[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 211 (Thursday, November 1, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Page 61858]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 07-5431]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Notice of Proposed Fee Change; Federal Lands Recreation 
Enhancement Act (Title VIII, Pub. L. 108-447)

AGENCY: USDA Forest Service.

ACTION: Notice of proposed fee change.

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SUMMARY: The Begich, Boggs Visitor Center, located within the Chugach 
National Forest in Alaska will change the fee it charges after 
consideration of public comments. New fees are to begin on Memorial Day 
Weekend 2008. The increased fee that it collects will help to make up 
the shortfall in operations and maintenance costs that it is 
experiencing due to declining Federal budgets and a change in fee 
authority. The expanded fee program will allow the visitor center to 
reopen its doors to the public on weekends from October through May, 
and to offer interpretive presentations to the public during the summer 
months, as well as upkeep the center and its exhibits and audio-visual 
programs and equipment. We are also planning to charge facility use 
fees, as outlined in our ``Amended Business and Communication Plan 
2007,'' for special use of the visitor center. As a result we are also 
seeking input from the public on the fee structure for special facility 
use during the same comment period. The special facility use fees will 
be a part of the amended Recreation Fee structure for the Begich, Boggs 
Visitor Center and help us to meet our operation and maintenance needs. 
Currently the only fee charged at the center is a fee for the movie 
``Voices From the Ice.'' The fee is currently $1 per person (age 16 and 
older). Starting on Memorial Day Weekend 2008, we propose to charge a 
higher fee to all visitors (age 16 and older). The expanded fee will 
allow these visitors to see the movie, visit the exhibits and 
participate in any of our interpretive walks and presentations offered. 
Those people who do not pay for this expanded standard amenity fee will 
be able to use the restrooms, shop in the Alaska Natural History 
Association bookstore or ask questions of our staff at the front desk.

DATES: Please submit comments on or before January 2, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Lezlie Murray, Glacier Ranger District, Chugach National 
Forest, P.O. Box 129, Girdwood, AK 99587.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lezlie Murray, Visitor Center 
Director, Begich, Boggs Visitor Center, (907) 754-2316, 
[email protected]. http://www.fs.fed.us/r10/chugach/chugach_pages/bbvc.html.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Federal Recreation Lands Enhancement Act 
(Title VII, Pub. L. 108-447) directed the Secretary of Agriculture to 
publish a six month advance notice in the Federal Register whenever a 
change in an established recreation fee is being considered. The 
Recreation Fee Program, authorized in Public Law 104-134, is designed 
to fund federal recreation facilities and services and visitor center 
facilities and services through user fees collected on the site. The 
Begich, Boggs Visitor Center has charged a fee for the movie through 
the Fee Demo Program beginning in 1999, and then through the Federal 
Recreation Lands Enhancement Act when the Fee Program was made 
permanent beginning in 2005.

    Dated: October 26, 2007.
Joe L. Meade,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 07-5431 Filed 10-31-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M