and benefits of different state 
passes and related equity concerns with regard to residents of 
different states.
    The Department would prefer creating partnerships with 
states through a more flexible provision that would authorize 
cooperative agreements for regional multi-entity passes. 
Providing visitors and residents of nearby communities with a 
well-structured, appropriately priced, regional multi-entity 
pass would avoid these problems while allowing for benefits 
that could extend to other federal, state, and private 
entities. Recognizing that recreation areas and the visitors 
who enjoy them do not necessarily follow state boundaries, our 
experience has shown that regional multi-entity passes offer 
greater flexibility and can be tailored to meet identified 
recreational demands. One example of a successful regional pass 
is the Visit Idaho Playground (VIP) Pass, which covers all 
entrance and certain day-use fees at a variety of state and 
federal sites including those under the jurisdiction of the 
Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation, the Idaho Department 
of Commerce, the Bureau of Reclamation, USDA Forest Service, 
NPS, and BLM.
    Our proposed provision also could provide for another type 
of cooperative pass program similar to that provided in S.1107, 
but with fewer unwanted impacts to both the state and federal 
recreation fee programs. The Department and USDA are currently 
considering a program to develop a State Parks hologram upgrade 
to the Golden Eagle Passport. Under this pilot project, 
visitors will be given the opportunity to upgrade their Golden 
Eagle Passports to include an entire state park system for an 
additional fee. As it is currently being proposed, visitors 
would purchase a hologram sticker that they can affix to their 
Golden Eagle Passports, upgrading it to cover a state park 
system. We should note that a single interagency national pass 
would streamline these types of regional arrangements. This 
cooperative pass program has been complicated by the existence 
of four national passports--the Golden Eagle Passport, the 
Golden Age Passport, the Golden Access Passport, and the 
National Parks Passport. Oregon is preparing to offer this 
optional upgrade for around $20 beginning in calendar year 
2004. We will keep the Subcommittee informed on the development 
of this innovative pilot program.


              ADMINISTRATION OF THE RECREATION FEE PROGRAM


    S. 1107 would require the Secretary to analyze certain 
criteria with regard to fee levels, transmit the analysis to 
Congress, publish notice of the fees in the Federal Register, 
and then wait 12 months before establishing or changing 
recreation fees while, at the same time, establish a cap on the 
cost of collection at 15 percent. This bill also would require 
the Secretary to submit a report on the status of the 
recreation fee program to Congress every three years. While we 
strongly support improving Congressional reporting requirements 
on this program, we are concerned that the process set forth in 
S. 1107 would expend unnecessary resources by duplicating 
existing work that the agencies conduct in administering the 
recreation fee program and that the cost of collection cap is 
unrealistic. We would like to work with the Subcommittee to 
craft reporting and cost of collection provisions that meet the 
needs of Congress and the public while taking into account 
agency experience and current efforts to administer the 
recreation fee program.


      ADMINISTRATIVE EFFORTS TO IMPROVE THE RECREATION FEE PROGRAM


    Through the Fee Council and other efforts, we are 
continually evaluating and developing responses to the 
successes and shortcomings of experiments agencies are 
conducting through the Fee Demo program. The Department and 
USDA are moving forward on a number of administrative efforts 
to improve the recreation fee program including:
           Creating an annual interagency ``fee-free'' 
        day on National Public Lands Day in September;
           Developing consistent application of the 
        definitions of ``entrance'' and ``use'' fees and thus, 
        streamlining and clarifying the acceptance of the 
        Golden passes, as described earlier in this testimony;
           Implementing an interagency system to award 
        volunteers with passes;
           Establishing a single reservation system for 
        all visitors to most federal lands;
           Improving the website www.recreation.gov to 
        include information about recreation fees; and
           Collecting data at National Parks on pass 
        usage to better understand and serve the visiting 
        public.


                THE FUTURE OF THE RECREATION FEE PROGRAM


    We have learned a great deal from our experience in 
administering the Fee Demo program and believe we are ready to 
translate that experience into a permanent recreation fee 
program. Delay could result in a lost opportunity to implement 
a more productive, streamlined recreation fee system that is 
designed to enhance the visitor's experience. Establishing a 
permanent program does not mean the learning ends here. We 
support a dynamic recreation fee program that responds to new 
lessons learned and builds on success stories. We believe S. 
1107, with the amendments suggested in this testimony, would 
create such a dynamic program while providing the Department 
the certainty of a permanent program. A permanent program would 
allow the Department to make long-term investments, improve 
efficiencies, and initiate more partnerships. Mr. Chairman, the 
Department thanks you for your leadership on this issue and 
looks forward to working with the Subcommittee as SA 107 moves 
forward.
    Mr. Chairman, in conclusion, I would be pleased to answer 
any questions you or other members of the Subcommittee may 
have.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no 
changes in existing law are made by the bill S. 1107, as 
ordered reported.

                                
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