Bitterroot recreation sites up for review
By PERRY BACKUS of the Missoulian
The Bitterroot National Forest's recreation program is awash in red ink.Faced with $1 million in deferred maintenance and declines in operating budgets for its recreational facilities, the forest is preparing to make some difficult decisions on how it will manage its campgrounds, picnic areas, boat launches and developed trailheads.
It's not alone.
Every one of the nearly 15,000 campgrounds, developed trailheads and other developed recreation sites on the 193 million acres managed by the U.S. Forest Service is being evaluated under a process called Recreation Site Facility Master Planning.
Faced with declining budgets, a rising tab for fighting wildfires and an estimated $346 million in backlogged maintenance, the agency is taking a hard look at what it truly can afford. Each of the 155 national forests and 20 grasslands must complete a plan by the end of 2007.
The process calls for the agency to rank each facility according to its condition, frequency of use and how it fits into the forest's recreational focus or “niche.”
The Bitterroot National Forest's proposed niche is “our wild backyard,” and officials plan to focus its recreation program on local day use and nearby trails. Initial ideas for the plan will be discussed at an open house Wednesday at the forest supervisor's office in Hamilton.
The Bitterroot forest's plan calls for reducing the number of sites it maintains for developed recreation from 80 to 64. While officials say no site will be closed to the public, visitors can expect to see picnic tables and campsites disappear at some developed sites.
“All of the developed recreation sites on the Bitterroot are proposed for continued operation,” said recreation staff officer Sue Heald. “However, considering the increases we are seeing in use coupled with the decline we are experiencing in our operating budgets, we cannot continue to manage all sites at the same level as we have in the past.”
In 2005, the Bitterroot National Forest had an estimated $169,000 shortfall in its developed recreation budget.
To pull those costs back in line, the agency is considering shorter operating seasons, reducing services such as drinking water or picnic tables, or finding a few good volunteers willing to help shoulder the load.
Some sites will be converted to address changes in use over time by the public, said Mary Laws, the Bitterroot forest's recreation program manager.
The Jennings Campground on the East Fork Road is a good example. The five-unit campground right off the main road gets some use by campers during hunting season, but doesn't get much attention the rest of the year.
The area is now mainly used by day-use anglers and for picnics.
To accommodate the current use, Law said the agency is considering developing a large parking lot with a few picnic tables.
“That would reduce the number of things that we have to maintain,” she said.
The agency is also looking at increasing recreation fees at some sites.
On the Bitterroot forest, officials will ask for a fee increase at the Lake Como Recreation Area this year. The proposal calls for increasing the day-use fee from $2 to $5 and a season pass from $20 to $30. It would be the first time fees have been increased since they were put in place in 1998.
Darby District Ranger Chuck Oliver said the Forest Service has used the fees collected at Lake Como to provide additional patrols, install new picnic tables, complete maintenance work and construct new parking lots for the beach area and for the Rock Creek trailhead.
“These are on-the-ground improvements that would not have been possible without the fees we collect on-site,” Oliver said. “Our list of projects continues to grow as does the use.”
Over time, the Forest Service will likely increase or add fees to other developed recreation sites as well.