Mark Twain National Forest begins fee change proposal process

ROLLA, Mo.,  — Recreation managers at Mark Twain National Forest are interested in hearing your comments on a proposal for changes to the recreation fees on the forest.  Fees will be utilized to maintain and improve the sites, to ensure that people can continue to use and enjoy these sites into the future, which supports the Forest’s overall strategy of establishing a sustainable recreation program to deliver maximum public benefit.

In 2004, Congress passed the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act which allows the Forest Service to keep 95 percent of fees collected at certain recreation sites and use these funds locally to operate and maintain and improve these sites.

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Fees collected at Forest recreation sites will be utilized primarily for day-to-day maintenance costs.  Ensuring trash is removed from campground dumpsters and that vault toilets are regularly serviced and pumped are two of the biggest maintenance costs offset by fee collection.  This money also helps replace worn-out equipment, like mowers, used by Forest Service and volunteers to keep sites looking nice.  Fee money can also support seasonal recreation staff to help meet demand during the busiest times of year.  Program managers rely on these fees for upkeep of the most loved sites on the Forest.

“We have completed several significant projects at these sites in recent years, but the needs just keep growing.  These fee changes will help us provide quality recreation facilities to meet the growing demand,” said Chris Woods, one of the Forest’s lead recreation program managers.

Along with campground fee changes, the proposal includes eleven new fees across the Forest, as well as fee changes at 22 campgrounds, day-use sites and group camping or day-use areas.  The Forest is also proposing to increase the Forest Annual Pass, which gives visitors unlimited access to developed, day-use fee-sites throughout the Forest, from $20 to $40.

The new fee proposals will also be posted in the Federal Register, at each of the recreation sites involved, at forest offices, through social media, and on the forest’s website.

The public is invited to comment on the proposed fee changes. Comments would be most helpful by close of business on November 1, 2021. All comments received by that date will be considered.  Comments can be submitted via mail or hand delivery to Mark Twain National Forest Supervisor’s Office, 401 Fairgrounds Road, Rolla, MO 65401. Alternatively, comments can be emailed to SM.FS.MTNF_Rec@usda.gov.  Please make the subject line “Recreation Fee Proposal”.

Starting June 1, comments can be entered directly through an interactive website at:  https://usfs.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=90c478a1194a43da81b726cc47d64f05.

Mark Twain National Forest also plans to host several virtual open-house meetings in the upcoming months to allow interested individuals to ask questions and provide input regarding this proposal. More information on the open houses will be forthcoming – check the Forest website, Facebook (facebook.com/marktwainnationalforest), and your local paper for the announcements.

After public comments are reviewed and any adjustments made, the fee proposals will be presented before a citizen’s advisory committee called the Region 9 Recreation Resource Advisory Committee, or RRAC.  Committee members represent a broad array of recreation interest groups to help ensure that the Forest Service is proposing reasonable and publicly acceptable fee changes.  Committee members will help ensure that the Forest Service addresses public issues and concerns about recreation fees.  The public is welcome to attend and comment at all advisory committee meetings.  The next RRAC meeting is expected to be held in the end of 2021 or the beginning of 2022; the exact meeting time, location and agenda will be announced later this year.

The mission of the U.S. Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is to sustain the health, diversity and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. The agency manages 193 million acres of public land, provides assistance to state and private landowners and maintains the largest forestry research organization in the world. Public lands the Forest Service manages contribute more than $13 billion to the economy each year through visitor spending alone. Those same lands provide 30 percent of the nation’s surface drinking water to cities and rural communities and approximately 66 million Americans rely on drinking water that originated from the National Forest System.  The agency also has either a direct or indirect role in stewardship of about 900 million forested acres within the U.S., of which over 130 million acres are urban forests where most Americans live.)

For more information or to provide comments about any of the new fee proposals, please contact the Mark Twain Recreation Program Manager, Thomas Saylors at 573-341-7472.

Proposed fee changes

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