Proposed fees at Wrinkled Rock Climbing Area

Eli P wrote:

$5/day seems pretty reasonable considering there is a bathroom (which costs money to maintain) and one can use an interagency pass. I simply don't understand why some climbers choose to complain about nominal fees, while not blinking an eye at spending hundreds of dollars on gas to get to climbing destinations or on personal climbing gear. Not to mention the thousands of dollars spent on vans or fancy off-road rigs. 

I have no qualms with paying a day use fee or buying a pass, if the money goes towards maintaining the facilities and infrastructure that I use as a climber. 

If they had better plans for improvements I would agree and only on a temporary basis. My opinion….just another federal racket. Kind of like paying for campgrounds to have access to a fire ring or having rules in a campground in a national forest recreation zone that require you to stay in their gravel pad cesspool instead of allowing dispersed. I’m against this, and will be making it a point to contact the local office. 

Have you contacted Access Fund?

Cherokee Nunes wrote:

Have you contacted Access Fund?

I would hope the BHCC has.

Just to throw it out there. And sure I'd rather have free but sometimes we cannot always get what we want. Sounds like the money is needed to help keep up with usage in the forest. And there. Is a less expensive alternative to paying a fee. Welcome to an evolving world. There are more users than ever and our impacts are bigger than we think. Not a lot to ask to help pay for the upkeep. I'd rather pay a parking fee then have areas close in our forests because they are unable to keep up maintenance. The forest service exists to protect the resource and they need funds to do so.

USFS Proposal and info about how the money will be used and why the increases are being implemented.

BHNF seasonal parking pass $25 or $40 

Read Januskiewiecz wrote:

Just to throw it out there. And sure I'd rather have free but sometimes we cannot always get what we want. Sounds like the money is needed to help keep up with usage in the forest. And there. Is a less expensive alternative to paying a fee. Welcome to an evolving world. There are more users than ever and our impacts are bigger than we think. Not a lot to ask to help pay for the upkeep. I'd rather pay a parking fee then have areas close in our forests because they are unable to keep up maintenance. The forest service exists to protect the resource and they need funds to do so.

USFS Proposal and info about how the money will be used and why the increases are being implemented.

BHNF seasonal parking pass $25 or $40 

In full disclosure I am a journalist  who interviewed  the BHNF people who put out the initial press release out and the only way that a pass will go through is if a new concessionaire is approved. The current concessionaire does not accept any passes other than senior citizen passes.

 Also I specifically asked what the money was being used for and I was told the tubes bathrooms picnic tables and something similar to the improvements that took place at Lakota Lake.

There's a lot of great discussion in this thread.  We really should all be fighting the giveaway of public land to concessionaire operations.  How is it acceptable that they just ignore the agency-wide passes in this case?

https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/126386310/privatizing-national-forest-lands

The concessionaire can choose to ignore passes per their contract.

They are a for profit business.

Sadly there are very few consessionaires to choose from, and the Black Hills is so widespread it's not  very a profitable enterprise here from what I have been told.

Hopefully the BHNF gets a new contract that accepts passes..but more hopefully they decide picnic tables dont require such fees.

One thing I have absolutely zero interest in is funding any 'improvements'.  Wrinkle Rock has everything it needs.  Parking, a bathroom, places to throw a tent.  I am sick of 'feature creep' in our parks (and many other places)