Peninsula Daily News and news sources
OLYMPIA — A familiar face to North Olympic Peninsula voters as well as the state Legislature peered from the other side of the dais Tuesday.
Retired Rep. Lynn Kessler, the former House majority leader who represented the district that included the North Olympic Peninsula, was a vocal critic of legislation that would impose a mandatory fee to visit Washington’s 119 state parks.
“We have to find another way,” said Kessler at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on HB 1796 at the state Capitol.
“This is going to exclude more people from our parks than ever before in the history of our state.”
Ironically, the bill was introduced by Kessler’s former 24th Legislative District seat mate, Rep. Kevin Van De Wege, D-Sequim, who sees the fee schedule as a way to maintain state parks and millions of acres of public lands amid a $4.6 billion state budget deficit.
The Ways and Means Committee took up HB 1796, which would require the purchase of a $30 annual vehicle pass or a $10 single-day pass to enter state recreation sites.
Most of the initial proceeds would be deposited in a special state parks fund, while the rest would be divided between the state Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Fish & Wildlife, according to Van De Wege’s bill.
Those departments own or manage more than 6.6 million acres of public land.
Among them are such North Olympic Peninsula attractions as Fort Worden, Fort Flagler, Fort Townsend, Sequim Bay and Bogachiel state parks.
Others are Dosewallips, Shine Tidelands, Mystery Bay and Anderson Lake state parks — and possibly the state’s smallest park, the historic Victorian Rothschild House, managed by the Jefferson County Historical Society in Port Townsend.
Washington currently has an optional $5 vehicle registration fee to support state parks — the result of Kessler’s legislation approved in 2009.
HB 1796 would abolish the opt-out donation program.
Under the new legislation, the $30 annual pass would be optional, but those who choose not to buy one would have to purchase the $10 day-pass instead.
Violators would face a $99 fine.
In her proposed budget for the 2011-2013 spending period, Gov. Chris Gregoire suggested slashing the Parks and Recreation budget by 52 percent, while the Fish & Wildlife budget would face a 47 percent cut.
“I’ve never seen everyone roll over for the governor so quickly. I’m surprised they’re not fighting back a little bit,” Kessler testified.
“They’re just saying, ‘We’ve got to raise the money; what do you do?’”
Without a new source of revenue, many recreation sites would have to close, agency leaders said.
“This is alternative funding that would allow us to keep open our facilities and trails,” Department of Natural Resources supervisor Lenny Young said of the proposed access fee.
The department already has shut down 12 recreation facilities and reduced services at 44 others, he said.
Countering Kessler at Tuesday’s hearing, several testified that the state has run out of options and that people would adapt to the fees just as they have in dozens of other states.
In California, for example, 125 parks charge a day-use fee, and an annual parking pass costs $125 — more than four times what HB 1796 is proposing.
Maintaining public lands isn’t just about providing recreation options; it’s a sound economic investment, said Jennifer Quan, the lands division manager at the Department of Fish & Wildlife. Fishing, hunting and wildlife-watching generate $4.5 billion each year for the state economy, she said.
“These lands are integral to the quality of life in Washington on many levels,” Quan said.
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The Associated Press and The Olympian contributed to this report.
