---- Loren Busch <starwagen@gmail.com> wrote:
>  RE: Washington Parks Pass  More Info
> A quick search provides these links that seem to cover the subject:
> <
> http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/travel/2015039713_stateparkfee12.html?syndication=rss
> >
> <http://www.discoverpass.wa.gov/>
>
> As a Washington native and current resident I realized last winter that I
> had become much more familiar with camping and the backroads in Oregon over
> the last few years than my own home state.  So I'd been planning a couple of
> long trips around Washington this Summer.  Now I have to either pony up $30
> for a pass or be damn careful where I camp, make sure I'm not on State land
> someplace.  Or maybe just see some of the parts of Oregon that I haven't
> been to yet.

Thanks Loren.  Thirty bucks for the year isn't much, compared to what other states charge, and folks can camp without paying the entrance fee.  I guess it seems ok to me.  I would hope that agencies that provide outdoor experiences for youth and disadvantaged folks would be exempt.  I did not see anything about that.  I was bothered by the part about the fees accompanying budget cuts for the parks and other state lands.  I would hope the fees would allow the state to continue to fund their lands, rather than cut their budgets.  I'm willing to pay for the lands to be protected and service provided.  I don't want to pay, and not get the protection and service.

mcneely