Western Slope Information

Chairman Bob, et.al.

The issue of fees to access public lands has been on the sidelines most of this summer.  Seems our Congress can not a function on multiple tasks so they choose to do nothing about anything.  The information Kitty has provided us is a renewal of our commitment to end this horrific  travesty on the recreating public.  As a committee lets make an effort to get both Idaho Congressional Representatives on board.   Please take a little time to review the attached information and offer any opinion or suggestions to get the ball rolling again.  For example, we should consider asking Congressman Simpson to request a GAO report regarding fees on the Salmon as Kitty suggests.  

 

Rich

 

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Kitty Benzar <wsnofee@gmail.com>
To: Rich Vaughn <richsriverboat@yahoo.com>
Sent: Sunday, October 30, 2011 3:42 PM
Subject: Re: What is Going On?

Hi Rich,

Good to hear from you. I took a break from the day to day of this myself in the form of a 90-day road trip to Alaska this summer. We were gone from July through September. I tried to keep up via wifi but it was not the same as being on it every day. We had a great time.

 

But enough of having fun, I'm back in the game. Let's see, what's happening?

 

My congressman Scott Tipton (R) sent a formal request to the GAO for a complete updated audit of the federal rec fee program. He had two co-signers: Mike Coffman (R-CO) and Steve Pearce (R-NM). Tipton and Coffman both sit on the Public Lands subcommittee that oversees FS/BLM and Pearce chairs the Western Caucus in the House. Several people have written letters to GAO asking them to include particular fee areas in the audit, perhaps you want to do that with the Salmon. Attached is my letter to give you the address. Also it would be good to ask Simpson to sign on to Tipton's request.

 

Simpson is a VERY powerful guy, it's great that you are now in his District. I know he and Scotty do not get along so don't use that name.

 

Last week I had a face-to-face meeting with Tipton in person when he was in Durango. Larry Zauberis was in it too. (You should remember Larry from the teleconference group calls, he's on the Board of the Colorado and National Backcountry Horsemen of America.) We thanked Tipton for calling for the audit and pitched him on sponsoring fee reform legislation. He left with a copy of the Great Outdoors Act in his hands. No followup on that yet. I suspect he will wait for the audit results before committing. I gave him the attached Timeline in a handout, see page two for what the future holds. One of only three things is going to happen, and doing nothing has its own results. Doing nothing is actually my number one choice and it's something Congress is good at, but I suspect Derrick Crandall & Friends will not let that happen.

 

Not a word from Crapo, Risch, or Baucus or Tester. From where I sit it looks like Congress is in gridlock until after the election. Nobody is the least bit interested in being bipartisan.

 

Best thing you can do right now would be to establish a relationship with Simpson.

 

Kitty

On Sun, Oct 30, 2011 at 9:34 AM, Rich Vaughn <richsriverboat@yahoo.com> wrote:

Kitty, been a long time since I have been active in our fight, I apologize.  Your recent News Letter got our attention with it's similarity to fees on the Salmon River here in Idaho.  

 

From an old exchange with Layne I became a little upset when I interpreted his remarks that Crapo could not take an active roll in fees because he was totally focused on other financial (budget) issues.  Is it unreasonable for us to think Congress will allow the current fee legislation to expire without further extension or change?  Are our opponents active in Congressional action?  Is there any news from your contacts on what we might expect?  Redistricting has, I believe, moved me into Congressman Simpson district.  Considering his position as Chairman of one of the sub- committees I will be working to establish a new relationship.  According to Layne, Simpson has more power than any other Idaho Congressional delegate based on this chairmanship.

Rich




--
Kitty Benzar
President
Western Slope No-Fee Coalition
P.O. Box 135
Durango, CO 81302
970/259-4616 (Landline)
970/946-2909 (Cell)
www.WesternSlopeNoFee.org