Re: [Paddlewise] the beginning of the end

   When the Northwest Forest Pass was invented by Congress, I stopped hiking.
When the Oregon
   Snowpark Permit was instituted, I began skiing less. When Oregon State
Parks came up with a
   day use admission fee, I quit going to Oregon State Parks. When Oregon
discussed a bicycle
   permit fee, I decided to just take my chances, since I bicycle to work. Now
with a permit fee
   imposed on kayaks, I suppose I'll have to paddle illegally or give it up. I
guess I could paddle in
   neighboring Washington State, but I don't have their boat ramp permit. To
launch a kayak at
   some of the best locations along the Columbia River, such as the 42nd Ave
ramp, now requires
   a fee. All these things were free when I first moved to Oregon. Now there's
a clamming fee
   (I actually got a ticket for digging a clam). I got a ticket for not having
a fire extinguisher in my
   12-foot aluminum boat (I beat that one because boats under 15 feet are not
required to have
   a fire extinguisher.) Some people want to require bicyclists to buy a
bicycle license (as a
   sort of road tax) and insurance. And authorities wonder why Americans are
so obese. It truly
   is the Beginning of the End. Life was so much simpler when I was a child.

   Brad Crain
  On Sun, Jul 12, 2009 at 3:46 PM, Bradford R. Crain <crainb_at_pdx.edu> wrote:

     At the end of the 2009 Oregon legislative session, that august body
    passed a bill which included raising the admission fee for Oregon State
    Parks from $3 to $5.

  Washington rescinded it's "day use" fee for state parks. They discovered
that no one was using them because of the fee. Oregon is likely to discover
the same thing.


    It also requires a $5 permit for any manually
    propelled craft over 10 feet. The owner of a "quiver" of canoes, kayaks,
    rafts, etc. over 10 feet would need a single permit. An owner of multiple
    power boats would need to pay the fee for each boat, in addition to the
    existing powerboat license(s). The additional money collected would
    ostensibly be used to battle invasive species. There was no public input.

  It's not surprising with the various legislatures looking for money
everywhere but in general tax increases. Turns out, apparently, that lowering
taxes is not the answer to everything we had been told for the past 30 years.
Not that anyone wants to admit that.

  I wonder what a Washington kayak paddler will be required to do if caught on
the Oregon side of the Columbia River.

  About 30 years ago Oregon raised camping fees for non-Oregon residents. I
didn't camp in Oregon (or buy anything in Oregon) for 25 years or so. I heard,
however, that they pulled that rule back when Idaho passed an increase in
camping fees applicable ONLY to Oregon residents camping in Idaho. LOL.

  Craig Jungers
  Moses Lake, WA
  www.nwkayaking.net
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