PAY FOR NATURE?
Rex Burress
In a time when every organization seems to be jumping on the “fee” bandwagon, it came as a surprise to many outdoor lovers that a “Lands Pass” would need to be purchased for walking onto the wildflower fields of Table Mountain this spring.
The cost wasn't much—4 dollars per day or twenty-five for the year—indicated to be intended for improvement in the State of California Wildland Preserve, a goal generally desirable among nature advocates. But some see it as a mental deterrent hanging over the essence of freedom, and one more little legal 'rule' to contend with in a legal-bag that has grown heavy. Just keeping yourself on the correct 'side of the law' is a cumbersome chore anymore.
California Fish and Wildlife Gray Lodge refuge has had the land pass in effect for the last few years, not unreasonable, but still, it acts as a deterrent to just dashing through the three-mile viewing road to check on what's there. Having waterfowl “in my blood” after working 32 years at Oakland's Lake Merritt Refuge, I needed a 'recharge' nearly every week after retiring in 1993, and was a volunteer at Gray Lodge for awhile just to make the connection. Then with 'four dollars a shot' hanging over your head per visitor lately, my visits got fewer and fewer, until this year I didn't get down there at all, partly due to health. I have drawn a lot of nature-column stories from that “Butte sheltered marsh,” and handier access gives me more coverage.
It wasn't so long ago that there was no charge to visit parks and refuges, part of the people's dividend for paying taxes, and somehow the system thrived then. I remember there was no charge to visit Yosemite in the late 1950's, and my family and I could visit San Francisco and take in Golden Gate Park and it's Aquarium, De Young Museum, Japanese Tea Garden and on to the Zoo all for free! Now it's twenty-some bucks a pop! It will cost you forty to visit the private domain of the Sutter Buttes.
America's fee structures have changed. That's inevitable with the changing times, but the total fee/license system's method has been enveloped in a sense of limitations. Part of the scenario is that the human population has expanded to put a strain on popular parks and places where one can seek the soothing embrace of nature. Prohibited access to private lands has also added to the containment of public travelers and forced recreation into crowded quarters. There is some validity in charging fees to stall the overrun of parks, but that sweeps up the birdwatcher, naturalist, and photographer, too, that commit little strain on the environment, as compared to the hunter and fisherman who actually bag animals that involves fish hatcheries and wildlife management resources.
Admittedly, I'm a bit spoiled, having been raised on the farm with the freedom of the forest and field almost unlimited. There were endless choices: Go forth to miles of winding No Creek, Fox Den Bluff, Floyd's Timber, Rob's Ravine, Kit's Bottomland, or as far as foot could take me, all for no fee or registration or expectation other than to respect fences and property.
I have also known the freedom of the desert when you could go rock hunting just about anyplace and pull your camper up to a cactus and collect free agate. It was akin to gold hunters trekking across the plains in a covered wagon intent on finding the bonanza. The greatest joy is in the finding. Your rockpick strikes a nodule, and as the gem is revealed you feel an electrical charge in the pit of your stomach of absolute joy.
Now-days there are restrictions and talk of various fees brewing for 'desert passes.' Already limits have been put on petrified wood and several other rarities on public land. Some of the scrutiny is proper since it is the 'rock hog' that spoils conservation, and blasting prized gemrock deposits has caused entire mountains to be mined to the ground, such as Battle Mountain in Nevada, or Wonderstone Mountain rhyolite, and Manhatten Mine when the fine onyx was found to have specks of gold. Rockhunting for petrified wood is 25 pounds for the lapidary hobbyist, and collecting of fossils is severely limited because of scientific research.
Consider this: In Norway, you can walk nearly anywhere you want. It is part of the National Identity and is established by law! You are free to enjoy the great outdoors and breathe in as much fresh air as you want—as long as you pick up your rubbish and show respect for nature. The law ensures that everybody gets to experience nature even on private lands!
“...Getting and spending we lay waste our powers;--Little we see in nature that is ours...”
--William Wordsworth
--William Wordsworth